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Whether you’re new to the industry, or an IT professional looking to gain accredited qualifications, you’ll discover interactive Microsoft MCSA training tracks to cater for both entry levels. For someone just entering the world of computers, it will be crucial to pick up some skills prior to having a go at your 1st of 4 MCP’s (Microsoft Certified Professional exams) required to gain MCSA certification. Find a company that can tailor your studying to suit your needs - with a team of advisors who can be relied on to guarantee that you’ve selected your options carefully.

One of the most important things to insist on has to be comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support through expert mentors and instructors. It’s an all too common story to find providers that will only offer a basic 9am till 6pm support period (maybe later on certain days) with very little availability over the weekend. Locate training schools where you can receive help at any time of the day or night (even if it’s early hours on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get 24×7 direct access to mentors and instructors, and not a call-centre that will take messages so you’re waiting for tutors to call you back at a convenient time for them.

The best trainers incorporate three or four individual support centres around the globe in several time-zones. An online system provides an interactive interface to seamlessly link them all, no matter what time you login, help is at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems. Unless you insist on online 24×7 support, you’ll regret it. You may not need it throughout the night, but consider weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.

A knowledgeable and specialised advisor (in direct contrast to a salesman) will cover in some detail your current level of ability and experience. This is useful for understanding your starting level of study. Remember, if in the past you’ve acquired any accreditation or direct-experience, then you may be able to begin at a different level to someone who is new to the field. If this is your initial effort at studying for an IT examination then you may want to practice with some basic user skills first.

So many training providers only concern themselves with gaining a certificate, and forget what it’s all actually about - which is of course employment. Your focus should start with where you want to get to - don’t get hung-up on the training vehicle. It’s not unheard of, for example, to obtain tremendous satisfaction from a year of studying but end up spending 10 or 20 years in a tiresome job role, entirely because you stumbled into it without some quality research at the outset.

Stay tuned-in to what you want to achieve, and build your study action-plan from that - don’t do it the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and study for a career that will keep you happy for many years. It’s good advice for all students to chat with an industry professional before following a particular study program. This is required to ensure it contains the commercially required skills for that career path.

We’re regularly asked to explain why traditional degrees are less in demand than the more commercially accredited qualifications? With fees and living expenses for university students becoming a tall order for many, along with the IT sector’s recognition that accreditation-based training is often far more commercially relevant, we have seen a great increase in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA accredited training programmes that provide key skills to an employee at a much reduced cost in terms of money and time. Essentially, the learning just focuses on what’s actually required. It’s slightly more broad than that, but the most important function is always to cover the precise skills needed (including a degree of required background) - without attempting to cover a bit about every other area (as academia often does).

Just like the advert used to say: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. Companies need only to know what areas need to be serviced, and then request applicants with the correct exam numbers. Then they know that anyone who applies can do the necessary work.

Any program that you’re going to undertake has to build towards a nationally (or globally) recognised accreditation as an end-goal - not some little ‘in-house’ printed certificate to hang in your hallway. Unless your qualification is issued by a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco or CompTIA, then chances are it won’t be commercially viable - as no-one will have heard of it.

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