Does job security truly exist anymore? Here in the UK, where industry can change its mind on a whim, there doesn't seem much chance. When we come across rising skills deficits and growing demand however, we can find a fresh type of security in the marketplace; where, fuelled by the constant growth conditions, employers find it hard to locate the staff required.

Offering the computer sector for instance, a recent e-Skills analysis showed massive skills shortages across the United Kingdom of over 26 percent. This shows that for each 4 job positions that exist around the computer industry, we have only 3 certified professionals to perform that task. This one reality on its own reveals why the UK is in need of many more workers to get trained and enter the IT sector. For sure, it really is such a perfect time to join Information Technology (IT).

A lot of training schools still use a now out-dated method of training - classroom days. Usually touted as a major benefit, following a chat with most students who've had to attend a couple, you'll find them listing some or most of these:

- Lots of round journeys - often 100's of miles.

- Taking time out of work - most companies provide Mon-Fri workshop availability and group several days in a chunk. This can be hard for a lot of working people, and it's made more problematic if travelling time is added into the mix.

- Lost annual leave - the majority of trainees are given only twenty days of leave annually. If over half of it is swallowed up by study classes, that doesn't leave much holiday time left for students and their families.

- Classes often become too big.

- Often, tension develops inside the classroom as most students want to move at a pace comfortable for them.

- A lot of trainees report that the (not inconsiderable) costs of travelling back and forth to the training school whilst paying for accommodation and food gets very high.

- All of us want some privacy. We wouldn't want to run the risk of losing any possible promotion due to us while we retrain.

- Who amongst us hasn't avoided putting our hand's up, because we didn't want to look stupid?

- Where students have to occasionally work or live away part of the time, imagine the trouble involved in making the necessary events, as time is now more scarce than ever.

Many students discover a more flexible approach is to make use of videoed workshops in the comfort of your own chosen environment - studying at your own pace, when it suits you - not anybody else. Think... Utilising a laptop you have the ability to learn in the garden, a park, or just outside. And live 24x7 support is just a web-browser away in case you get challenged. Lessons and modules can be repeated whenever you feel you need to - repetition is good for memory. And note-taking is gone forever - everything's ready to go. The final outcome: Reduced hassle, less cost, and no wasted travelling time.

A sneaky way that training companies make a big mark-up is by charging for exams up-front and offering an exam guarantee. This looks like a great idea for the student, till you look at the facts:

Thankfully, today we have to be a tad more knowledgeable about sales gimmicks - and generally we realise that of course we are actually being charged for it (it's not a freebie because they like us so much!) Students who enter their exams one by one, paying for them just before taking them are in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt. They are conscious of the cost and so are more inclined to be up to the task.

Don't pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you at the time, and hang on to your cash. You'll then be able to select where you sit the exam - so you can choose somewhere closer to home. Why tie up your cash (or borrow more than you need) for exam fees when you didn't need to? A lot of profit is made because training colleges are charging all their exam fees up-front - and hoping either that you won't take them, or it will be a long time before you do. Pay heed to the fact that, with 'Exam Guarantees' from most places - the company decides when you are allowed to do a re-take. Subsequent exam attempts are only authorised at the company's say so.

Prometric and VUE exams are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in Britain at the time of writing. What's the point of paying huge 'Exam Guarantee' costs (often hidden in the cost) - when a quality course, support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

Qualifications from the commercial sector are now, most definitely, already replacing the traditional academic paths into IT - so why has this come about? With university education costs increasing year on year, plus the IT sector's growing opinion that key company training is often far more commercially relevant, there's been a large rise in Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe based training courses that educate students at a fraction of the cost and time involved. Higher education courses, for instance, become confusing because of a great deal of loosely associated study - and much too wide a syllabus. Students are then held back from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.

Assuming a company is aware what work they need doing, then they just need to look for a person with the appropriate exam numbers. Syllabuses are set to exacting standards and don't change between schools (as academic syllabuses often do).

'Oracle' and SQL Server from MS are the key Database Systems in the world right now. 'Oracle' is a mature System which is still used on large-scale installations, but SQL-Server is more common now in typical business environments; SQL has grown to be the de-facto standard for databases on the net. Because MS own their SQL Server technology, it has been readily incorporated in to all their platforms & programming languages, making it an easy preference for those planning to gain qualification & industrial recognition. The older database program 'Microsoft Certified Database Administrator' ('MCDBA') has recently been superceded with the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) & the 'Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist' ('MCTS'). Although 'SQL' Server '08 is beginning to gain some foothold, the existing widespread commercial version of MS 'SQL' Server is 2005, and it is this version that is included in the 'MCITP' DBA certification. In accordance with several of Microsoft's other qualifications, a number of MCTS modules precede the final MCITP.

PC Self-Paced Multimedia Training In CompTIA >>