Powered by Max Banner Ads 

If it’s Cisco training you’re after, but you’re new to working with network switches or routers, you most probably should start with the Cisco CCNA qualification. This will provide you with skills for setting up and maintaining routers. The internet is constructed from huge numbers of routers, and national or international corporations with various different locations also use them to connect their computer networks.

You might end up joining an internet service provider or perhaps a national or international corporation which is located on multiple sites but needs to keep in touch. This career path is very well paid and quite specialised.

Qualifying up to the CCNA level is what you should be aiming for – at this stage avoid being tempted to do the CCNP for now. Once you’ve worked for a few years you’ll know if this next level is for you. If it is, you’ll be much more capable to succeed at that stage – because you’ll know so much more by then.

Many trainers offer a Job Placement Assistance service, to help you into your first commercial role. Because of the massive need for more IT skills in this country at the moment, it’s not necessary to make too much of this option though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to land a job as long as you’re correctly trained and certified.

However, what is relevant is to have CV and Interview advice and support though; additionally, we would recommend everyone to get their CV updated as soon as they start a course – don’t delay for when you’re ready to start work. It can happen that you haven’t even passed your first exam when you will be offered your first junior support job; although this won’t be the case unless you’ve posted your CV on job sites. If you’d like to keep travelling time and costs to a minimum, then you may well find that an independent and specialised local employment service might serve you better than a centralised service, because they’re going to have insider knowledge of what’s available near you.

Please be sure that you don’t invest a great deal of time on your training course, just to give up and leave it in the hands of the gods to sort out your employment. Stop procrastinating and start looking for yourself. Invest as much time and energy into finding your first job as it took to get qualified.

A so-called advisor who doesn’t question you thoroughly – the likelihood is they’re just a salesperson. If someone pushes specific products before learning about your history and experience, then you know you’re being sold to. It’s worth remembering, if you’ve had any relevant accreditation or direct-experience, then it’s not unreasonable to expect to start at a different point than a trainee with no history to speak of. If you’re a new trainee starting IT studies and exams from scratch, it’s often a good idea to ease in gradually, by working on a user-skills course first. Usually this is packaged with most training programs.

Don’t accept anything less than an accredited exam preparation programme as part of your training package. Confirm that the simulated exams aren’t just asking you the right questions in the right areas, but are also posing them in the same way that the proper exam will ask them. It can really throw some people if the phraseology and format is completely different. Be sure to ask for exam preparation tools so you can verify your knowledge at all times. Mock exams will help to boost your attitude – so the actual exam is much easier.

Training support for students is an absolute must – look for a package that provides 24×7 direct access, as anything less will not satisfy and will also hold up your pace and restrict your intake. Don’t accept study programmes that only provide support to you with an out-sourced call-centre message system after 6-9pm in the evening and during weekends. Companies will try to talk you round from this line of reasoning. But, no matter how they put it – you want support at the appropriate time – not when it suits them.

Top training companies have many support offices from around the world. Online access provides the interactive interface to link them all seamlessly, no matter what time you login, help is just a click away, without any problems or delays. Don’t compromise when it comes to your support. Most students who can’t get going properly, just need the right support system.

Look at the following facts in detail if you believe that old marketing ploy of an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:

Clearly it’s not free – you’re still being charged for it – the cost has just been rolled into the whole training package. Evidence shows that if students pay for their own exams, one at a time, they’ll be in a better position to pass first time – because they are conscious of what they’ve paid and therefore will put more effort into their preparation.

Shouldn’t you be looking to go for the best offer when you take the exam, not to pay the fees marked up by a training course provider, and also to sit exams more locally – instead of the remote centre that’s convenient only to the trainer? A lot of so-called credible training providers make a great deal of profit through getting paid for examinations upfront then hoping you won’t see them all through. Most companies will require you to sit pre-tests and with-hold subsequent exam entries from you until you have proved to them you have a good chance of passing – so an ‘Exam Guarantee’ comes with many clauses in reality.

VUE and Prometric examinations are in the region of 112 pounds in this country. What’s the point of paying huge charges for ‘Exam Guarantees’ (often covertly rolled into the cost of the course) – when the best course materials, the right level of support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.