.::.STOP GLOBAL WARMING.::.

You should feel pleased that you're reading this article! A fraction of the population enjoy their work and find it stimulating, but most of us complain to each other and do nothing. By looking for this we have a hunch that you're giving retraining some thought, so even now you're ahead of the game. What comes next is find out more and then take action.

With regard to specific training programs, look for an advisor who can help you sort out which area will be right for you. A person who will get an understanding of your personality, and find out the best career for you to work towards:

* Is working with other people your thing? Do you like to deal with the public? Or you may prefer task-orientated work that you deal with by yourself?

* Do you have a preference which area you could be employed in? (With the economic downturn, it's more important than ever to get it right.)

* Is this the last time you want to study, and therefore, will your chosen career path allow you to do that?

* Are you concerned with regard to the possibility of finding new employment, and being gainfully employed to the end of your working life?

Look at the IT sector, that's our recommendation - it's one of the only growing market sectors in the UK and Europe. Salaries are also more generous than most.

Remember: a actual training program or a qualification is not what you're looking for; a job that you're getting the training for is. Many trainers unfortunately completely prioritise the qualification itself. You could be training for only a year and end up doing the job for 20 years. Don't make the mistake of opting for what may seem to be an 'interesting' course only to waste your life away with a job you hate!

Stay tuned-in to where you want to go, and formulate your training based on that - not the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and ensure that you're training for a career that will keep you happy for many years. It's worth seeking help from an experienced person that can best explain the industry you're considering, and will be able to provide 'A day in the life of' synopsis for each job considered. All of these things are very important as you'll need to know if you're going down the right road.

The area most overlooked by those thinking about a course is the concept of 'training segmentation'. This is essentially how the program is broken down into parts for timed release to you, which makes a huge difference to the point you end up at. Individual deliveries for each training module stage by stage, according to your own speed is the usual method of releasing your program. Of course, this sounds sensible, but you should consider these factors: Maybe the order of study offered by the provider doesn't suit. And what if you don't finish all the modules within the time limits imposed?

The very best situation would see you getting all the training materials packed off to your home before you even start; the entire package! Then, nothing can hinder the reaching of your goals.

Some commercial training providers will only offer support available from 9-6 (office hours) and sometimes later on specific days; not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly. Beware of institutions which use call-centres 'out-of-hours' - where an advisor will call back during normal office hours. This is no use if you're stuck and need help now.

The very best programs provide an internet-based 24 hours-a-day facility combining multiple support operations from around the world. You'll have an environment that seamlessly selects the best facility available no matter what time of day it is: Support available as-and-when you want it. If you opt for less than support round-the-clock, you'll very quickly realise that you've made a mistake. You may not need it late in the night, but what about weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.

Students hopeful to build an IT career usually have no idea of what route is best, let alone which area to build their qualifications around. I mean, if you have no understanding of the IT sector, how can you expect to know what someone in a particular field does each day? Let alone arrive at which certification program is the most likely for your success. To attack this, we need to discuss a variety of definitive areas:

* Personality plays a significant role - what gives you a 'kick', and what are the activities that you really dislike.

* Are you aiming to pull off a closely held objective - like becoming self-employed sometime soon?

* How highly do you rate salary - is it the most important thing, or do you place job satisfaction higher up on the scale of your priorities?

* Getting to grips with what the main job areas and sectors are - including what sets them apart.

* How much effort you will commit getting qualified.

In these situations, your only option to investigate these areas tends to be through a good talk with an advisor or professional that understands computing (and specifically it's commercial requirements.)

How long has it been since you considered the security of your job? Normally, this issue only becomes a talking point when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, the lesson often learned too late is that true job security simply doesn't exist anymore, for the vast majority of people. We can however find security at market-level, by looking for high demand areas, together with a shortage of skilled staff.

Investigating the computing market, the 2006 e-Skills study demonstrated a 26 percent shortage in trained professionals. So, for each 4 job positions that exist around IT, organisations can only locate trained staff for three of the four. Highly taught and commercially accredited new staff are accordingly at a total premium, and it's estimated to remain so for many years longer. We can't imagine if a better time or market conditions will exist for acquiring training in this rapidly expanding and developing business.