Workshop days are often sold as a major benefit by a lot of training schools. After a good chat with most computer industry students who have partaken in a couple, you'll begin to see a common thread - they are viewed as a waste of time as they hadn't properly considered the following:

- Loads of travelling - frequent journeys and often hundreds of miles a time.

- Workshop accessibility; frequently Mon-Fri and 2-3 days in a row. It's not easy to get the work-leave.

- Usually, we discover 4 weeks annual leave is not really enough. Sacrifice a big chunk of this for training workshops and see how much more difficult it makes things.

- 'In-Centre' workshop days usually get fully subscribed quite quickly, meaning we have to accept a less-than-ideal slot.

- Tension is sometimes created in mixed classes where students want to progress at their own pace.

- Most trainees tell us of the considerable cost of getting to and from the venue whilst paying for accommodation and food gets very high.

- All of us want some privacy. We wouldn't want to run the risk of throwing away any lift up the ladder that could awarded to us because our employer knows we're retraining.

- Most of us find that, at times, it's uncomfortable to raise questions in a class full of our fellow trainees - because none of us wants to look like we don't understand.

- More often than not, events frequently become pretty much unreachable, where you work away for part of the week.

The best possible solution rests with watching a pre-made workshop - with instructor-led learning available at a time that's convenient to you alone. You can train wherever you want. If your PC is a laptop, take in a bit of sunshine outside at the same time. If any problem raises its head then utilise the 24x7 Support. It's never going to matter how frequently you would like to re-take a quiz or test, on-screen instructors won't ever lose patience! Plus, as an added bonus, note-taking is a thing of the past. Everything is there for you to use. What could be simpler: A lot of money is saved and you avoid all the travelling; and of course you have a far more relaxed training setting.

Sometimes trainees are under the impression that the traditional school, college or university system is still the most effective. Why then are qualifications from the commercial sector becoming more in demand? Vendor-based training (in industry terminology) is most often much more specialised. Industry is aware that specialisation is essential to service the demands of an increasingly more technical world. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the key players in this arena. Obviously, a reasonable portion of background detail has to be taught, but essential specifics in the particular job function gives a vendor educated student a huge edge.

The crux of the matter is this: Commercial IT certifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - the title says it all: as an example - I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003'. Consequently employers can look at their needs and which qualifications are required to perform the job.

Discovering job security these days is problematic. Businesses will throw us from the workplace at the drop of a hat - whenever it suits. Wherever we find increasing skills shortages together with growing demand however, we always locate a new kind of market-security; driven forward by conditions of continuous growth, employers struggle to find enough staff.

The computer industry skills shortfall in the United Kingdom is standing at over 26 percent, as noted by the 2006 e-Skills study. Essentially, we're only able to fill just 3 out of every 4 jobs in Information Technology (IT). This single concept on its own highlights why the country desperately needs considerably more new trainees to become part of the industry. It would be hard to imagine if a better time or market circumstances is ever likely to exist for obtaining certification in this quickly increasing and evolving business.

One useful service that many training companies provide is a Job Placement Assistance program. The service is put in place to help you find your first job in the industry. With the great shortage of skills in Great Britain at the moment, it's not too important to make too much of this option though. It isn't so complicated as you might think to secure the right work once you're properly qualified.

You would ideally have CV and Interview advice and support though; additionally, we would recommend all students to work on polishing up their CV the day they start training - don't delay till you've finished your exams. You might not even have taken your exams when you land your first junior support job; yet this is not possible if your CV isn't in front of employers. The most efficient companies to help get you placed are usually independent and specialised local recruitment services. Because they get paid commission to place you, they have the necessary incentive to try that bit harder.

Certainly be sure that you don't spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, and then just stop and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Stand up for yourself and make your own enquiries. Invest the same time and energy into finding your new role as it took to get qualified.

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