September 30th, 2009PC Support Training – Insights
Well Done! By landing here we guess you must be considering getting re-qualified for a new job – so you’ve already done more than most. Only one in ten of us are satisfied with our careers, but most complain but just stay there. Why not be one of a small number who make a difference in their lives.
We’d strongly advise that before you start any individual training program, you run through some things with a mentor who is familiar with the working environment and can point you in the right direction. Such a person will go through personality profiling with you and give you guidance on the right role for you:
* Do you enjoy a busy working environment? Is it meeting new people or being part of a team? Perhaps you prefer not to be disturbed and enjoy responsibilities that you can get on with on your own?
* Are you considering which industry you maybe could work in? (Post credit crunch, it’s essential to choose well.)
* Having completed your retraining, would you like your skills to see you to retirement age?
* Is it important for the course you’re re-training in to be in an area where as far as you can see your chances of gainful employment are high up to retirement age?
It would be an idea for you to really explore Information Technology – there are more positions than people to do them, and it’s one of the few choices of career where the sector is on the grow. Contrary to the opinions of certain people, it isn’t a bunch of techie geeks staring at their computers the whole time (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) Most positions are done by people like you and me who enjoy better than average salaries.
‘In-Centre workshop days’ get pushed as a major benefit by many training companies. After chatting with the majority of computer industry hopefuls that have tried them out, you’ll likely realise that they’ve now become a waste of time mainly due to the following:
* All the travelling required – multiple journeys and usually 100’s of miles each time.
* If, like many of us, you work, then weekday only events represent a difficulty in getting time off. You’re usually looking at at least 2, if not 3 days in a row.
* Lost holiday days – most working people get just four weeks holiday each year. If you give up at least half to your educational days, that doesn’t leave much holiday time left for the family as a whole.
* ‘In-Centre’ workshop days can ’sell out’ fast and often end up larger than is ideal.
* Tension can run high in many classes where different students want to work at different paces.
* The growing costs associated with travel – driving or taking public transport to the training facility plus several days bed and breakfast can mount up each time you attend. With only 5-10 centre-days costing 35 pounds for a single over-night room, plus 40 pounds petrol and 15.00 for food, that equates to four to nine hundred pounds of costs that we weren’t expecting.
* Do you really want the chance of letting yourself be side-stepped for a lift up the ladder or income boosts just because you’re retraining.
* It’s quite usual for people to not ask questions they want answered – just because they’re amongst other classmates.
* For those who have work away from home, you now have to deal with the fact that days in-centre now become impossible to get to – unfortunately however, they’ve already been paid for.
It really does make more sense to be taught when it’s convenient for you – not the company – and use instructor-led videos with interactive lab’s.
Do them at home on your desktop computer or out in the garden on your laptop. Any questions that pop up, just make use of the 24×7 support (that we hope you’ll insist on with any technical courses.)
Just do the modules at any time you need to revise. And of course, you won’t need to take notes as you have the lesson indefinitely.
Even though this doesn’t suddenly take away all study problems, it surely removes stress and makes things simpler. And you’ve reduced travel, hassle and costs.
Don’t listen to a salesman that just tells you what course you should do without an in-depth conversation to assess your abilities and also your level of experience. Ensure that they have a generous range of products so they’re actually equipped to solve your training issues.
If you have a strong background, or sometimes a little work-based experience (some certifications gained previously perhaps?) then it could be that your starting level will be quite dissimilar from someone with no background whatsoever.
For those students commencing IT study for the first time, it’s often a good idea to start out slowly, starting with some basic PC skills training first. Usually this is packaged with any educational course.