A fraction of the working population in Great Britain are claiming to be happy in their job. Inevitably, huge numbers will take no action. The fact that you’re reading this surely tells us that you’ve realised change must come.

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:

* Would you like to work with others? If you say yes, are you a team player or is meeting new people important to you? Or would you rather work alone with a task?

* What thoughts do you have with regard to the sector of industry you hope to work in?

* Do you want this to be the only time you’ll need to re-qualify?

* 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?

Consider Information Technology, that’s our recommendation – unusually, it’s one of the growing market sectors throughout Europe. Salaries are also more generous than most.

Many trainers will only provide basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.

Try and find training with proper support available at any time you choose (even if it’s early hours on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get access directly to professional tutors, and not a message system as this will slow you down – parked in a queue of others waiting to be called back when it’s convenient for them.

Keep your eyes open for training programs that utilise many support facilities active in different time-zones. These should be integrated to enable simple one-stop access as well as 24 hours-a-day access, when it’s convenient for you, with no fuss.

Always choose a company that offers this level of study support. As only 24×7 round-the-clock live support gives you the confidence to make it.

Watch out that all accreditations you’re working towards are recognised by industry and are up-to-date. ‘In-house’ exams and the certificates they come with are generally useless.

Unless the accreditation comes from a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe, then chances are it will have been a waste of time – because no-one will recognise it.

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.

How can job security truly exist anywhere now? In the UK for example, where industry can change its mind on a day-to-day basis, it seems increasingly unlikely.

It’s possible though to reveal security at market-level, by probing for areas that have high demand, mixed with work-skill shortages.

Taking the computer business as an example, the 2006 e-Skills analysis demonstrated a national skills shortage in the country in excess of 26 percent. Alternatively, you could say, this means that the United Kingdom can only locate 3 trained people for every four jobs in existence currently.

Appropriately qualified and commercially certified new workers are therefore at a complete premium, and it’s estimated to remain so for a long time to come.

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.

For many reasons, it’s essential to be confident that you are completely prepared for your final certified exam prior to doing it. Going over ‘mock’ tests will help to boost your attitude and helps to avoid unsuccessful attempts at exams.

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