'Exam Guarantees' are often bundled with training offers - this always means you have to pay for the exams when you pay for the rest of your course. But before you get taken in by this so-called guarantee, think about this:

Certainly it isn't free - you're still footing the bill for it - the cost has just been rolled into the whole training package. People who take each progressive exam, funding them as they go are much better placed to get through first time. They are conscious of the cost and revise more thoroughly to be ready for the task.

Sit the exam somewhere local and find the best deal for you at the time. Huge profits are netted by a number of companies who get money upfront for exam fees. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don't get to do their exams and so the company is quids-in. Believe it or not, there are training companies that actually rely on students not sitting all the exams - as that's where a lot of their profit comes from. Don't forget, with most 'Exam Guarantees' - they control when and how often you are allowed to do a re-take. You will have to demonstrate an excellent pass-rate before they'll approve a re-take.

Due to typical VUE and Prometric exams coming in at around 112 pounds in the UK, the most cost-effective way to cover the cost is by paying when you need them. There's no sense in throwing away maybe a thousand pounds extra at the start of your studies. A commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

When you browse around the pages of this web-site you'll find dedicated pages featuring all these sectors - plus the certification paths that are required - to help you check things out a bit more. On the other hand, you could request our free e-book 'Lollypedia' and then ask to speak with one of our expert advisors.

It can be a nerve-racking task, but landing your first IT job can be made easier by some companies, via a Job Placement Assistance service. But don't place too much emphasis on it - it's quite easy for training companies to make it sound harder than it is. In reality, the need for well trained IT people in Britain is what will make you attractive to employers.

However, don't procrastinate and wait until you've passed your final exams before updating your CV. As soon as you start a course, mark down what you're doing and get promoting! Many junior support jobs have been offered to trainees who are still learning and have yet to take their exams. This will at the very least get your CV into the 'possible' pile and not the 'no' pile. If it's important to you to find work near your home, then you'll often find that a specialist independent regional recruitment consultant or service might be of more use than a national service, because they're far more likely to be familiar with the jobs that are going locally.

A slight frustration of some training course providers is how much trainees are prepared to study to get top marks in their exams, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the role they have trained for. Get out there and hustle - you might find it's fun.

If professional IT employment is your ultimate goal, you might start with instruction in I.T. Support work. Generally, if you're going to offer software support to others in a business environment, the MCDST (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician) may well be relevant. Allow for around one hundred hours of training time to get this level of qualification.

We move onto full IT professional career training courses at the following level. To get offered a position providing hardware support or network support you ought to look at doing your 'A+' & N+ certifications from 'CompTIA'. Training courses will include hard-ware & network installation at a basic level, and also aspects of support, security & administration. Most blended A+ and Network+ training courses take the average person somewhere around 200 - 250 hrs to complete, and so can quite feasibly be studied around a full time job.

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