Kick out a salesperson who pushes one particular program without performing a 'fact-find' to assess your abilities and experience level. Make sure they can draw from a expansive product range so they're able to solve your training issues. Where you have a strong background, or even a touch of commercial experience (some certifications gained previously perhaps?) then it's more than likely the level you'll need to start at will be different from a trainee who has no experience. If this is going to be your initial stab at studying for an IT examination then it may be wise to start out with some basic PC skills training first.

An effective package of training will undoubtedly incorporate fully authorised exam simulation and preparation packages. Due to the fact that most IT examination boards are American, you'll need to be used to the correct phraseology. You can't practice properly by just going through the right questions - they have to be in the same format as the actual exams. It's a good idea to ask for testing modules that will allow you to verify your understanding whenever you need to. Practice or 'mock' exams log the information in your brain - so the actual exam is much easier.

Locating job security in the current climate is problematic. Companies can drop us out of the workplace with very little notice - as long as it fits their needs. But a fast growing sector, with huge staffing demands (due to a big shortfall of trained people), opens the possibility of lasting job security.

Looking at the computer sector, the recent e-Skills investigation highlighted a more than 26 percent skills deficit. Put simply, we can only fill three out of each 4 job positions in the computing industry. This troubling certainty shows the requirement for more appropriately certified computing professionals in the country. While the market is developing at such a rate, there really isn't any other area of industry worth investigating for your new career.

If you're thinking of using a training academy that is still pushing workshops as a feature of their programme, then take note of these issues met by many trainees:

- Multiple centre visits - quite often 100's of miles.

- Getting constant holidays or time off - many training providers can only give class availability from Monday to Friday and typically group 2-3 days together. To be honest, this doesn't suit working people, even more so when you add the travel time on.

- Lost holiday days - many workers only get 4 weeks annual leave. If over half of it is swallowed up by study classes, you haven't got a great deal of holiday time remaining for the family as a whole.

- Classes sometimes get fully subscribed quite quickly, giving us the only option of a slot that doesn't really suit.

- Some trainees lean towards a different pace to others in the class. This creates tension in the class.

- Take into account all of all the travel, fares, parking, accommodation and food and you could be in for a major shock. Attendees have reported extra costs mounting to several hundred and sometimes thousands of pounds. Sit down and add it up - and you'll see how.

- Privacy is important to us all. We don't want to risk throwing away any potential advancement that could awarded to us because we're getting trained in a different area.

- It's quite usual for people to not ask questions they want answered - simply down to the fact that they're in front of other people.

- Usually, days in-centre become simply impossible to attend, where you work or live away for part of your week or month.

The best possible solution comes from viewing a filmed class - having instructor-led teaching on hand whenever you'd like. Study at home on your desktop PC or use your laptop to enjoy the sun. If you have any questions, then logon to the 24x7 support facility (that you should have insisted on for any technical study.) Repeat any of the classes if you need to - repetition is good for memory. And you can say goodbye to note-taking - it's all provided. What could be more straightforward: No travelling, wasted time or money; plus you get a much more relaxed learning atmosphere.

Of course: a actual training or an accreditation is not the ultimate goal; a job that you want is. Many trainers unfortunately completely prioritise the piece of paper. Don't let yourself become one of those unfortunate students who select a program that on the surface appears interesting - and get to the final hurdle of an accreditation for a career they'll never really get any satisfaction from.

Prioritise understanding the expectations of your industry. Which precise qualifications you'll be required to have and in what way you can gain some industry experience. It's also worth spending time considering how far you think you'll want to build your skill-set as it may present a very specific set of accreditations. Your likely to need help from someone that can explain the market you've chosen, and who can offer 'A day in the life of' explanation of what you actually do on the job. These things are incredibly important as you'll need to fully understand if you're barking up the wrong tree.

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