Usually, a typical student doesn't know where to start with the IT industry, let alone what sector they should look at getting trained in. Since in the absence of any commercial skills in computing, how should we possibly be expected to know what someone in a particular job does? Usually, the way to come at this predicament appropriately stems from an in-depth chat, covering a number of areas:

- Personalities play a significant part - what gets you 'up and running', and what are the things that get you down.

- What sort of time-frame do you want for the training process?

- What priority do you place on salary vs job satisfaction?

- Getting to grips with what the main career types and sectors are - and what makes them different.

- How much time you'll put into getting qualified.

For most of us, dissecting these areas needs a long talk with an experienced pro that knows what they're talking about. And not just the qualifications - but also the commercial requirements and expectations of industry too.

A useful feature that many training companies provide is a programme of Job Placement assistance. The service is put in place to steer you into your first IT role. At the end of the day it's not as hard as some people make out to find your first job - as long as you've got the necessary skills and qualifications; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.

Whatever you do, don't leave it until you have finished your training before polishing up your CV. As soon as you start studying, enter details of your study programme and tell people about it! You may not have got to the stage where you've passed your first exam when you'll secure your initial junior support position; but this isn't going to happen if your CV isn't in front of employers. In many cases, an independent and specialised local recruitment consultant or service (who will get paid by the employer when they've placed you) will be more pro-active than a sector of a centralised training facility. Also of course they should know the area and local employers better.

A big grievance of various training companies is how much people are focused on studying to get qualified, but how un-prepared that student is to get the job they have trained for. Have confidence - the IT industry needs YOU.

Most of us would love to think that our jobs are safe and our work prospects are protected, but the growing reality for most jobs in the UK right now appears to be that the marketplace is far from secure. Security only exists now through a rapidly increasing marketplace, driven by a shortfall of trained staff. These circumstances create the appropriate background for a secure marketplace - definitely a more pleasing situation.

The 2006 UK e-Skills study brought to light that over 26 percent of all IT positions available cannot be filled because of a chronic shortage of appropriately certified professionals. Accordingly, out of each 4 positions that are available across IT, employers can only locate certified professionals for three of the four. Highly skilled and commercially educated new employees are as a result at a resounding premium, and it's estimated to remain so for a long time to come. In actuality, retraining in Information Technology during the next year or two is likely the greatest career choice you could ever make.

We're regularly asked to explain why traditional degrees are less in demand than the more commercial certifications? Industry now recognises that for an understanding of the relevant skills, official accreditation from companies such as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA is far more effective and specialised - and a fraction of the cost and time. Patently, a certain degree of background knowledge has to be taught, but essential specifics in the particular job function gives a commercially educated student a distinct advantage.

As long as an employer knows what areas they need covered, then all they have to do is advertise for the exact skill-set required to meet that need. Commercial syllabuses are all based on the same criteria and can't change from one establishment to the next (like academia frequently can and does).

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