Congratulations! As you’re looking at this it’s likely you’re thinking about retraining for a new career – so you’ve already done more than most. Only one in ten of us are content with our jobs, but most complain but just stay there. So, why not be one of the few who actually do something about it.
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:
* Is having company at work important to you? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Or you may prefer task-orientated work that you can complete alone?
* What thoughts do you have with regard to the industry you’ll work in?
* Would you like this to be the last time you’ll have to retrain?
* Are you concerned with regard to the chance of getting new work, and keeping a job until you plan to retire?
Prioritise Information Technology, that’s our best advice – unusually, it’s one of the growing market sectors in this country and overseas. Salaries are also more generous than most.
A useful feature provided by many trainers is job placement assistance. This is to assist your search for your first position. With the growing demand for appropriately skilled people in this country right now, there’s no need to become overly impressed with this service however. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to get a job as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications.
However, avoid waiting until you have completed your exams before bringing your CV up to date. As soon as you start a course, enter details of your study programme and place it on jobsites!
It’s not unusual to find that you’ll secure your first job whilst you’re still studying (occasionally right at the beginning). If your CV doesn’t show your latest training profile (and it’s not being looked at by employers) then you don’t stand a chance!
If you don’t want to travel too far to work, then you’ll often find that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy may serve you better than the trainer’s recruitment division, for they’re going to be familiar with local employment needs.
A big frustration for a number of training providers is how much people are focused on studying to get top marks in their exams, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the role they’ve acquired skills for. Get out there and hustle – you might find it’s fun.
Of course: a training course or a qualification isn’t what this is about; the career you’re training for is. Far too many training organisations completely prioritise the piece of paper.
Don’t let yourself become one of the unfortunate masses who select a program that seems ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ – and end up with a plaque on the wall for a career they’ll never really get any satisfaction from.
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.
As having no previous experience in the IT industry, in what way could we understand what someone in a particular job does?
Consideration of the following issues is most definitely required when you want to reveal the right answers:
* Personality plays an important role – what things get your juices flowing, and what are the areas that really turn you off.
* Why you’re looking at starting in Information Technology – it could be you’re looking to overcome a particular goal such as working for yourself maybe.
* What salary and timescale requirements you may have?
* Considering the huge variation that Information Technology encapsulates, it’s a requirement that you can take in how they differ.
* It’s wise to spend some time thinking about the level of commitment you’ll put into your 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.)
Only consider study programmes which move onto industry approved certifications. There are far too many small companies proposing minor ‘in-house’ certificates which are worthless when you start your job-search.
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 clear career advice on IT Jobs News and Comptia News.
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