There are a range of options available for people who'd like to get into the IT industry. To help you decide on the right one for you, search for companies that will find out an ideal career for your character, and then run through the job responsibilities, to help you clearly understand whether you're on the right track. There are courses covering Microsoft User Skills to career courses in Networking, Programming, Databases and Web Design. There is a huge amount of choice and that means you'll be likely to need to talk through your options with an industry expert prior to deciding which way to go: the last thing you want to do is find you're studying for an area that you don't enjoy!

Because there are such a lot of low cost, easily understood training programs and help, we're confident you'll discover the right one that will take you into the commercial world.

Ask any practiced consultant and they'll regale you with many terrible tales of salespeople ripping-off unsuspecting students. Only deal with an experienced industry professional that asks some in-depth questions to uncover the best thing for you - not for their wallet! You must establish the very best place to start for you. Occasionally, the level to start at for someone experienced in some areas can be largely different to someone without. Consider starting with some basic PC skills training first. This can help whip your basic knowledge into shape and make the transition to higher-level learning a much easier going.

One interesting way that colleges make extra profits is via an 'exam inclusive' package and then including an 'Exam Guarantee'. This sounds impressive, until you think it through:

You're paying for it somehow. You can be assured it's not a freebie - they've just worked it into the package price. Should you seriously need to qualify first 'go', evidence suggests you must avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, give it the priority it deserves and be ready for the task.

Do the examinations at a local pro-metric testing centre and go for the best offer you can find when you're ready. A great deal of money is made by a number of companies who incorporate exam fees into the cost of the course. Many students don't take them for one reason or another but no refunds are given. Astoundingly enough, there are providers who actually bank on it - as that's very profitable for them. The majority of companies will insist that you take mock exams first and prohibit you from re-taking an exam until you've completely proven that you're likely to pass - making an 'exam guarantee' just about worthless.

With average prices for VUE and Pro-metric exams in the United Kingdom costing around 112 pounds, it makes sense to pay as you go. It's not in the student's interests to fork out hundreds or thousands of pounds for exams when enrolling on a course. Study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.

Watch out that all exams you're considering doing are commercially relevant and are bang up to date. The 'in-house' certifications provided by many companies are generally useless. Only properly recognised accreditation from the major players like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco and Adobe will mean anything to employers.

The market provides a plethora of work available in computing. Finding the particular one for yourself often proves challenging. How can most of us possibly understand the many facets of a particular career if we've never been there? Maybe we have never met anyone who is in that area at all. Deliberation over several issues is essential if you need to dig down a solution that suits you:

* Personality plays an important part - what things get your juices flowing, and what tasks get you down.

* What time-frame are you looking at for your training?

* Have you thought about salary vs the travel required?

* Considering the huge variation that computing encapsulates, you'll need to be able to understand what's different.

* You'll also need to think hard about what kind of effort and commitment that you will set aside for the accreditation program.

When all is said and done, your only chance of covering these is by means of a meeting with an advisor or professional that understands the market well enough to provide solid advice.