Saturday, November 7, 2009

UK Microsoft SQL Computer Training - Thoughts

By Jason Kendall

What kind of things do you expect the most superior Microsoft accredited suppliers to offer a client in this country currently? Undoubtedly, the finest Microsoft authorised training routes, providing a selection of courses to take you into different areas of the IT industry.

Additionally you might like to be given advice on the sort of careers you might go for once you've qualified, and the kind of person those jobs may be appropriate for. The majority of students prefer to discuss what they might be good at.

Be sure your training is tailored to your needs and abilities. The best companies will make sure that the course is relevant to the career you want to get into.

Speak with almost any capable consultant and we'd be amazed if they couldn't provide you with many terrible tales of students who've been sold completely the wrong course for them. Only deal with a skilled professional that digs deep to uncover the best thing for you - not for their wallet! You must establish an ideal starting-point that fits you.

If you have a strong background, or even a touch of real-world experience (possibly even some previous certification?) then it's likely the point from which you begin your studies will vary from a student that is completely new to the industry.

For those students starting IT studies and exams as a new venture, it can be helpful to ease in gradually, kicking off with a user-skills course first. Usually this is packaged with any study program.

Incorporating examination fees with the course fee then including an exam guarantee is a popular marketing tool with many training course providers. Consider the facts:

You'll be charged for it one way or another. You can be assured it's not a freebie - it's just been rolled into the price of the whole package.

We all want to pass first time. Entering examinations one by one and funding them one at a time puts you in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt - you take it seriously and are aware of the costs involved.

Shouldn't you be looking to hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you take the exam, not to pay any mark-up to the training course provider, and also to sit exams more locally - rather than possibly hours away from your area?

Including money in your training package for examinations (and interest charges if you're borrowing money) is a false economy. It's not your job to boost the training company's account with your money only to please their Bank Manager! A lot bank on the fact that you won't get to do them all - so they get to keep the extra funds.

Additionally, 'Exam Guarantees' often aren't worth the paper they're written on. Many training companies will not pay for re-takes until you've completely satisfied them that you're ready this time.

On average, exams cost about 112 pounds in the last 12 months through Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So why pay hundreds or thousands of pounds extra to get 'an Exam Guarantee', when common sense dictates that what's really needed is study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams.

Be on the lookout that any certifications that you're considering will be commercially viable and are the most recent versions. The 'in-house' certifications provided by many companies are not normally useful in gaining employment.

Unless the accreditation comes from a company like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco, then chances are it won't be commercially viable - as no-one will have heard of it.

Frequently, the average student doesn't have a clue what way to go about starting in the IT industry, or even which sector to focus their retraining program on.

How likely is it for us to understand what is involved in a particular job when it's an alien environment to us? Maybe we don't know someone who works in that sector anyway.

Usually, the way to come at this problem properly stems from a thorough discussion of some important points:

* Your personal interests and hobbies - these can highlight what areas will provide a happy working life.

* Do you hope to accomplish a key aim - for instance, working for yourself sometime soon?

* Where is the salary on a scale of importance - is it of prime importance, or is enjoying your job a lot higher on your list of priorities?

* Always think in-depth about the level of commitment required to attain their desired level.

* Taking a cold, hard look at how much time and effort that you're going to put into it.

When all is said and done, the best way of checking this all out is through a meeting with someone that has enough background to be able to guide you.

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