Accredited exam simulation and preparation packages are a must - and must be supplied by your training company. Students regularly can find themselves confused by going through practice questions that aren't from official sources. Often, the question formats and phraseology is unfamiliar and you need to be ready for this. Why don't you test your knowledge by doing quizzes and mock ups of exams to get you ready for the real deal.

Beware of putting too much emphasis, like so many people do, on the accreditation program. Training is not an end in itself; this is about employment. Focus on the end-goal. Students often train for a single year but end up doing the job for 20 years. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of taking what may be a program of interest to you and then put 10-20 years into a job you don't like!

Make sure you investigate what your attitude is towards earning potential and career progression, plus your level of ambition. It's vital to know what will be expected of you, which particular accreditations are required and how you'll gain real-world experience. We'd recommend you take advice from a skilled advisor before settling on a study program, so you're sure from the outset that the content of a learning package provides the skills for the job being sought.

Students who consider this area of study are usually quite practically-minded, and don't always take well to classrooms, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If you're thinking this sounds like you, use multimedia, interactive learning, where you can learn everything on-screen. Studies in learning psychology have shown that long term memory is improved when all our senses are involved, and we get physically involved with the study process.

Courses are now available on CD and DVD discs, so everything is learned directly from your own PC. Video streaming means you will be able to see the instructor presenting exactly how to do something, and then practice yourself - via the interactive virtual lab's. You'll definitely want a look at some courseware examples from the school that you're considering. You'll want to see expert-led demonstrations, slideshows and fully interactive skills-lab's.

You should avoid purely online training. Always choose CD or DVD based study materials where obtainable, so that you have access at all times - and not be totally reliant on a good broadband connection all the time.

The vendor neutral global institution CompTIA now delivers perhaps the most recognised and widely respected impartial I.T. qualifications. In addition there are various other companies, such as the 'ISC2' (abbreviated from the somewhat long winded: 'International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium'!) & 'CWNP' (Certified Wireless Network Professional). Most prominently of course are Cisco and Microsoft themselves, both offering their own qualification tracks. The choice might be a bit overwhelming, and therefore we advise you to tread carefully & discuss your plans with an expert who understands the procedure well. Without personally tailored advice you could potentially head-off in the wrong direction and waste a lot of money or time.

A rudimentary understanding of networks is a great first base for anybody getting into the industry. Absolutely nothing else will make sense until you have an understanding of how computers operate & communicate with one another. Providing you have effective user-skills, you will find the 'CompTIA' A+ and Network+ programs are excellent for starters. These are included under the 'CompTIA' pages of this web site.

Moving on from this level you might consider the MS MCSA/MCSE or 'Cisco' 'CCNA'/'CCNP', according to whether you're interested in the hardware or software end of things. Nevertheless, Microsoft has a high infiltration in most network-environments, which means an in-depth understanding of their 'software' is actually pretty important whatever you specialise in. Again, these accreditations are discussed in depth on their respective pages within this site.

However, you may want to remain on the vendor neutral path with further CompTIA qualification (e.g. Security+, Server+ & Linux+ ) or possibly try your hand at the wire-less ('Wi-Fi') area of things with the 'CWNP'/'CWNA'.

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