Congratulate yourself that you've made it this far! Only one in ten folks say they enjoy their work, but the majority just bitch about it and do nothing. By looking for this it's probable that you're at least considering retraining, so you've already stood out from the crowd. The next step is to get busy to find your direction.

We'd politely request that in advance of taking any individual training program, you run through some things with a mentor who knows the industry and can point you in the right direction. They can assess your personality and help you sort out a role to fit you:

* Is having company at work important to you? Do you like to deal with the public? Or are you better with things that only you know how to deal with?

* Do you have a preference which sector you could be employed in? (Post credit crunch, it's essential to choose carefully.)

* Is this the last time you want to study, and therefore, do you suppose your new career will give you scope to do that?

* Do you want your training course to be in an industry where you know you'll remain employable until your pension kicks in?

Don't overlook the IT sector, that's our recommendation - it's one of the few growing market sectors in Great Britain and Europe. Salaries are also more generous than most.

Searching for your first position in IT can feel more straightforward with a Job Placement Assistance service. However sometimes there is more emphasis than is necessary on this service, because it is actually not that hard for a well trained and motivated person to land a job in IT - as employers are keen to find appropriately well trained people.

CV and Interview advice and support should be offered (if it isn't, consult one of our sites). Be sure to you work on your old CV immediately - not when you're ready to start work! Getting your CV considered is more than not being known. A decent number of junior jobs are bagged by students (who've only just left first base.) The best services to help you find a job are generally independent and specialised local recruitment services. As they will get paid by the employer when they've placed you, they'll work that much harder to get a result.

A slight aggravation for various course providers is how hard trainees are prepared to study to become certified, but how little effort that student will then put into getting the job they're qualified for. Don't give up when the best is yet to come.

Speak with a practiced advisor and they'll entertain you with many terrible tales of how students have been duped by salespeople. Only deal with an experienced industry professional who digs deep to find out what's appropriate to you - not for their paycheque! Dig until you find the right starting point of study for you. Sometimes, the training inception point for someone with some experience can be substantially dissimilar to someone without. Commencing with a user skills course first can be the best way to get up and running on your IT program, but depends on your skill level.

We're regularly asked to explain why academic qualifications are being replaced by more commercial certifications? With the costs of academic degree's spiralling out of control, along with the IT sector's recognition that accreditation-based training most often has much more commercial relevance, there has been a large rise in Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA accredited training programmes that create knowledgeable employees at a much reduced cost in terms of money and time. In essence, the learning just focuses on what's actually required. Actually, it's not quite as pared down as that, but the most important function is always to concentrate on the fundamentally important skill-sets (including a degree of required background) - without overdoing the detail in everything else (as academia often does).

The bottom line is: Recognised IT certifications provide exactly what an employer needs - it says what you do in the title: as an example - I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Designing Security for a Windows 2003 Network'. So companies can identify just what their needs are and what certifications will be suitable to deal with those needs.

It's essential to have accredited simulation materials and an exam preparation system as part of your training package. As most examining boards for IT come from the United States, it's essential to understand how exam questions will be phrased and formatted. It isn't good enough just understanding random questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing. Simulated exams can be very useful as a tool for logging knowledge into your brain - so much so, that at the proper exam, you will be much more relaxed.

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