Without a regular deluge of knowledgeable network and PC support staff, commercial enterprise in the United Kingdom (as elsewhere) would inevitably be brought to its knees. There is a constantly increasing demand for people to support both users and the systems they work with. The nation's requirement for larger numbers of commercially qualified individuals is growing, as society becomes consistently more dependent upon PC's in the twenty first century.

Many training companies offer a Job Placement Assistance facility, to assist your search for your first position. The fact of the matter is it isn't a complex operation to get a job - assuming you're well trained and qualified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

Whatever you do, don't wait till you have passed your final exams before getting your CV updated. As soon as you start a course, list what you're working on and get it out there! Many junior support roles have been offered to trainees who are in the process of training and have still to get qualified. This will at least get you into the 'maybe' pile of CV's - rather than the 'No' pile. You'll normally experience quicker results from a specialist independent regional employment service than you'll get from a training company's recruitment division, because they will be more familiar with the area and local employers.

Not inconsiderable numbers of trainees, it would appear, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (sometimes for years), and just give up when it comes to trying to get a job. Market yourself... Do your best to let employers know about you. A job isn't just going to bump into you.

Have a conversation with a proficient consultant and we'd be amazed if they couldn't provide you with many worrying experiences of students who've been conned by dodgy salespeople. Only deal with an experienced advisor that asks some in-depth questions to uncover the best thing for you - not for their paycheque! You must establish the right starting point of study for you. If you've got any work-based experience or qualifications, you may find that your starting point is not the same as someone new to the industry. It's wise to consider user-skills and software training first. Starting there can make the transition to higher-level learning a much more gentle.

Charging for examinations upfront and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is common for a good many training companies. Consider the facts:

Everybody's aware that they're still paying for it - obviously it has been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the training provider. It's certainly 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 much more likely to pass. They are aware of their investment and prepare more appropriately to ensure they are ready.

Shouldn't you be looking to find the best exam deal or offer when you're ready, not to pay the fees marked up by the training college, and to do it locally - rather than in some remote centre? A surprising number of unscrupulous training companies secure a great deal of profit because they're getting paid for all the exam fees up-front and banking on the fact that many won't be taken. The majority of organisations will require you to sit pre-tests and hold you back from re-takes until you have proved to them you have a good chance of passing - which actually leaves you with no guarantee at all.

With average prices for VUE and Pro-metric examinations costing in the region of 112 pounds in this country, it makes sense to pay as you go. There's no sense in throwing away maybe a thousand pounds extra at the start of your studies. A commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

Those that are drawn to this type of work are usually quite practically-minded, and don't always take well to classrooms, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If this could be you, try the newer style of interactive study, where learning is video-based. Studies in learning psychology have shown that much more of what we learn in remembered when all our senses are involved, and we take action to use what we've learned.

Interactive audio-visual materials involving demonstration and virtual lab's beat books hands-down. And they're a lot more fun to do. It's wise to view examples of the courseware provided before you hand over your cheque. What you want are videoed instructor demonstrations and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.

Select CD and DVD ROM based physical training media wherever available. Thus avoiding all the issues associated with the variability of broadband quality and service.