PC and network support staff are more and more sought after in the UK, as companies are becoming more reliant upon their knowledge and fixing and repairing abilities. Due to the progressively daunting complexities of technology, more and more trained staff are being sought to specialise in the various different areas we've become dependent on.

Many trainers will only provide office hours or extended office hours support; not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly. Don't buy training courses that only support students via an out-sourced call-centre message system outside of normal office hours. Companies will give you every excuse in the book why you don't need this. Essentially - you want support at the appropriate time - not at their convenience.

If you look properly, you'll find the top providers which provide their students online direct access support at all times - at any time of day or night. If you opt for less than support round-the-clock, you'll regret it. You may avoid using the support throughout the night, but you may need weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

Can job security truly exist anymore? In the UK for example, where business constantly changes its mind whenever it suits, we'd question whether it does. It's possible though to hit upon security at the market sector level, by probing for areas that have high demand, mixed with a shortage of skilled staff.

The 2006 British e-Skills analysis demonstrated that more than 26 percent of IT jobs cannot be filled mainly due to a lack of well-trained staff. So, for every four jobs in existence across Information Technology (IT), companies can only locate enough qualified individuals for 3 of them. This fundamental certainty reveals the urgent need for more properly accredited computer professionals throughout the United Kingdom. For sure, now, more than ever, really is the very best time to join the computer industry.

We'd hazard a guess that you probably enjoy fairly practical work - a 'hands-on' person. If you're like us, the trial of reading reference books and manuals is something you'll force on yourself if you absolutely have to, but you'd hate it. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if you'd really rather not use books. Years of research and study has constantly shown that becoming involved with our studies, to utilise all our senses, is far more likely to produce long-lasting memories.

Start a study-program in which you'll receive a library of CD or DVD ROM's - you'll learn by watching video tutorials and demonstrations, and be able to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions. Be sure to get a training material demonstration from the training company. You should ask for slide-shows, instructor-led videos and fully interactive skills-lab's.

Plump for actual CD or DVD ROM's in all circumstances. You can then avoid all the difficulties of internet connection failure and issues with signal quality.

A lot of people assume that the tech college or university path is still the best way into IT. So why is commercial certification beginning to overtake it? Corporate based study (in industry terminology) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has acknowledged that a specialist skill-set is what's needed to service the demands of an acceleratingly technical commercial environment. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the big boys in this field. This is done through focusing on the actual skills required (along with a proportionate degree of associated knowledge,) instead of going into the heightened depths of background detail and 'fluff' that computer Science Degrees can often find themselves doing (because the syllabus is so wide).

If an employer knows what they're looking for, then they simply need to advertise for the particular skill-set required. The syllabuses are all based on the same criteria and can't change from one establishment to the next (like academia frequently can and does).

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