Should you be wanting to study to get an MCSE, it’s likely you’ll come into one of two categories. You could be about to enter the computer sector, as it’s apparent this commercial sector has lots of demand for people with the right qualifications. Or you could be a knowledgeable person wanting to polish up your CV with the Microsoft qualification.

When researching MCSE’s, you’ll hit upon training companies that lower their out-goings by failing to provide the latest version from Microsoft. Avoid such training providers as you will face problems at exam time. If you are studying the wrong version, it will make it very difficult to pass.

Don’t get bullied into a course without the right advice. Find a training provider that will make sure that you’re on an appropriate training track for your requirements.

Consider only retraining programs which will lead to industry accepted accreditations. There’s an endless list of small companies pushing their own ‘in-house’ certificates which are worthless when it comes to finding a job.

From a commercial standpoint, only the big-boys like Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco or CompTIA (for instance) will get you into the interview seat. Nothing else makes the grade.

Many trainers will provide a useful Job Placement Assistance facility, to assist your search for your first position. However sometimes people are too impressed with this facility, for it is genuinely quite straightforward for any focused and well taught person to get a job in IT – as there is such a shortage of qualified personnel.

You would ideally have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; also we would encourage all students to update their CV the day they start training – don’t delay for when you’re ready to start work.

Various junior support jobs have been offered to trainees who are still learning and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. At the very least this will get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.

Normally you’ll get better performance from a specialist independent regional employment service than you’ll get from a training company’s centralised service, because they’ll know local industry and the area better.

Please make sure you don’t put hundreds of hours of effort into your studies, just to give up and leave it up to everyone else to secure your first position. Stop procrastinating and start looking for yourself. Invest as much time and energy into finding a good job as it took to get qualified.

Commercial certification is now, without a doubt, taking over from the traditional academic paths into the IT sector – but why should this be?

With the costs of academic degree’s becoming a tall order for many, and the IT sector’s increasing awareness that corporate based study is often far more commercially relevant, there’s been a dramatic increase in Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe accredited training programmes that create knowledgeable employees for considerably less.

University courses, for instance, can often get caught up in a lot of loosely associated study – and much too wide a syllabus. Students are then prevented from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

It’s a bit like the TV advert: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. All an employer has to do is know what areas need to be serviced, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. That way they can be sure they’re interviewing applicants who can do the job.

We can’t make a big enough deal out of this point: It’s essential to obtain proper 24×7 round-the-clock support from professional instructors. Later, you’ll kick yourself if you don’t heed this.

Find a good quality service with help available at any time of the day or night (no matter if it’s in the middle of the night on a weekend!) Make sure it’s always 24×7 direct access to mentors and instructors, and not access to a call-in service which takes messages – so you’re parked in a queue of others waiting to be called back during office hours.

World-class organisations utilise an online access round-the-clock system combining multiple support operations throughout multiple time-zones. You’ll have an easy to use environment which accesses the most appropriate office at any time of day or night: Support available as-and-when you want it.

If you accept anything less than direct-access 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. It may be that you don’t use it in the middle of the night, but consider weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

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