Nice One! Discovering this piece proves you must be wondering about where you're going, and if it's re-training you're considering that means you've taken it further than the majority of people will. Can you believe that hardly any of us describe ourselves as satisfied and happy at work - but most won't do a thing about it. We encourage you to break free and do something - think about how you could enjoy Monday mornings.

With regard to any career courses, seek out someone who can talk you through the right type of training for you. An advisor who will take time to get a feel for your personality, and find out the best career for you to work towards:

* Do you like to work collaborating with people? Is that as part of a team or with a lot of new people? Perhaps working alone on specific tasks could suit you better?

* What do you require from the industry your job is in? - We all know that things have changed, look at building and banking for instance.

* After re-training, how long a career do you hope for, and will the market sector offer you the chance to do that?

* Do you want your retraining to be in an area where you know your chances of gainful employment are high until retirement?

Look at the IT sector, that's our recommendation - unusually, it's one of the growth areas in this country and overseas. Salaries are also more generous than most.

At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be proper direct-access 24x7 support with trained professional instructors and mentors. Too many companies only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support. You'll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre which will make some notes and then email an advisor - who'll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, when it suits them. This is no use if you're lost and confused and can only study at specific times.

It's possible to find professional companies which give students online direct access support 24x7 - even in the middle of the night. If you fail to get yourself online 24x7 support, you'll quickly find yourself regretting it. You may avoid using the support late in the night, but you may need weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

One fatal mistake that potential students often succumb to is to focus entirely on getting a qualification, rather than starting with where they want to get to. Schools are stacked to the hilt with unaware students that chose a program because it looked interesting - in place of something that could gain them their end-goal of a job they enjoyed. It's quite usual, in some situations, to thoroughly enjoy one year of training but end up spending 10 or 20 years in a tiresome job role, as an upshot of not doing some decent due-diligence when you should've - at the outset.

Stay focused on where you want to get to, and formulate your training based on that - don't do it the other way round. Stay on target - making sure you're training for a job that will keep you happy for many years. Take guidance from an industry professional, even if you have to pay - as it's a lot cheaper and safer to investigate at the start whether you've chosen correctly, rather than realise after several years of study that you're doing entirely the wrong thing and have to start from the beginning again.

Accredited exam preparation packages are a must - and must be supplied by your training supplier. Due to the fact that many examining boards for IT tend to be American, you need to become familiar with their phraseology. It's no use simply understanding random questions - it's essential that you can cope with them in the proper exam format. Ensure that you request some practice exams so you'll be able to test your knowledge at any point. Practice or 'mock' exams will help to boost your attitude - then you're much more at ease with the real thing.

Many training companies have a handy Job Placement Assistance program, to help you get your first job. But don't place too much emphasis on it - it's easy for companies marketing departments to make too much of it. In reality, the need for well trained IT people in the United Kingdom is the reason you'll find a job.

Advice and support about getting interviews and your CV should be offered (if it isn't, consult one of our sites). It's essential that you polish up your CV straight away - not when you're ready to start work! It's not unusual to find that you will get your initial job whilst you're still studying (sometimes when you've only just got going). If your course details aren't on your CV (and it hasn't been posted on jobsites) then you don't stand a chance! Generally, you'll receive better results from a specialised and independent local recruitment service than you will through a training provider's recruitment division, because they'll know the area better.

A slight frustration of many training course providers is how hard students are prepared to work to pass exams, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the job they have studied for. Don't give up when the best is yet to come.

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