How the program is actually delivered to you can often be overlooked. How many stages do they break the program into? What is the order and what control do you have at what pace it arrives? Usually, you will join a program taking 1-3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. While this may sound logical on one level, consider this: What happens when you don't complete each and every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Without any fault on your part, you may not meet the required timescales and consequently not get all your materials.

To be straight, the perfect answer is to get an idea of what they recommend as an ideal study order, but get all the study materials at the start. Meaning you've got it all should you not complete it at their required pace.

Considering the amount of options that are available, there's no surprise that the majority of newcomers to the industry have no idea which career they could be successful with. What chances do most of us have of understanding the many facets of a particular career when we've never done it? We normally don't know someone who performs the role either. Contemplation on several areas is vital if you need to expose the right solution that will work for you:

- The type of personality you have and interests - what working tasks you love or hate.

- Why you're looking at starting in the IT industry - maybe you want to overcome some personal goal like working from home for example.

- What salary and timescale needs that are important to you?

- Getting to grips with what the main job areas and sectors are - including what sets them apart.

- How much effort you'll have available to set aside for your training.

At the end of the day, the best way of investigating all this is from an in-depth discussion with someone who has enough background to be able to guide you.

Don't put too much store, as can often be the case, on the training process. You're not training for the sake of training; you're training to become commercially employable. Focus on the end-goal. Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing the job for 20 years. Avoid the mistake of taking what may be an 'interesting' training program and then spend decades in an unrewarding career!

You'll want to understand what industry will expect from you. What qualifications you'll need and how to gain experience. Spend some time considering how far you think you'll want to go as it may affect your choice of certifications. Seek advice from an experienced industry advisor, even if you have to pay - it's considerably cheaper and safer to find out at the start if you've chosen correctly, instead of finding out after 2 years that the job you've chosen is not for you and have to start from the beginning again.

Finding your first job in the industry is often made easier with the help of a Job Placement Assistance service. It can happen though that this feature is bigged up too much, for it's relatively easy for any motivated and trained individual to find work in IT - because companies everywhere are seeking well trained people.

Whatever you do, don't leave it until you have completed your exams before updating your CV. As soon as you start a course, list what you're working on and get it out there! Getting your CV considered is better than being rejected. Many junior positions are got by students (who've only just left first base.) If you don't want to travel too far to work, then it's quite likely that an independent and specialised local employment service can generally be more appropriate than a national service, as they are much more inclined to know local employment needs.

Just be sure that you don't invest a great deal of time on your training course, and then just stop and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Get off your backside and start looking for yourself. Put the same focus into landing a good job as it took to get qualified.

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