Congratulate yourself that you’re reading this article! Just ten percent of people are happy and satisfied by their jobs, but a huge number simply moan about it and nothing happens. The fact that you’re here means it’s probable that you’re at least considering retraining, so even now you’re ahead of the game. Now you just need to research and follow-through.

Before we even think about any career courses, discuss your thoughts with an industry expert who can talk you through what to look for. An advisor who will take time to get a feel for your personality, and find out the best career for you to work towards:

* Do you like to be around others at work? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Or are you better with things that you can get on with on your own?

* Are you thinking carefully about which industry you choose to work in? (With the economic downturn, it’s vital to be selective.)

* Once your training has been completed, are you hoping your new skills will give you the ability to get you jobs for the rest of your working life?

* Would it be useful for your retraining to be in an industry where you’re comfortable you’ll have a job until your pension kicks in?

The largest sector in the United Kingdom that can satisfy a trainee’s demands is the IT industry. There is a requirement for greater numbers of knowledgeable workers in IT, simply have a look at a local jobsite and there’ll be a long list. Don’t let people tell you it’s all nerdy people staring at theirscreens all day long – there’s a lot more to it than that. Most of workers in the industry are just like the rest of us, with well paid and stimulating jobs.

At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be 24×7 round-the-clock support with expert mentors and instructors. It’s an all too common story to find providers that only seem to want to help while they’re in the office (9am till 6pm, Monday till Friday usually) and nothing at the weekends.

Avoid, like the plague, any organisations that use ‘out-of-hours’ messaging systems – with your call-back scheduled for the next ‘working’ day. This is no use if you’re stuck and need help now.

As long as you look hard, you will find the top providers that provide their students direct-access support at all times – at any time of day or night.

Unless you insist on online 24×7 support, you’ll very quickly realise that you’ve made a mistake. You might not want to use the service late at night, but you’re bound to use weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.

Only consider training programmes that progress to industry approved qualifications. There are far too many minor schools suggesting ‘in-house’ certificates which are worthless in today’s commercial market.

From an employer’s viewpoint, only the major heavyweights like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco (as an example) give enough bang for your buck. Nothing else makes the grade.

A lot of students assume that the tech college or university track is still the most effective. So why then are commercial certificates becoming more in demand?

Industry is now aware that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, the right accreditation from such organisations as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA most often has much more specialised relevance – for much less time and money.

Vendor training works through concentrating on the skill-sets required (together with a relevant amount of associated knowledge,) instead of going into the heightened depths of background ‘padding’ that degrees in computing can get bogged down in – to pad out the syllabus.

In simple terms: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have – the title says it all: for example, I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Windows XP Administration and Configuration’. So companies can identify exactly what they need and which qualifications are needed for the job.

Locating job security nowadays is very unusual. Companies often remove us from the workforce at the drop of a hat – whenever it suits.

But a sector experiencing fast growth, where staff are in constant demand (as there is a growing shortage of trained staff), opens the possibility of proper job security.

The Information Technology (IT) skills-gap in the United Kingdom clocks in at approximately 26 percent, as shown by the latest e-Skills survey. Showing that for every four jobs available throughout the computer industry, we have only 3 certified professionals to perform that task.

Accomplishing in-depth commercial Information Technology qualification is correspondingly a ‘Fast Track’ to achieve a long-term and enjoyable career.

Actually, seeking in-depth commercial IT training over the years to come is almost definitely the finest career choice you could ever make.

You should look for authorised exam simulation and preparation programs as part of your training package.

Don’t go for training programs depending on unofficial exam preparation questions. The way they’re phrased can be quite different – and this could lead to potential problems in the actual examination.

Simulations and practice exams will prove enormously valuable as a tool for logging knowledge into your brain – so when it comes to taking the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.

(C) Jason Kendall. Visit LearningLolly.com for intelligent information on IT Training and Programming Training.