By Jason Kendall

There are a range of options available for people who'd like to find a job in the computer industry. For assistance in selecting one that will suit you, look at organisations with advisors who can help you to work out which career will match your personal profile, as well as explaining the details of the job, in order for you to know it's the right one for you.

Should you be considering advancing your technological abilities, maybe by improving your office user skills, or even loftier ambitions, you have a choice of how to study.

By minimising their overheads, there are training providers today supplying up-to-the-minute courses with excellent training and mentoring for considerably less money than is expected from the old-style trainers.

A number of students assume that the school and FE college system is still the best way into IT. Why then are commercial certificates becoming more in demand?

Accreditation-based training (as it's known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. Industry has become aware that this level of specialised understanding is essential to handle an increasingly more technical workplace. CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA dominate in this arena.

Academic courses, as a example, clog up the training with vast amounts of loosely associated study - and much too wide a syllabus. This holds a student back from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

When an employer understands what work they need doing, then all it takes is an advert for the exact skill-set required to meet that need. Syllabuses are set to exacting standards and aren't allowed to deviate (in the way that degree courses can).

Most training providers will only provide support available from 9-6 (office hours) and sometimes later on specific days; not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.

Look for training where you can receive help at any time you choose (irrespective of whether it's the wee hours on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get direct access to tutors, and not simply some messaging service that means you're constantly waiting for a call-back - probably during office hours.

World-class organisations offer an internet-based round-the-clock service involving many support centres over many time-zones. You will be provided with a single, easy-to-use interface that seamlessly selects the best facility available irrespective of the time of day: Support on demand.

Don't accept second best when it comes to your support. Many IT hopefuls that can't get going properly, just need the right support system.

Every program under consideration must provide a commercially valid accreditation at the end - not a useless 'in-house' printed certificate to hang in your hallway.

To an employer, only the big-boys like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco (as an example) will get you into the interview seat. Anything less won't make the grade.

There are colossal changes coming via technology as we approach the second decade of the 21st century - and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year.

We've only just begun to scrape the surface of how technology will affect our lives in the future. Technology and the web will massively alter how we see and interrelate with the world around us over the years to come.

Always remember that the average salary in IT across the UK is considerably greater than average salaries nationally, therefore you will probably receive noticeably more in the IT sector, than you would in most typical jobs.

It's no secret that there is a substantial national need for certified IT specialists. It follows that with the marketplace continuing to expand, it looks like there's going to be for the significant future.

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