With so much choice, it's not really surprising that most potential trainees don't really understand the best career path they will enjoy. Since having no commercial skills in computing, how can most of us understand what someone in a particular job does? Reflection on these different points is important when you want to expose the right answers:

- What hobbies you have and enjoy - often these define what areas will satisfy you.

- Are you aiming to reach a specific goal - like being your own boss sometime soon?

- How important is salary to you - is it of prime importance, or does job satisfaction rate further up on your priority-list?

- Getting to grips with what the main IT types and markets are - including what sets them apart.

- The level of commitment and effort you'll have available to set aside for your training.

The bottom line is, the most intelligent way of covering these is through a good talk with an advisor or professional that has enough background to provide solid advice.

If you're like many of the students we talk to then you're a practical sort of person - the 'hands-on' person. Usually, the unfortunate chore of reading reference guides is something you'll make yourself do if you have to, but it's not ideal. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if book-based learning really isn't your style. Years of research and study has repeatedly demonstrated that connecting physically with our study, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.

Start a study-program in which you'll receive a selection of CD and DVD based materials - you'll be learning from instructor videos and demo's, followed by the chance to use virtual lab's to practice your new skills. It makes sense to see some examples of the kind of training materials you'll be using before you purchase a course. What you want are instructor demonstrations, video tutorials and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.

You should avoid purely online training. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where offered, so that you have access at all times - ISP quality varies, so you don't want to be totally reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.

'Exam Guarantees' are often bundled with training offers - they always involve paying for the exam fees up-front, at the very beginning of your studies. Before you jump at guaranteed exams, think about this:

Thankfully, today we are a bit more aware of hype - and usually we realise that of course it is something we're paying for - they're not just being charitable and doling out freebies! For those who want to qualify first 'go', you must avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, focus on it intently and be ready for the task.

Go for the best offer you can find at the appropriate time, and save having to find the money early. You'll also be able to choose where to take your exam - so you can find somewhere local. Huge profits are made by many companies who get money for exam fees in advance. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don't get to do their exams and so they pocket the rest. Amazingly, there are companies around that depend on students not taking their exams - and that's how they increase their profits. Also, exam guarantees often have very little value. The majority of companies will not pay again for an exam until you're able to demonstrate an excellent mock pass rate.

Shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds on 'Exam Guarantees' is remiss - when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really see you through.

It only makes sense to consider learning courses that'll lead to industry approved exams. There are far too many small companies proposing their own 'in-house' certificates which are worthless when it comes to finding a job. You'll discover that only industry recognised examinations from companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe and CompTIA will be useful to a future employer.

Taking things one stage farther again, you could look into the 1st stage of Professional accreditation: User and Systems-support. Typically, if you are going to offer Software Support to users inside a corporate environment, then the MCDST ('Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician') may well be appropriate. You should generally be looking at approximately a hundred hours of study with this level.

We move in to full IT career training programs at the next level. CompTIA offers the most widely accepted entry level examinations (namely A+ & 'N+') for hardware support, networking and security. Training courses will include hardware and network installation at a fundamental level, plus elements of security, support & administration. A training program that teaches both should take around 200-250 hrs to complete. This means an individual studying part-time alongside a full-time job could be at the examination stage in 6 month's time.

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