The sometimes daunting task of landing your first role in IT can be made easier by some companies, via a Job Placement Assistance facility. With the massive demand for appropriately skilled people in this country right now, there isn't a great need to make too much of this option though. It isn't so complicated as you might think to get the right work once you're trained and certified.

CV and Interview advice and support might be provided (if it isn't, consult one of our sites). Be sure to you polish up your CV immediately - not when you're ready to start work! Getting onto the 'maybe' pile of CV's is far better than not even being known about. A surprising amount of junior support roles are bagged by people in the early stages of their course. Most often, an independent and specialised local recruitment consultant or service (who will get paid commission to place you) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company's service. It also stands to reason that they'll be familiar with the local industry and employment needs.

A big frustration of various course providers is how much people are prepared to study to get qualified, but how un-prepared that student is to get the position they've trained for. Have confidence - the IT industry needs YOU.

One of the most important things to insist on has to be 24x7 round-the-clock support with trained professional instructors and mentors. It's an all too common story to find providers that only seem to want to help while they're in the office (9am till 6pm, Monday till Friday usually) and nothing at the weekends. Try and find training with help available at any time you choose (even 1am on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get direct-access to qualified mentors and tutors, and not a call-centre that will take messages so you're parked in a queue of others waiting to be called back during office hours.

Keep looking and you'll come across professional training packages which offer direct-access support at all times - even in the middle of the night. Seek out a trainer that offers this level of study support. Because only round-the-clock 24x7 support gives you the confidence to make it.

Exam 'guarantees' are sometimes offered as part of a training package - inevitably that means paying for the exams at the very beginning of your studies. Before you jump at guaranteed exams, be aware of the facts:

It's very clear we're still footing the bill for it - it's obviously been added into the overall figure from the course provider. It's definitely not free - and it's insulting that we're supposed to think it is! Students who take each progressive exam, funding them as they go are far more likely to pass first time. They're conscious of their investment and revise more thoroughly to make sure they're ready.

Don't pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you when you're ready, and keep hold of your own money. You also get more choice of where you sit the exam - so you can find somewhere local. Including money in your training package for examination fees (plus interest - if you're financing your study) is bad financial management. Resist being talked into filling the training company's account with extra money of yours just to give them a good cash-flow! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you won't get round to taking them - so they don't need to pay for them. Many training companies will require you to sit pre-tests and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you've completely proven that you're likely to pass - which actually leaves you with no guarantee at all.

With the average price of Pro-metric and VUE tests coming in at around 112 pounds in the UK, it makes sense to pay as you go. It's not in the student's interests to fork out hundreds or thousands of pounds for exams when enrolling on a course. Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.

Remember: the course itself or a qualification is not the ultimate goal; the job or career that you want to end up in is. Many trainers unfortunately over-emphasise the qualification itself. It's a terrible situation, but thousands of new students commence training that sounds fabulous in the syllabus guide, but which provides the end-result of a job that doesn't satisfy. Talk to many college graduates to see what we mean.

Take time to understand your feelings on earning potential, career development, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. You should understand what will be expected of you, which particular certifications they want you to have and how you'll gain real-world experience. We'd recommend you take guidance from a skilled advisor before making your final decision on a training programme, so you can be sure that a program provides the skill-set required for your career choice.

Have a conversation with any proficient consultant and we'd be amazed if they couldn't provide you with many horror stories of students who've been sold completely the wrong course for them. Only deal with a skilled advisor who asks lots of questions to find out what's right for you - not for their retirement-fund! It's very important to locate a starting-point that will suit you. Often, the training inception point for a student with experience is vastly dissimilar to the student with no experience. For those students embarking on IT studies as a new venture, it can be helpful to ease in gradually, by working on some basic user skills first. This can easily be incorporated into any study program.

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