by Jason Kendall
For those interested in joining a web design team, Adobe Dreamweaver is an absolute must to gain professional credentials that are recognised around the world. The complete Adobe Web Creative Suite should also be learned in-depth. Doing this will familiarise you in Flash and Action Script, (and more), and will prepare you for the Adobe Certified Professional (ACP) or an Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) qualification.
Having knowledge of how to construct a website just gets you started. Creating traffic, content maintenance and some programming skills should come next. Aim for courses with additional features that teach these subjects perhaps HTML, PHP and MySQL, as well as E-Commerce and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).
Some commercial training providers will only provide basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); most won’t answer after 8-9pm at the latest and frequently never at the weekends. Don’t accept study programmes that only provide support to students via a call-centre messaging service outside of normal office hours. Trainers will give you every excuse in the book why you don’t need this. But, no matter how they put it - you need support when you need support - not when it suits them.
The most successful trainers utilise several support facilities across multiple time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to join them all seamlessly, any time of the day or night, help is just seconds away, without any contact issues or hassle. Never compromise when you’re looking for the right support service. The majority of students that throw in the towel, are in that situation because they didn’t get the support necessary for them.
Let’s admit it: There’s absolutely no personal job security available anymore; there’s really only industry and sector security - as any company can fire a solitary member of staff when it meets the company’s trade requirements. However, a fast growing sector, where there just aren’t enough staff to go round (through a growing shortage of properly qualified professionals), opens the possibility of lasting job security.
The IT skills shortage around the country currently stands at approx 26 percent, as noted by a recent e-Skills survey. It follows then that for each four job positions that are available across Information Technology (IT), companies are only able to locate trained staff for 3 of the 4. Accomplishing in-depth commercial Information Technology certification is accordingly a fast-track to achieve a life-long and worthwhile profession. Because the IT sector is expanding at such a quick pace, could there honestly be a better sector worth taking into account for a new future.
Remember: the course itself or a certification is not what you’re looking for; the job or career that you want is. Many trainers unfortunately put too much weight in just the training course. It’s a sad fact, but the majority of trainees kick-off study that often sounds spectacular from the marketing materials, but which delivers a career that doesn’t satisfy. Try talking to typical university graduates for a real eye-opener.
Make sure you investigate how you feel about earning potential, career development, and if you’re ambitious or not. It’s vital to know what industry expects from you, what particular qualifications are needed and where you’ll pick-up experience from. All students are advised to speak to an experienced industry professional before deciding on their learning programme. This gives some measure of assurance that it features what is required for the chosen career path.
In most cases, the normal IT hopeful doesn’t have a clue in what direction to head in IT, or even which market is worth considering for retraining. Therefore, if you don’t have any background in IT in the workplace, what chance is there for you to know what someone in a particular field fills their day with? And of course decide on which certification program provides the best chances for your success. Usually, the way to come at this quandary properly comes from a thorough conversation around a number of areas:
* The sort of individual you think yourself to be - what tasks do you get enjoyment from, plus of course - what don’t you like doing.
* What time-frame are you looking at for retraining?
* What priority do you place on salary vs job satisfaction?
* When taking into account all that the IT industry encapsulates, it’s important to be able to understand what is different.
* You need to understand the differences across all the training areas.
In actuality, the only way to seek advice on these issues is through a chat with a professional who has years of experience in IT (and chiefly it’s commercial needs and requirements.)
Massive developments are washing over technology over the next few decades - and it only gets more exciting every day. Technology, computers and connections through the internet will radically shape our lives in the future; overwhelmingly so.
Let’s not forget that typical remuneration in the world of IT in Great Britain is noticeably more than in other market sectors, so in general you’ll probably gain considerably more as an IT specialist, than you would in most typical jobs. As the IT industry keeps growing at an unprecedented rate, it’s predictable that the search for professionally qualified and skilled IT workers will remain buoyant for decades to come.
