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:
* Do you like working on your own or is being in a team environment an important option?
* 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?
* Would you like your study to be in an industry where you believe your chances of gainful employment are high until retirement?
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.
The perhaps intimidating chore of securing your first job is often made easier by training colleges, through a Job Placement Assistance service. Often, too much is made of this feature, as it’s relatively easy for well qualified and focused men and women to get a job in this industry – because there’s a great need for skilled employees.
CV and Interview advice and support is sometimes offered (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). Ensure you update that dusty old CV immediately – not after you’ve qualified!
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!
The top companies to help get you placed are generally local IT focused employment agencies. Because they get paid commission to place you, they have more incentive to get on with it.
To bottom line it, as long as you focus the same level of energy into securing your first IT position as into studying, you’re not going to hit many challenges. A number of students strangely spend hundreds of hours on their training and studies and then just stop once qualified and would appear to think that businesses will just discover them.
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.
Students often train for a single year but end up performing the job-role for decades. Don’t make the mistake of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ training program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!
Spend some time thinking about earning potential and what level of ambition fits you. This will influence what precise certifications will be expected and how much effort you’ll have to give in return.
It’s good advice for all students to speak with an industry professional before following a particular study program. This gives some measure of assurance that it contains the commercially required skills for the chosen career path.
Looking at the myriad of choice out there, does it really shock us that the majority of trainees get stuck choosing the job they could be successful with.
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:
* What hobbies you have and enjoy – these can point towards what areas will give you the most reward.
* Are you aiming to achieve a closely held dream – like working for yourself someday?
* How highly do you rate salary – is it of prime importance, or do you place job satisfaction a little higher on the scale of your priorities?
* Learning what the main work types and markets are – plus how they’re different to each other.
* The time and energy you’ll commit your training.
The bottom line is, your only chance of investigating all this is from an in-depth discussion with an advisor or professional that has enough background to lead you to the correct decision.
Watch out that all accreditations you’re considering doing will be commercially viable and are up-to-date. The ‘in-house’ certifications provided by many companies are not normally useful in gaining employment.
From a commercial standpoint, only top businesses such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA (as an example) really carry any commercial clout. Nothing else makes the grade.
(C) 2009. Hop over to LearningLolly.com for logical advice on IT Jobs and Comptia Training Conference.