In today's high speed society, support workers who have the ability to mend networks and PC's, and offer constant solutions to users, are hugely valuable in all areas of the business environment. Whilst our society becomes more and more beholden to advanced technology, we also find ourselves more dependent on the well trained IT professionals, who ensure the systems function properly.

Ask almost any proficient advisor and they can normally tell you many terrible tales of how students have been duped by salespeople. Only deal with a skilled professional that digs deep to uncover the best thing for you - not for their pay-packet! Dig until you find the right starting point of study for you. If you've got any work-based experience or some accreditation, it may be that your starting point of study is very different to someone completely new. If this is your opening crack at studying to take an IT exam then you may want to begin with some basic PC skills training first.

One useful service offered by some training providers is a programme of Job Placement assistance. The service is put in place to help you get your first commercial position. But don't place too much emphasis on it - it's easy for their marketing department to overplay it. In reality, the still growing need for IT personnel in the United Kingdom is what will enable you to get a job.

Get your CV updated straight-away though - look to your training company for advice on how to do this. Don't wait till the exams have actually been passed. A good number of junior support roles have been offered to trainees who are still studying and have still to get qualified. At least this will get your CV into the 'possible' pile and not the 'no' pile. Actually, a specialist independent regional employment service - who make their money when they've found you a job - will be more pro-active than a division of a training company. They should, of course, also know the area and local employers better.

Fundamentally, as long as you put the same commitment into finding your first IT position as into studying, you won't have any problems. Some students strangely put hundreds of hours into their learning program and then call a halt once they've got certified and seem to expect employers to find them.

Don't accept anything less than an accredited exam preparation programme included in the package you choose. Due to the fact that the majority of examination boards in IT tend to be American, you need to become familiar with their phraseology. It's not sufficient merely understanding random questions - it's essential that you can cope with them in the proper exam format. Obviously, it's essential to make sure you're completely ready for your actual certification exam before embarking on it. Practicing 'mock' exams logs the information in your brain and will save a lot of money on thwarted exam entries.

How the program is actually delivered to you is usually ignored by most students. In what way are your training elements sectioned? What is the specific order and how fast does each element come? You may think it logical (with training often lasting 2 or 3 years for a full commercial certification,) for your typical trainer to courier the training stage by stage, as you pass each element. But: Students often discover that their training company's standard order of study isn't ideal for them. You may find that a slightly different order suits them better. Could it cause problems if you don't get everything done within their exact timetable?

Ideally, you want everything at the start - meaning you'll have all of them to return to any point - irrespective of any schedule. This allows a variation in the order that you complete your exams if another more intuitive route presents itself.

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