Several companies have a handy Job Placement Assistance program, to help you get your first job. With the great shortage of skills in this country right now, it's not necessary to become overly impressed with this service however. It isn't so complicated as you might think to find the right work once you're trained and certified.

Whatever you do, avoid waiting until you've finished your training before getting your CV updated. Right at the beginning of your training, enter details of your study programme and place it on jobsites! Many junior support roles have been bagged by students who are still learning and haven't got any qualifications yet. At the very least this will get you on your way. Actually, an independent and specialised local employment agency (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) should get better results than any sector of a centralised training facility. In addition, they will no doubt be familiar with the area and local employers better.

Just make sure you don't put hundreds of hours of effort into your studies, and then just stop and expect somebody else to sort out your employment. Stop procrastinating and make your own enquiries. Channel as much resource into securing your new role as you did to gain the skills.

A rudimentary understanding of networks is an ideal first-base for anyone coming into the industry. You must know the way PCs operate and communicate with one another before you do anything else. Providing you possess effective user-skills, you will find the 'CompTIA' A+ & Network+ training programs are excellent to get you started. They're dealt with within the CompTIA section of this website.

What comes next depends mainly upon whether you would like to specialise in 'hardware' or 'software'. For 'hardware', you are looking at Cisco ('CCNA'/'CCNP'), & for 'software' you need Microsoft (MCSA or MCSE). Nevertheless, Microsoft has a high domination throughout most network-environments, which means an in-depth knowledge of their 'software' is extremely important whatever you specialise in. You can find additional accreditation information on this site in the dedicated MS & Cisco pages.

Alternatively, you may choose to continue down the vendor neutral track with more 'CompTIA' qualification (for example Security+, Server+ & Linux+ ) or even have a go at the wire-less ('Wi-Fi') area of things with the 'CWNP'/'CWNA'.

We can't make a big enough deal out of this point: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 instructor support. You will have so many problems later if you don't follow this rule rigidly. Never purchase study programmes that only provide support to you with a message system outside of normal office hours. Companies will always try to hide the importance of this issue. Essentially - support is needed when it's needed - not when it's convenient for them.

Keep looking and you'll come across the top providers that give students direct-access online support around the clock - at any time of day or night. Always choose a training school that gives this level of learning support. Only true live 24x7 round-the-clock support delivers what is required.

Validated exam preparation packages are a must - and really must be offered by your course provider. Students regularly can get confused by trying to prepare themselves with questions that are not from official boards. Sometimes, the terminology in the real exams is startlingly different and it's important to prepare yourself for this. As you can imagine, it's very important to know that you've thoroughly prepared for the real exam before embarking on it. Rehearsing mock-up exams logs the information in your brain and will save a lot of money on unsuccessful attempts at exams.

Many of the finest industry-acknowledged accreditations today are produced by the vendor neutral 'Computing Technology Industry Association' ('CompTIA'). Various other bodies also offer worthwhile certifications, for example 'CWNP' (Certified Wireless Network Professional) and 'ISC2' ('International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium'). Most prominently of course are Cisco and Microsoft themselves, both providing their own accreditation paths. The choice may well be a bit mind-boggling, and therefore we urge you to tread very carefully and go through your plans with an expert who knows the process well. Without having personally-tailored advice you could head off in the wrong-direction and waste a lot of time or money.

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