'CompTIA' (the Computing Technology Industry Association) is a world-wide enterprise that now supplies a number of the most reputed vendor-neutral certification paths on the market. Other bodies also offer worthy accreditations, like CWNP ('Certified Wireless Network Professional') and 'ISC2' (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium). Clearly Microsoft & Cisco offer a total array of professional level accreditations. The choice could be a little mind-boggling, & therefore we urge you to go cautiously & go through all of your alternatives with an expert who knows the process very well. This will likely stop you from making an expensive mistake, in terms of time and money spent.

Far too many companies are all about the certification, and forget the reasons for getting there - which will always be getting the job or career you want. You should always begin with where you want to get to - don't make the journey more important than where you want to get to. It's a sad fact, but the majority of trainees begin programs that seem spectacular from the syllabus guide, but which gets us a career that is of no interest. Talk to many university graduates and you'll see where we're coming from.

You must also consider your leanings around career development, earning potential, and how ambitious you are. You should understand what will be expected of you, what accreditations they want you to have and how to develop your experience. Look for advice and guidance from an experienced advisor, even if there's a fee involved - it's considerably cheaper and safer to discover early on whether a chosen track will suit, rather than realise following two years of study that you're doing entirely the wrong thing and have to return to the start of another program.

Students eager to start a career in IT generally don't know what route to consider, or what market to achieve their certification in. Since with no commercial background in the IT industry, how can most of us know what any job actually involves? Achieving any kind of right decision really only appears from a detailed analysis of several unique factors:

- What hobbies you're involved with in your spare-time - often these define what possibilities will provide a happy working life.

- Are you driven to re-train because of a certain raison d'etre - for instance, are you pushing to work from home (self-employment?)?

- Does salary have a higher place on your priority-list than anything else.

- Understanding what the main job areas and markets are - plus how they're different to each other.

- How much time you're prepared to spend on your training.

For the majority of us, sifting through these areas requires a good chat with someone that knows what they're talking about. And not just the qualifications - you also need to understand the commercial requirements of industry too.

We need to make this very clear: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 professional support from mentors and instructors. You will have so many problems later if you don't heed this. Always avoid training courses that only support trainees through an out-sourced call-centre message system after office-staff have gone home. Colleges will try to talk you round from this line of reasoning. But, no matter how they put it - you want support at the appropriate time - not as-and-when it's suitable for their staff.

Keep looking and you'll come across professional companies that provide their students direct-access online support all the time - no matter what time of day it is. Never make the mistake of compromise when it comes to your support. Most students who give up, are in that situation because they didn't get the support necessary for them.

If you're like many of the students we talk to then you probably enjoy fairly practical work - a 'hands-on' individual. Typically, the unfortunate chore of reading reference guides would be considered as a last resort, but it doesn't suit your way of doing things. You should use video and multimedia based materials if you'd really rather not use books. Recent studies into the way we learn shows that much more of what we learn in remembered when we receive multi-sensorial input, and we put into practice what we've been studying.

The latest home-based training features interactive discs. By watching and listening to instructors on video tutorials you'll learn your subject by way of the demonstrations and explanations. Then it's time to test your knowledge by practicing and interacting with the software. Be sure to get a demonstration of the study materials from any training college. You'll want to see instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and lab's for you to practice your skills in.

Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where possible, so that you have access at all times - it's not wise to be held hostage to your internet connection always being 'up' and available.

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