All of us are short of time, and inevitably if we want to improve our career prospects, taking a course alongside a job is the only option open to us. Certified training from Microsoft can be the way to do it. You may wish to shortlist your ideas with a person who understands the commercial demands for IT staff, and can help you choose the most fruitful career to match your character. Training courses must be designed to make the most of your skills and abilities. So, once you've decided on the right IT job for you, you'll then need to look at what is the appropriate training programme to get you there.

Training support for students is an absolute must - look for a package that includes 24x7 access, as anything less will frustrate you and could put a damper on the speed you move through things. some companies only provide email support (slow), and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre who will make some notes and then email an advisor - who will call back over the next day or so (assuming you're there), when it suits them. This is all next to useless if you're stuck with a particular problem and only have a specific time you can study.

We recommend looking for training schools that utilise many support facilities from around the world. These should be integrated to provide a single interface and 24x7 access, when you need it, with no fuss. Never make do with less than you need and deserve. Support round-the-clock is the only viable option with computer-based study. Maybe late-evening study is not your thing; usually though, we're at work while the support is live.

The market provides a myriad of job availability in computing. Picking the right one for yourself is generally problematic. Perusing a list of odd-sounding and meaningless job titles is next to useless. The vast majority of us don't even know what the neighbours do for a living - let alone understand the ins and outs of any specific IT role. Usually, the way to come at this predicament in the best manner lies in a full chat, covering several areas:

* Personality plays a major role - what things get your juices flowing, and what tasks really turn you off.

* For what reasons you're stepping into Information Technology - maybe you want to triumph over a long-held goal such as working for yourself maybe.

* The income needs you have?

* When taking into account all that computing encapsulates, you'll need to be able to understand what is different.

* You should also think long and hard about any sacrifices you'll need to make, as well as what commitment and time you're going to give to the accreditation program.

To completely side-step the barrage of jargon, and uncover the best path to success, have an in-depth discussion with an industry expert and advisor; someone who appreciates and can explain the commercial realities while explaining each accreditation.

It's likely that you're a practical sort of person - the 'hands-on' type. If you're anything like us, the painful task of reading endless manuals is something you'll force on yourself if you absolutely have to, but it doesn't suit your way of doing things. You should use video and multimedia based materials if book-based learning really isn't your style. We see a huge improvement in memory retention when multiple senses are involved - experts have been clear on this for years now.

You can now study via interactive CD and DVD ROM's. By watching and listening to instructors on video tutorials you'll learn your subject by way of their teaching and demonstrations. You can then test yourself by interacting with the software and practicing yourself. It's very important to see courseware examples from any company that you may want to train through. They have to utilise full motion videos of instructors demonstrating the topic with lab's to practice the skills in.

It is generally unwise to select online only courseware. With highly variable reliability and quality from the ISP (internet service provider) market, it makes sense to have CD or DVD ROM based materials.

Sometimes students assume that the tech college or university path is the way they should go. So why then is commercial certification slowly and steadily replacing it? Vendor-based training (as it's known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has realised that this level of specialised understanding is essential to cope with an increasingly more technical world. Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA dominate in this arena. Many degrees, for instance, often get bogged down in vast amounts of background study - and a syllabus that's too generalised. Students are then prevented from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

Think about if you were the employer - and you required somebody who had very specific skills. What is easier: Wade your way through loads of academic qualifications from various applicants, struggling to grasp what they've learned and which trade skills they've acquired, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that precisely match your needs, and then select who you want to interview from that. You'll then be able to concentrate on getting a feel for the person at interview - rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

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