by Jason Kendall
Should you want a career in network support then the Microsoft MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) course will suit you perfectly. So if you want to get going or have previous knowledge but need to formalise your skills, a range of courses exist to fit either requirement. Find a training company that’s keen to understand you, and will help identify the right direction for you, even prior to talking about which course. You can also expect them to be in a position to tell you where to begin dependent on your current comprehension or lack of it.
How are we supposed to arrive at a good choice then? With such prospects, it’s essential to be guided as to where to search – and what we should be investigating.
We can see a plethora of jobs and positions available in computing. Arriving at the correct choice in this uncertainty often proves challenging. What is our likelihood of grasping the many facets of a particular career if we’ve never been there? We normally don’t know someone who performs the role either. To attack this, a discussion is necessary, covering a number of different aspects:
* Your individual personality and interests – what kind of work-centred jobs please or frustrate you.
* Is it your desire to pull off a closely held aim – for instance, working for yourself as quickly as possible?
* How highly do you rate salary – is it the most important thing, or is job satisfaction a lot higher on your list of priorities?
* With so many markets to choose from in Information Technology – it’s wise to achieve a solid grounding on what sets them apart.
* Taking a cold, hard look at the level of commitment, time and effort that you’re going to put into it.
At the end of the day, your only chance of covering these is via a meeting with an advisor who understands the market well enough to provide solid advice.
The age-old way of teaching, using textbooks and whiteboards, can be pretty hard going sometimes. If you’re nodding as you read this, dig around for more practical courses which have a majority of interactive, multimedia parts. If we can involve all our senses in the learning process, our results will often be quite spectacular.
You can now study via interactive CD and DVD ROM’s. Real-world classes from the instructors will mean you’ll absorb the modules, one by one, by way of the expert demonstrations. Knowledge can then be tested by interacting with the software and practicing yourself. It’s imperative to see the type of training provided by each company you’re contemplating. Be sure that they contain instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s.
Go for CD and DVD ROM based physical training media whenever you can. You’re then protected from internet connection failure and issues with signal quality.
Training support for students is an absolute must – look for a package that includes 24×7 access, as not opting for this kind of support could impede your ability to learn. Don’t buy certification programs which can only support students with an out-sourced call-centre message system after 6-9pm in the evening and during weekends. Companies will give you every excuse in the book why you don’t need this. Essentially – support is needed when it’s needed – not at times when they find it cheaper to provide it.
Keep your eyes open for providers that incorporate three or four individual support centres across multiple time-zones. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to enable simple one-stop access together with 24 hours-a-day access, when you need it, with the minimum of hassle. Seek out a training school that cares. Only true 24×7 round-the-clock live support gives you the confidence to make it.
Some training providers are still using the rather old-fashioned idea of in-centre classes. Quite often pushed as a positive point, if you track down someone who’s been through a few, don’t be surprised to be lectured on several if not all of these:
* Masses of journeys to the workshop centre – sometimes 100’s of miles.
* If, like many of us, you work, then Monday to Friday classes cause problems at work. Often you’re contending with at least 2, if not 3 days in a row.
* Usually, we end up feeling 4 weeks annual leave is barely enough. Spend at least half of this for study days and see how much more difficult it makes things.
* Training classes can ’sell out’ fast and often end up larger than is ideal.
* The pace of the class – workshops typically have trainees of varied abilities, therefore there is often tension between the quicker-learners and the ones who need a little longer.
* Calculate the increasing cost of all the travel, fares, food, accommodation and parking and you could be in for a major shock. Attendees talk of increased costs ranging from hundreds to over a thousand pounds. Take some time to add it all up – then you’ll know.
* A lot of attendees want study privacy to avoid any kind of repercussions from their current employer.
* How many of us have avoided putting our hand’s up, because we wanted to look smarter?
* There are those of us who occasionally live or work away from home, consider the added problems of getting to the needed events, as time is now more scarce than ever.
An altogether more elegant solution rests with watching a videoed class – having instructor-led teaching on hand any time of the day that suits. Whenever you get stuck, use the provided 24×7 live support (that you should have insisted on for any technical study.) Keep in mind, if your PC is a notebook PC, study isn’t restricted to the home or office. It doesn’t matter how many times you want to re-do a section, filmed teachers aren’t ever likely to rush you! Plus, as an added bonus, you’ll never have to write notes again. It’s all there for you. Could it get any simpler: You avoid travelling and wasting time and money; and of course you have a far more peaceful training atmosphere.
At times people don’t catch on to what IT can do for us. It is thrilling, changing, and means you’re working on technology that will impact the whole world for generations to come. Technology, computers and connections through the web will dramatically affect the way we live our lives over future years; remarkably so.
The usual IT man or woman in Great Britain has been shown to get noticeably more than employees on a par outside of IT. Average wages are amongst the highest in the country. Experts agree that there’s a great UK-wide requirement for trained and qualified IT technicians. In addition, with the constant growth in the marketplace, it looks like this will be the case for a good while yet.
About the Author:
After 20 yrs in IT, Jason Kendall has focused himself on computer training (UK based) consultancy. If you’re interested in
MCSE 2003, visit LearningLolly
MCSA MCSE.