It is vital that you understand what goals you're looking to accomplish if you're planning to embark on an IT training program. Do you just need better home computer abilities, or are you currently hoping to acquire some qualifications to enhance your CV? Then again, there's a chance you're thinking of a professional change of career into the IT sector.

Keeping in mind your end goal is vital for identifying the training that will take you to it. As soon as you have worked out your desired goals, it is much simpler to decide upon the training program that will meet your fundamental goals. This important process will also save you money and time, and will mean you're not wasting energy on the wrong thing.

Careers in I.T. tend to be broken down into a few main groups: 1) Networking, Security and Support, 2) Programming and Software Development, 3) Database Administration and Development & 4) Web Design, - both creative & technological aspects. Each area of expertise needs its own distinct skill sets and qualifications, with an array of certifications from starter to extremely advanced. The large volume of accreditations on offer in these fields may be a little off-putting to the new student, but this is why a sensible careers chat with an industry advisor can explain what is appropriate for your personality-type, objectives & learning-style.

If you purely want to get a good understanding of how to use your laptop or computer for basic operations, the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is the right course for you. Nearly all personal computers are designed with a system called Windows, and your ECDL talks about how to operate it's standard basic elements. You can expect to discover the way to login to the net, and how to get into and find your way around websites and manage email. You'll also be taught the basics of word-processing plus a little about what spreadsheets and databases are generally used for.

A further level is to gain some more formalised instruction to boost your CV or prepare you for other functions at work. By far the most common of these is more in-depth instruction in Microsoft 'Office'. Two well recognised qualification programs are MOS (Microsoft 'Office Specialist') & MCAS ('Microsoft Certification Application Specialist'). MOS has been about for several years and works with 'Office' 2003 & XP, which continues to be very well used in business. 'MCAS' works with Office 2007 & 'Vista', so no doubt provides for increased longevity. You'll find individual exams for both which test on "Word", "Excel", 'Powerpoint' and "Access" - for 'word processing', 'spreadsheets', presentations & databases. The advantage of having these accreditations is that they show your advanced skill level for working with these packages.

If you are looking at a change of career into I.T., then its probable that you'll need to start out somewhere amidst these programs, depending on your overall degree of I.T. literacy. For more senior programs its advisable to talk your ideas through with an industry expert who has IT knowledge. In fact any complete career change ideas should really be talked through before getting started - its a practical approach to be sure the training you decide on is right for the job. Trainees who don't arrange where they're heading from the start frequently wind up blowing considerable time and money - that could have been prevented with a very simple thirty minute chat.

You'll get the opportunity to learn more about the various IT careers and different training paths from specialised web-pages on this web site. Should you wish, we'll send you our comprehensive e-book 'Lollypedia' free of charge, which offers you the opportunity to contact our professional advisory team.

Moving a stage further again, you could look into the first stage of Professional accreditation: 'User' & Systems Support. To support workers who use computers in the office, you'll need a technical qualification like the 'Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician'. Allow roughly a hundred hrs of training time to gain this standard of certification.

More advanced I.T. qualifications will take you to full professional grade. 'CompTIA' offers the most widely acknowledged entry level exams (namely 'A+' and 'N+') for networking, hardware support and security. As well as learning about the fundamentals of hardware and networks, you'll also learn about trouble-shooting, support, administration & security. A training program teaching both of them ought to take roughly 200 - 250 hours to finish. This means a person learning part time alongside a full time job could feasibly be at the accreditation stage in six months' time.

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