Those that are drawn to this type of work can be very practical by nature, and won't enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If you identify with this, use multimedia, interactive learning, where you can learn everything on-screen. Our ability to remember is increased when we use multiple senses - learning experts have been saying this for years now.

The latest audio-visual interactive programs utilising video demo's and practice lab's will beat books every time. And they're far more fun. All companies should be able to show you some samples of their training materials. You should hope for instructor-led videos and a wide selection of interactive elements.

Purely on-line training should be avoided. You want physical CD/DVD ROM course materials where available, so that you have access at all times - and not be totally reliant on your broadband being 'up' 100 percent of the time.

If an advisor doesn't question you thoroughly - the likelihood is they're just trying to sell you something. If they wade straight in with a specific product before understanding your background and experience, then you know it's true. Quite often, the training start-point for a student with a little experience is massively dissimilar to someone just starting out. If you're a student embarking on IT studies anew, you might like to break yourself in gently, beginning with a user-skills course first. This can easily be incorporated into most training programs.

The somewhat scary thought of securing your first job is often made easier by training colleges, through a Job Placement Assistance facility. The need for this feature can be bigged up out of proportion though - it isn't unusual for their marketing department to make it sound harder than it is. Ultimately, the huge shortage of staff in Great Britain is the reason you'll find a job.

Whatever you do, don't procrastinate and wait until you've completed your exams before bringing your CV up to date. As soon as you start a course, list what you're working on and tell people about it! You'll often find that you'll secure your first job while you're still a student (even in the early stages). If you haven't updated your CV to say what you're studying (and it isn't in the hands of someone with jobs to offer) then you aren't even in the running! If you'd like to keep travelling time and costs to a minimum, then it's quite likely that an independent and specialised local employment service might work much better for you than a centralised service, for they are much more inclined to have insider knowledge of local employment needs.

A good number of people, it seems, are prepared to study their hearts out (for years sometimes), and then just stop instead of attempting to secure the right position. Promote yourself... Make an effort to get yourself known. Don't think a job's just going to jump out in front of you.

Make sure that all your certifications are commercially valid and current - don't even consider courses that lead to in-house certificates. Only properly recognised examinations from companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA and Cisco will mean anything to employers.

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