Congratulate yourself that you’re on the right track! A fraction of the population enjoy their work and find it stimulating, but vast numbers simply moan about it and take no action. Because you’ve done research we have a hunch that you’re at least considering retraining, so you’ve already stood out from the crowd. Take your time now to research and follow-through.
When considering retraining, it’s vital to first define your requirements from the position you’d like to train for. You need to know that things would be a lot better before much time and effort is spent re-directing your life. It’s good sense to regard the big picture first, to make an informed decision:
* Do you like to work collaborating with people? Is that as part of a team or with a lot of new people? Possibly operating on your own on specific tasks would be more your thing?
* What do you require from the market sector you work in? (Things do change - look at the building trade, or banks for example.)
* Is this the last time you imagine you’ll re-train, and if so, do you suppose your new career will allow you to do that?
* Are you concerned with regard to the chance of getting new work, and keeping a job until you plan to retire?
We would advise that you consider Information Technology - it’s well known that it is one of the few growth sectors. It’s not all nerdy people looking at computer screens constantly - naturally some IT jobs demand that, but the majority of roles are carried out by people like you and me who get on very well.
Finding your first job in the industry is often made easier with a Job Placement Assistance program. At the end of the day it isn’t so complicated as you might think to land a job - as long as you’re correctly trained and certified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
Having said that, it’s important to have help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews though; also we would encourage any student to get their CV updated right at the beginning of their training - don’t put it off till you’ve finished your exams.
It’s not uncommon to find that junior support roles are offered to people who are in the process of training and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s - rather than the ‘No’ pile.
The top companies to help get you placed are generally local IT focused employment agencies. Because they get paid commission to place you, they have more incentive to get on with it.
Not inconsiderable numbers of men and women, apparently, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of trying to get the right position. Market yourself… Do your best to put yourself out there. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.
Don’t get hung-up, as many people do, on the certification itself. Training is not an end in itself; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. You need to remain focused on where you want to go.
Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Don’t make the mistake of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ training program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!
You must also consider your feelings on earning potential, career development, plus your level of ambition. It makes sense to understand what (if any) sacrifices you’ll need to make for a particular role, what exams are required and where you’ll pick-up experience from.
Talk to an experienced industry advisor who understands the work you’re contemplating, and who can give you a detailed run-down of what you actually do in that role. Getting all these things right well before beginning a training course makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?
In most cases, your normal person has no idea in what direction to head in a computing career, let alone which market they should be considering getting trained in.
Perusing long lists of different and confusing job titles is a complete waste of time. Surely, most of us have no idea what our own family members do for a living - so we have no hope of understanding the ins and outs of any specific IT role.
Consideration of the following issues is most definitely required when you want to reveal the right answers:
* What hobbies you have and enjoy - these can point towards what areas will give you the most reward.
* Are you driven to re-train for a specific motive - i.e. do you aim to work from home (maybe self-employment?)?
* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?
* Learning what the main work types and markets are - plus how they’re different to each other.
* You need to appreciate the differences between each area of training.
In all honesty, it’s obvious that the only real way to research these issues will be via a meeting with someone that understands Information Technology (as well as it’s commercial needs and requirements.)
Watch out that all accreditations you’re considering doing will be commercially viable and are up-to-date. The ‘in-house’ certifications provided by many companies are not normally useful in gaining employment.
Unless your qualification is issued by a company like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe, then it’s likely it will be commercially useless - because it won’t give an employer any directly-useable skills.
(C) 2009. Pop over to LearningLolly.com for smart career advice on IT Jobs News and Comptia News.
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