A fraction of the working population in the UK today are enjoying job satisfaction. The vast majority of course won't do a thing. The reality of your getting here at a minimum indicates that you know it's time to make a change.

It's advisable to get some help before you start - talk to someone who's familiar with your chosen field; a guide who can really get to know you and find the best job role for you, and offer only the courses which will get you there:

* Are you hoping to be involved with others in the workplace? Would that be with the same people or with a lot of new people? Maybe working on your own with your own methodology would be more your thing?

* Building and Banking are a little shaky these days, so think carefully about the sector that would suit you best?

* When you've done all your re-training, would you like this skill to serve you till you retire?

* Would it be useful for the course you're re-training in to be in an area where you know you'll have a job until retirement?

We would advise you to really explore the IT industry - there are more jobs than workers to do them, because it's a rare career choice where the sector is expanding. Despite the opinions of certain people, it isn't a bunch of techie geeks looking at screens all day long (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) Most positions are done by people like you and me who want to earn a very good living.

An advisor that doesn't ask many questions - it's more than likely they're actually nothing more than a salesman. If someone pushes specific products before understanding your background and current experience level, then it's very likely to be the case. In some circumstances, the training inception point for a trainee experienced in some areas is often hugely different to someone without. Always consider starting with user-skills and software training first. This can often make the learning curve a less steep.

Does job security honestly exist anymore? In a marketplace like the UK, where business constantly changes its mind whenever it suits, it certainly appears not. Whereas a quickly growing market-place, where there just aren't enough staff to go round (through a massive shortfall of commercially certified staff), creates the conditions for true job security.

A rather worrying British e-Skills survey demonstrated that over 26 percent of all available IT positions are unfilled as an upshot of a lack of trained staff. Put simply, we only have the national capacity to fill just 3 out of 4 positions in Information Technology (IT). Acquiring the appropriate commercial IT exams is thus an effective route to a long-lasting as well as enjoyable line of work. Unquestionably, it really is a fabulous time to retrain into the computer industry.

Sometimes men and women assume that the school and FE college system is still the best way into IT. Why then are commercial certificates becoming more popular with employers? With fees and living expenses for university students spiralling out of control, plus the IT sector's growing opinion that corporate based study most often has much more commercial relevance, we've seen a dramatic increase in Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe accredited training courses that create knowledgeable employees at a fraction of the cost and time involved. Essentially, students are simply taught the necessary specifics in depth. It's slightly more broad than that, but the principle objective is to master the precisely demanded skill-sets (with some necessary background) - without going into too much detail in all sorts of other things (as degree courses are known to do).

As long as an employer is aware what areas need to be serviced, then they simply need to advertise for a person with the appropriate exam numbers. Vendor-based syllabuses are all based on the same criteria and do not vary between trainers (in the way that degree courses can).

Don't accept anything less than the latest Microsoft (or Cisco, CompTIA etc.) authorised exam preparation and simulation materials. Be sure that the mock exams are not just posing the correct questions on the correct subjects, but ask them in the way the real exams will phrase them. It throws students if they're met with completely different formats and phraseologies. Ensure that you request some practice exams so you can check your knowledge at any point. Practice exams add to your knowledge bank - so you're much more at ease with the real thing.