Just ten percent of adults in Great Britain are happy with what they do for a living. Of course, most will take no action. The fact that you’re reading this surely suggests that you’ve realised change must come.

When considering retraining, it’s important that you first make a list of what you want and don’t want from the position you would like to get. Ensure that a new career would suit you better before you put a lot of energy into changing the direction of your life. We recommend looking at the big picture first, to avoid disappointment:

* Do you hope for interaction with others? If so, do you like working with the same people or are you more comfortable dealing with strangers? Alternatively, do you like to deal with your responsibilities alone?

* Building and Banking are not coping well at the moment, so think carefully about the sector that would suit you best?

* How long a career do you hope to have once retrained, and will the market sector offer you that opportunity?

* Do you feel uncomfortable with regard to your chances of getting another job, and keeping a job to the end of your working life?

We ask you to have a good look at Information Technology – there are a larger number of jobs than people to do them, and it’s a rare career choice where the industry is on the grow. Despite what some people believe, IT isn’t all techie people gazing at their computer screens the whole day (though naturally some jobs are like that.) The vast majority of roles are occupied by ordinary people who want to earn a very good living.

In amongst the top nominees for the biggest single let-down across all IT training is a requirement to attend multiple workshop days. Many certification companies push the so-called ‘benefits’ of these classes, usually though, they end up as a burden to be carried because of:

* The amount of travel required – multiple visits and quite often 100’s of miles each time.

* Asking for frequent time off work – many training providers will only provide availability during weekdays – typically grouping 2 or 3 days together. This is generally difficult for those of us who work for a living, and it’s made more problematic if you include the travel time on top.

* If we get 20 days holiday per year, sacrificing half of them for training events means we’ll be hard-pushed to get a holiday with our families.

* ‘In-Centre’ workshop days can get way too big.

* Some trainees lean towards a pace that is different to the other class members. Often this can bring about tension in the class.

* Let’s not disregard the added expense of driving or bed and breakfast for the night either. This may well run to many hundreds of pounds more – sometimes thousands. Take some time to add it all up – it’ll shock and surprise you.

* We all enjoy our privacy. We don’t want to risk throwing away any potential advancement that we’re owed while we retrain.

* We all find that, at times, it’s uncomfortable to raise questions when surrounded by other students – who wants to look like they’re the only one who doesn’t get it?

* Living away for part of your working week – a lot of students have to work or live away for part of the program. Events are very difficult then, unfortunately the monies have already been handed over as part of your fees.

Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to learn when it’s convenient for you – not the company – and exploit videos of instructors with interactive virtual-lab’s.

Think… If you’ve got a notebook PC you have the ability to learn in any location you choose. And 24×7 support is an online click away if you hit challenges.

All the lessons can be repeated at any time you need to brush up – memory is aided by repetition. And note-taking is a thing of the past – it’s already laid on for you.

Essentially: You save money, avoid hassle, don’t waste time and avoid polluting the environment.

Considering the amount of options that are available, is it any wonder that the majority of trainees don’t really understand the best career path they will follow.

Because in the absence of any previous experience in the IT industry, in what way could we understand what someone in a particular job does?

Arriving at the right conclusion will only come from a meticulous analysis of several varying key points:

* Which type of person you consider yourself to be – what kind of jobs you really enjoy, plus of course – what you definitely don’t enjoy.

* Do you want to obtain training for a specific reason – e.g. do you aim to work based at home (working for yourself?)?

* How highly do you rate salary – is an increase your main motivator, or is day-to-day enjoyment a lot higher on your priority-list?

* Learning what the main job areas and sectors are – and what differentiates them.

* Having a serious look at the level of commitment, time and effort that you’re going to put into it.

When all is said and done, the best way of investigating all this is via a meeting with an advisor or professional who has enough background to provide solid advice.

(C) 2009. Navigate to LearningLolly.com for superb ideas on IT Communication and IT News Articles.

With an abundance of IT and computer courses to choose from, it’s best to take advice from a training company who can help you settle on one you’ll be happy with. Reputable organisations will familiarise you with the types of jobs that could be right for you, in advance of recommending a training path that can take you where you want to go.

The courses range from Microsoft User Skills up to career training for Databases, Programming, Networking and Web Design. There’s a lot to choose from and so the chances are you’ll want to chat to an experienced advisor prior to deciding which way to go: you don’t want to get on the wrong course for a job you’d actually hate!

By utilising modern training techniques and keeping costs to a minimum, there is a new type of course provider supplying a superior brand of teaching and assistance for hundreds of pounds less.

Have you recently questioned how safe your job is? For most of us, this isn’t an issue until something dramatic happens to shake us. But in today’s marketplace, the painful truth is that job security doesn’t really exist anymore, for the vast majority of people.

Of course, a marketplace with high growth, where staff are in constant demand (because of a growing shortfall of trained people), provides a market for proper job security.

Using the computer business for example, the 2006 e-Skills study highlighted a skills gap in Great Britain in excess of 26 percent. Accordingly, for every 4 jobs in existence in Information Technology (IT), companies can only find certified professionals for 3 of them.

This troubling certainty reveals the requirement for more appropriately accredited computer professionals in the country.

In actuality, seeking in-depth commercial IT training during the next few years is almost definitely the greatest career choice you could ever make.

Review the points below in detail if you’ve been persuaded that that over-used sales technique about examination guarantees seems like a good idea:

Everyone knows they’re still paying for it – it’s not so hard to see that it’s been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the training company. It’s definitely not free – and it’s insulting that we’re supposed to think it is!

Students who take exams one at a time, funding them as they go are much better placed to get through first time. They’re thoughtful of what they’ve paid and prepare more appropriately to be ready for the task.

Find the best exam deal or offer available at the appropriate time, and hang on to your cash. You’ll then be able to select where you do your exams – which means you can stay local.

A lot of questionable training course providers secure huge profits by charging for examinations upfront and hoping that you won’t take them all.

It’s worth noting that exam re-takes with training companies who offer an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are tightly controlled. You will be required to do mock exams so you can prove to them you have a good chance of passing.

The cost of exams was approximately 112 pounds in the last 12 months when taken at local VUE or Pro-metric centres throughout the country. So what’s the point of paying maybe a thousand pounds extra to get ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when any student knows that the best guarantee is a regular, committed, study programme, with an accredited exam preparation system.

Don’t accept anything less than an accredited exam preparation programme included in your course.

Avoid depending on unauthorised exam preparation systems. The type of questions asked is sometimes startlingly different – and sometimes this can be a real headache when the proper exam time arrives.

Be sure to have some simulated exam questions that will allow you to check your comprehension at all times. Simulations of exams add to your knowledge bank – then you won’t be quite so nervous at the actual exam.

Sometimes students presume that the state educational track is the right way even now. So why then are commercial certificates becoming more in demand?

Industry is now aware that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, certified accreditation from such organisations as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA is far more effective and specialised – saving time and money.

Vendor training works through concentrating on the particular skills that are needed (together with an appropriate level of related knowledge,) rather than spending months and years on the background detail and ‘fluff’ that academic courses can get bogged down in – to pad out the syllabus.

When it comes down to the nitty-gritty: Recognised IT certifications provide exactly what an employer needs – it says what you do in the title: for example, I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003′. Consequently companies can identify just what their needs are and which qualifications are required to fulfil that.

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Some people just seem to find life easy, and bounce from one triumph to the next. Conversely,others struggle with everything they do, and can always give you a reason why life has dealt them a hard blow. The world is made up of victors and victims, and attitude is very often the one key factor that makes the difference.

It’s essential when moving into a new career direction to adopt the habits of the victor to achieve the right outcome. Victims attempt actions over-cautiously, hoping for good things, but never really feeling they’re worthy of great things. The victors mentally commit to a successful outcome, and support their actions with emotion.

Take two tennis players about to play for a championship. One says “It’s my last chance – I’ll give it my best shot,” but the other says “Winning is my destiny.” No prizes for guessing who’ll win the tournament. They may both put in the same hours, but the victor spends more time on his mental training to win.

The victim is defined by the word BED – one who stays in bed and gives up. The victor is defined by the word OAR – a figure paddling towards success. BED = Blame, Excuses and Denial. OAR = Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility.

The victor doesn’t expect someone else to lead the way – and takes ownership of his or her tasks. He’s liable for his actions, and so takes them seriously (seeing things through by tackling problems not creating them). He takes responsibility for the results of his actions, and doesn’t allow excuses from himself.

The victim always has a reason for not achieving, and it’s rarely to do with him or herself. Everything is always someone else’s fault – he feels out of control so lays the blame at someone else’s door. He makes excuses for his under-performance, not realising the only person he’s convincing is himself. After repeating this pattern of blame and excuses for long enough, the victim lives a life of denial, convinced that there’s absolutely nothing he can do about his situation.

Students about to embark on a life-changing training course should give themselves a mental work-out, to prepare for success. Anybody who relates to the victim mentality will have to look at these issues before they start, to take full advantage of the potential in front of them.

The two sets of attitudes are both just habits. With constant repetition over time, habits can be changed. Listen to the little voice in your head – if it’s obviously a victim, then consciously stop it and verbalise why you can achieve. Nobody else is any better than you are – some have just conquered their demons and emerged victorious.

To quote Winston Churchill, “There is no such thing as a hero, only those who rise to the occasion”. In learning as well as in life, we must have the attitude of a winner to allow ourselves to become a winner.

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Am I professing that IT training and careers within IT are the be-all and end-all of futures on this planet? God forbid, no. Where would we all be without the highly paid football stars who entertain us so well on a week by week basis? But there has to be a reason why increasing numbers of people are studying for careers within the IT industry.

An interesting development has been the increase in IT training for those people who are seeking a career change or an enhancement to their existing skill sets. In reviewing this, I’m curious as to why IT continues to offer the attraction, and is this option really viable?

When looking at relationships, we all accept that people and key elements can change. A girlfriend or boyfriend at the age of 10 is often thought a cute thing, but it’s not expected to last. Relationships at the age of 18-20 can be less transient, but again have a greater rate of short-term life span than those formed later in life.

Equally we ask our young people to plan and make decisions as to their working career fairly early on in life, and yet historically there seems to be an inherent resistance to change as times goes on. If we accept that life changes, and we also accept that circumstances also change, then isn’t it prudent for us to accept that career paths should and could change?

The continued dependence of modern society on IT, and IT related factors, leads many people to assume that a career in this field would be reliable and well paid, based on simple economics of supply and demand. Many people see a direct transfer of how they utilise IT systems in a social environment (such as playing games and social interaction on the internet e.g. facebook etc.) into a career. Is this a genuine realism of a career within IT, and what factors would actually lead towards a successful career?

I believe that a key element in answering this is an understanding that a career in IT is as dependent on factors such as an employer (or client base if self-employed,) and economic issues, as any other career path. However, there is considerable evidence to suggest that professional people within the IT industry can move between employers and industry sectors more freely, due to the wide dependence on IT services across both geographic and industry models.

The term ‘Professional IT People’ is one of the key elements here – as in any other industry, employers have consistently sought staff where the skills can be proven by both experience and a recognised, approved benchmark. This is the same whether that’s a degree, or recognised apprenticeship culminating in an industry standard qualification, like an electrician or plumber.

It’s no different in the IT industry. Just because many people have a computer at home, and can experience many areas of the IT industry domestically, this is vastly different in many cases from the skills and resources required in the commercial sector. I’m sure we’d all acknowledge that playing games for four hours a night or surfing the internet doesn’t make us a qualified games designer, or a qualified webmaster.

Professional qualifications such as MCSE or MCSA within the IT field are instantly recognisable as an industry standard. Employers can rely upon the skills offered. This means there’s a reduced risk of breach of commercial insurance policies for work and services provided by such people, whether they are directly employed or self-employed.

Anybody seriously thinking about a future in this field must look at how best to position themselves to become interesting to an employer – and clearly having a professional qualification will go a long way towards this. It’s the employer or client who pays the salary, so we should at least be aware of what they’re seeking in recruitment or engagement.

Plenty of data exists to support the view that the growth in the IT sector is faster and more resilient than many other industry sectors. We’re witnessing a transitional shift in industry sectors, from the first world through to the third world, and the rate at which many growing or ‘tiger’ economies are adapting to (and embracing) long standing IT systems is very fast indeed.

So far within this article we’ve considered the trends, which with the demise of traditional industry and therefore traditional job-for-life expectancies, there will be an increasing propensity towards multiple jobs and career paths throughout our life span.

In addition, we’ve observed that as the IT industry provides both consistencies in supply and demand across industry sectors and across geographical boundaries, it remains consistently attractive. Current forecasts also predict the increasing reliance on both IT systems overall, and the professional people who develop, use and maintain those systems, as they remain integral to many organisations requirements long-term.

Salary forecasts remain high within this industry, with plenty of evidence to suggest that this is achievable. It’s worth noting however,that in many other sectors the top-people get paid the top-money, and just ‘being there’ isn’t good enough and doesn’t guarantee the top-money.

We have also put forward the case that employers review recruitment for IT skills as no different to any other facet of their business, and they expect the individuals to formally demonstrate their skills and qualifications, in exactly the same way as they expect their electricians and accountants to be professionally qualified to do the work they’re employed to do.

I believe that there is considerable evidence to promote a career within the IT industry as a strong and viable option to many people within today’s economic and social climate. High salaries are definitely achievable. Yet it’s equally clear and, to be fair, common sense to expect to have to achieve a recognisable professional IT qualification to be able to clearly demonstrate one’s own ability, and at the very least the attitude that you are serious about this career path and that your prospective employer can rely on you in the commercial field.

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Long term studies recently indicated that the average cost of bringing up a child in the UK amounted to 193,000 pounds in total – equating to approximately 26-28 pounds per day. The news was greeted with a swathe of cynical retorts from long suffering parents almost unified in their total lack of surprise.

The current recession and its effect on traditional educational systems is now being evaluated by many pundits. They make consistent reference to the strategies to survive adopted by parents, teachers and students alike in the recession of the 1990’s.

On average, analysis suggests that up to 40 percent of the entire disposable income in a household is spent on education and schooling overall. With the tightening attitude towards bank lending and mortgage allocation, this figure could increase as youngsters stay with their parents for longer before leaving the nest and lengthen their education programs – perhaps as a by product of something to do whilst they wait for things to get better.

With families focusing increasingly on the cost of living, along with many companies cutting back on training and development programs – it’s pointless spending money on training when you don’t know for certain that the person won’t be made redundant – it’s small wonder that many people are now reviewing their method of personal development and the subject matter in which they study.

Historically banking, public services and the like have all been considered stable long term employers and attracted people accordingly. Over the last ten years or so this has been largely superseded by the perception of jobs offered within the IT industry.

Unlike training in the motor industry or engineering, where key skills often have to be gained in a practical environment, IT training can be predominantly home based. Whilst it is difficult to transport a complete car production line into the home, computer based training is easily at hand. Developments in the intellectual property field such as IT have grown exponentially as a result of this and the continued enhancements in the way the skills are taught and learnt.

New training methodology utilising 24/7 remote access to highly skilled lecturers adds weight to the strategy and the final result is certification in a field that is widely sought after throughout the world. Along with easily quantified salary and career structures it is little wonder that IT training is so attractive.

Many people are unsure of their future, whether early on in their career or mid way through life. Home based training, for example in IT, can often be viewed as a highly effective, low cost, easy-paced development program; gaining skills that are sought after all over the world and very resilient in a volatile economic environment.

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Dividing up the different stages of learning can be very useful when we’re working out where we are and how far we can go. It can be a little frightening to look at the big goal – maybe professional web designer with many clients who rely on our expertise, when we’re still having difficulty remembering the names of the software we’ll be using to learn!

Let’s look at four different levels of understanding. Whenever we take on anything new, we all experience these stages, and recognising them helps us to evaluate ourselves and our progress.

Unconscious Incompetent, Conscious Incompetent, Conscious Competent and Unconscious Competent.

Career changers often start at stage one – Unconscious Incompetent. This is when we know we want to change, but we don’t yet know what we don’t know, what we need to know, how to learn it or where it might lead us! Sounds pretty desperate, but the important thing is knowing we want to change – everything else can be taught.

Getting advice is the essential thing for the stage one person. By talking things through with an experienced advisor, they can find out what’s involved in the process; discover where they want to go and what they need to learn.

Next comes stage two – Conscious Incompetent. We’re now probably at the start of our training course. Having been explained the different options, we’ve decided on our career path. So we now know what we have to learn – in other words we’re conscious of what we don’t know yet, or what we’re currently incompetent at.

Understanding this is important, to have the wisdom of knowing where we are. Grasping conscious incompetence means that we don’t get quite so frustrated in the early stages of our learning – it’s possible we’re not very good at it (especially if it’s been a while since we were at school…) but we know we’ll get better. Modern interactive learning accelerates this process, so we won’t be at this stage for long.

Stage three is Conscious Competent. We’re in the flow of the learning environment, and are picking things up much faster. We still have to consciously think about what we’re doing all the time, but we’re able to learn competently. We’ll probably complete our studies and successfully pass our exams whilst in this learning stage, which is likely to also extend into our working life too.

Remember when we learned to drive a car? We’d got to conscious competency by test time – good enough to pass the exam but still consciously aware of every manoeuvre. It wasn’t until we gained more experience to consolidate the knowledge that we moved into stage four.

Unconsciously Competent – In IT, we’ll probably be several years into our working experience before we reach stage four. We understand what we need to know, and no longer have to consciously think about why we do something. Although for the true professional school’s never over, (and definitely in computer-related careers the joy is there’s always more to learn) achieving these dizzy heights of understanding makes all the hard work worth it.

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I remember sitting at the back of the class thinking, “I hope the teacher doesn’t ask me to answer that last question!” Not because I couldn’t answer it, or at least have a stab at it, but just like going on a TV quiz show, answering on-time and in front of an ‘audience’ is not always as easy as it seems.

This didn’t mean that I couldn’t learn the subject matter – but rather that the environment didn’t work for me.

Considering this, I greatly believe in and support the new wave of training plans being offered, as they clearly support new ways of learning.

One of my favourite examples of this is a strategy being employed within the IT industry. Not surprisingly, it’s using the latest technological tools to teach comparatively complex skills and techniques, with a great level of success.

Offering the option of on-line and multimedia lessons, presented by leaders in their respective field, gives high grade access to a vast array of learning material – whenever the student wants, and wherever they want it. True 24×7 learning and the real option to choose where to study; all of which adds to the learning experience and ultimately improves learning success.

A world away from the sterile, intimidating experience of the classroom of youth.

Clearly there are other benefits: The opportunity to carry on studying when the student may not feel 100 per cent well, or during a period of incapacitation. Training schemes are available to everyone, and could be particularly useful to those with disabilities who find it difficult to study at a centralised centre. The ability to carry on studying regardless of external weather conditions, and the facility to study in the security of one’s own home.

There are other additional advantages. These include less cost and ‘down-time’; in terms of the time it takes to travel to the teaching centre and back, the issue of having to be there at a specific time, and the cost of travel to and from the centre. This all supports the strategy of ’smart study’ – studying in a cost effective manner, when you want, what you want, and where it suits you best.

Training by his method is not hampered by the slow upgrades or revisions of reading material and books. Students have an edge over their counterparts, as they are more likely to be studying the latest concepts and skills available.

That’s not to say you’re forced to study in isolation though. This new training philosophy recognises that some people need to have human communication built into their study program. To this end, a truly effective plan includes ‘interactive’ on-line support with real people. Many students also set up their own study-buddy network, where they can exchange their ideas in a relaxed environment and discuss the concepts they’re studying.

In the field of IT and educational strategies, there have been incredible developments. It seems only natural that for the advantage of the student, these two disciplines would come together, to create a training environment where the student is more in-control, and finds learning more pleasurable overall. Surely that is one of the basic tenets of studying?

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Look in any bookshop at their Best Seller list today, and you’ll see a mass of autobiographies of the rich and famous. From empire builders to glamour models to footballers, they all tell a different story, but each has a thread in common – they focused on the positives and overcame adversity.

This is the way the world works; to be achievers in life we must encourage positive reasons why ‘we can’ to flood our consciousness, and drown out negative excuses why we can’t.

This attitude to studying is paramount for the student. To successfully complete a training program, an optimistic mindset is the biggest tool in a trainee’s workbox. A positive approach brings about all sorts of possibilities, circumstances, answers and opportunities to achieve. By contrast, a pessimistic outlook blocks our learning receptors and thwarts creativity .

This is down to our Reticular Activation System – an automatic mechanism in our brain that tells us what to focus on. Throughout our lives, we’ve experienced many things that no longer stay in the forefront of our minds – the bulk of what we’ve learned moves from our conscious mind to our sub-conscious mind, a kind of store cupboard stocked up with all our past knowledge and beliefs.

When we attempt to do something consciously, our Reticular Activation System (RAS) will go through our sub-conscious mind for any associated information it holds, and bring it into focus. As we’re walking down a road, we’re made aware only of things that are relevant to us – anything else is just background noise.

Therefore, if our conscious mind has generally been transferring positive, upbeat messages to our sub-conscious mind, then that’s what it will send back. But if our sub-conscious has been fed a bunch of defeatist, downbeat messages, then equally that’s also what will come back.

Achievers, it appears, are able to manipulate the messages streamimg through to their sub-conscious minds. They do this by choosing the exact messages the conscious mind sends and deliberately programming their RAS. As such, it’s an essential tool for achieving goals, as the sub-conscious mind can’t tell the difference between real or imaginary events.

In other words, as it believes what it’s told, we need to create a very specific picture of our goal in our conscious mind. The RAS will then pass this on to our subconscious – which will then help us achieve the goal. It does this by bringing to our attention all the relevant information which otherwise might have remained as ‘background noise’.

The writer Napoleon Hill said that we can achieve any realistic goal if we keep focusing on that goal, and stop dwelling on any negative thoughts about it. Obviously, if we keep thinking that we can’t hit a goal, our subconscious will help us not to achieve it.

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