by Jason Kendall
If you’re thinking about studying for the MCSE certificate, you’ll fall into one of two camps. You could be about to come into the computer world, and you’ve discovered that this commercial sector has lots of demand for qualified people. Or you may be someone with a certain amount of knowledge looking to polish up your CV with the Microsoft qualification.
As you discover more about training providers, don’t use those that compromise their offerings by failing to provide the latest version from Microsoft. Ultimately, this will frustrate and cost the student a great deal more due to the fact that they’ve been educated in an outdated MCSE program which inevitably will have to be up-dated almost immediately. Computer training companies must be completely focused on establishing the best direction for their clients. Directing study is as much about guiding people on establishing where to go, as it is giving them help to reach their destination.
When did you last consider your job security? For most people, this issue only becomes a talking point when something goes wrong. But really, the painful truth is that true job security is a thing of the past, for most of us. We’re able though to hit upon security at market-level, by digging for areas that have high demand, together with shortages of trained staff.
The computing Industry skills-gap in the UK currently stands at just over 26 percent, as shown by the most recent e-Skills study. Put directly, we can’t properly place more than 3 out of every 4 jobs in the computing industry. This alarming certainty shows the requirement for more properly trained Information Technology professionals around the UK. In actuality, acquiring professional IT skills during the years to come is likely the finest choice of careers you could make.
How are we supposed to make an educated decision then? With so much reward available, it’s imperative to understand where to search – and what to be investigating.
Don’t put too much store, as many people do, on the training course itself. You’re not training for the sake of training; you’re training to become commercially employable. Begin and continue with the end in mind. It’s quite usual, in some situations, to obtain tremendous satisfaction from a year of studying and then spend 20 miserable years in something completely unrewarding, as an upshot of not doing some quality research at the beginning.
You must also consider how you feel about earning potential and career progression, plus your level of ambition. It makes sense to understand what the role will demand of you, what particular accreditations are needed and how you’ll gain real-world experience. Seek help from an industry professional who ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and will be able to provide ‘A typical day in the life of’ outline of of what you’ll be doing with each working day. It makes good sense to discover if this is the right course of action for you before you embark on your training program. After all, what is the reason in beginning your training only to realise you’ve made a huge mistake.
The classroom style of learning we remember from school, utilising reference manuals and books, is often a huge slog for most of us. If this describes you, check out study materials which have a majority of interactive, multimedia parts. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that long term memory is improved when we use all our senses, and we get practically involved in what we’re studying.
Find a course where you’ll get a host of CD or DVD ROM’s – you’ll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, with the facility to hone your abilities through virtual lab’s. It’s imperative to see some example materials from your chosen company. Be sure that they contain instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s.
It’s folly to opt for on-line only training. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across most broadband providers, it makes sense to have disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).
Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you is often missed by many students. How is the courseware broken down? And in what sequence and at what speed is it delivered? Training companies will normally offer a 2 or 3 year study programme, and send out each piece as you pass each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: Often, the staged breakdown insisted on by the company won’t suit you. And what if you don’t finish all the sections inside their defined time-scales?
To be honest, the best solution is to get an idea of what they recommend as an ideal study order, but get everything up-front. Meaning you’ve got it all should you not complete it at their required pace.
A lot of training providers only give support available from 9-6 (office hours) and sometimes later on specific days; most won’t answer after 8-9pm at the latest and frequently never at the weekends. You’ll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and phone support is usually just a call-centre who will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor – who’ll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, at a time suitable for them. This is no good if you’re sitting there confused over an issue and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.
The best training colleges tend to use an internet-based 24×7 facility utilising a variety of support centres throughout multiple time-zones. You’ll have an environment that accesses the most appropriate office any time of the day or night: Support when it’s needed. If you fail to get yourself direct-access round-the-clock support, you’ll regret it very quickly. You might not want to use the service during late nights, but you’re bound to use weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.
Accredited exam preparation and simulation materials are a must – and should definitely be obtained from your training supplier. Students regularly can get thrown by going through practice questions that aren’t recognised by authorised sources. It’s not uncommon that the way questions are phrased can be completely unlike un-authorised versions and you should be prepared for this. ‘Mock’ or practice exams will prove invaluable for confidence building – so much so, that at the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.
The sometimes daunting task of finding your first IT job can be relieved by some training providers because they offer a Job Placement Assistance service. At the end of the day it’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to secure employment – as long as you’re correctly trained and certified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews is sometimes offered (if it isn’t, consult one of our sites). It’s essential that you update that dusty old CV immediately – not after you’ve qualified! Getting your CV considered is more than not being known. Many junior positions are got by people who are still at an early stage in their studies. If it’s important to you to find work near your home, then it’s quite likely that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy could be of more use than the trainer’s recruitment division, due to the fact that they’re going to have insider knowledge of local employment needs.
A big aggravation of various training providers is how hard people are prepared to study to pass exams, but how un-prepared that student is to get the role they have qualified for. Don’t give up when the best is yet to come.
About the Author:
The author: Jason Kendall life has been in IT for 20 yrs. He now advises on training and accreditation. If you’re interested in
MCSE Certification, visit LearningLolly
MCSE Courses.