A expert and specialised advisor (vs a salesperson) will ask questions and seek to comprehend your current situation. This is paramount to establishing your study start-point. With some live experience or qualifications, you may find that your starting point is not the same as someone new to the industry. Starting with a basic PC skills program first is often the best way to get into your IT programme, but depends on your skill level.

One crafty way that course providers make a big mark-up is via an 'exam inclusive' package and then including an 'Exam Guarantee'. It looks like a good deal, until you think it through:

You'll be charged for it ultimately. One thing's for sure - it isn't free - it's just been rolled into the price of the whole package. People who take each progressive exam, funding them as they go are much more likely to pass. They're thoughtful of the cost and take the necessary steps to make sure they're ready.

Why should you pay the training company early for exams? Hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the appropriate time, don't pay mark-ups - and take it closer to home - not at somewhere of their bidding. Paying in advance for exam fees (and if you're financing your study there'll be interest on that) is madness. Don't line companies bank accounts with extra money of yours just to give them a good cash-flow! There are those who hope that you don't even take them all - but they won't refund the cash. Pay heed to the fact that, in the majority of cases of 'exam guarantees' - they control when and how often you can re-take the exam. You'll have to prove conclusively that you can pass before they'll pay for another exam.

Shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds on 'Exam Guarantees' is short-sighted - when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will get you through.

A number of people presume that the traditional school, college or university track is the way they should go. So why are commercially accredited qualifications slowly and steadily replacing it? Vendor-based training (in industry terminology) is most often much more specialised. Industry is aware that this level of specialised understanding is what's needed to cope with an increasingly more technical world. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the big boys in this field. Higher education courses, for example, clog up the training with a lot of background study - with a syllabus that's far too wide. Students are then held back from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

What if you were an employer - and your company needed a person with some very particular skills. What is easier: Wade your way through reams of different degrees and college qualifications from various applicants, trying to establish what they know and what vocational skills have been attained, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that specifically match what you're looking for, and then choose your interviewees based around that. You can then focus on how someone will fit into the team at interview - rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

Careers in I.T. tend to be divided into a few main groups: 1) Networking, (Security and Support), 2) Programming and Software-development, 3) Database (Administration and Development) & 4) Web Design, - both creative and technological aspects. Every I.T. group has it's own list of skill specifications, along with corresponding qualifications at various ability stages. Software Development satisfies a different kind of person to web-design, which suits yet another type of person to networking. Once you have had a chance to obtain advice on all of the IT sectors, you'll be much more comfortable that you've picked the best career route for you.

All those at the very start of their PC user learning-curve should elect to complete the ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence. This will cover how to operate the standard components of 'Windows' (the system which 'runs' the majority of personal PC's.) You will also learn about web browsers (so you're able to browse the net,) plus e-mail software (so you can keep in touch with friends.) You'll also learn the basic principles of word processing plus a little about what databases & spreadsheets are generally useful for.

If you want to up your skills for work-related purposes, you might want to take some more specialised training. An extensive understanding of 'Microsoft Office' is most likely the skill-set most need at this grade. The two industry accepted certification courses are MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist) & MCAS (Microsoft 'Certified Application Specialist'). MOS has been around for several years & works with 'Office' 2003 and 'XP', which is still perfectly well used in business. MCAS features 'Office' 2007 and 'Vista', so inevitably provides for greater longevity. Each Microsoft Office application is examined individually with both of the qualifications, that is - Excel for spread-sheets, 'Access' for data-bases, "Powerpoint" for presentations & Word for word-processing. These qualifications will show a company that you're adequately trained to make use of these applications to their fullest level.

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