Congratulate yourself that you're on the right track! A small number of workers are happy and satisfied by their jobs, but most of us complain to each other and take no action. Because you've done research it's likely that you've a personal interest in re-training, so you've already stood out from the crowd. Now you just need to research and follow-through.

We'd politely request that in advance of taking any study program, you run through some things with a mentor who can see the bigger picture and can make recommendations. They can assess your personality and help you sort out a role to fit you:

* Do you enjoy a busy working environment? Perhaps you like being a team player? Or you may prefer task-orientated work that you can get on with on your own?

* The banks and building sector are struggling right now, so which sector would give you the most options?

* When you've done all your re-training, would you like your skills to take you through to retirement?

* Are you happy that your chosen retraining is commercially viable, and will provide the facility to be employed up to retirement age?

It would be an idea for you to have a good look at the IT sector - there are a larger number of roles than workers to do them, because it's one of the few choices of career where the sector is still growing. Despite the beliefs of some, IT is not full of nerdy individuals looking at screens the whole time (though naturally some jobs are like that.) The vast majority of roles are occupied by ordinary people who like receiving larger than average salaries.

Quite often, students have issues with one aspect of their training which is often not even considered: The method used to 'segment' the courseware before being physically delivered to you. Many companies enrol you into a program spread over 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each exam. On the surface this seems reasonable - until you consider the following: How would they react if you didn't complete everything at the proposed pace? Sometimes their preference of study order won't be as easy as some other order of studying might.

Put simply, the perfect answer is to have a copy of their prescribed order of study, but to receive all the materials up-front. You're then in possession of everything in case you don't finish inside of their required time-scales.

Those that are drawn to this type of work are often very practical, and won't enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and poring through books and manuals. If this could be you, use multimedia, interactive learning, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Studies have always verified that getting into our studies physically, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.

Interactive full motion video featuring instructor demo's and practice lab's will beat books every time. And you'll actually enjoy doing them. Every company that you look at should willingly take you through a few examples of the type of training materials they provide. Make sure you encounter videos of instructor-led classes and many interactive sections.

You'll find that many companies will only provide online training only; while you can get away with this much of the time, consider how you'll deal with it when you don't have access to the internet or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. A safer solution is the provision of CD and DVD ROM materials which don't suffer from these broadband issues.

Consider the following facts and pay great regard to them if you believe the sales ploy of a guarantee for your exam looks like a reason to buy:

You'll be charged for it ultimately. It's definitely not free - it's simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole. Trainees who take exams one at a time, funding them one at a time are far more likely to pass first time. They are aware of the cost and so are more inclined to ensure they are ready.

Take your exams somewhere local and hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you take it. Including money in your training package for examination fees (and if you're financing your study there'll be interest on that) is madness. Don't line companies bank accounts with your hard-earned cash only to please their Bank Manager! A lot bank on the fact that you won't get round to taking them - so they get to keep the extra funds. It's also worth noting that many exam guarantees are worthless. Many training companies won't be prepared to pay again for an exam until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won't fail again.

With the average price of Pro-metric and VUE exams costing in the region of 112 pounds in this country, it's common sense to fund them one by one. Why splash out often many hundreds of pounds extra at the beginning of your training? Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.

Throw out a salesperson who just tells you what course you should do without a thorough investigation to assess your abilities as well as experience level. Ensure that they have a wide-enough range of products from which they could give you a program that suits you.. Don't forget, if you've got any work-experience or certification, then you may be able to commence studying further along than a student who's starting from scratch. Consider starting with user-skills and software training first. It can brush up on your current abilities and make your learning curve a less steep.

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