The Microsoft MCSA course (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) is a perfect match for anyone hoping to work as a technician in network support. Whether you already have experience but need a professional course with a good qualification, or you are a beginner in the computer world, you’ll quickly see how to choose a program to suit your requirements.

If you want to get into the world of computers as a beginner, you will possibly need to have some coaching before attempting to go for the 4 MCP’s (Microsoft Certified Professional exams) needed to become MCSA qualified. Look for a company that’s able to create a bespoke package to cater for you – it should be possible for you to chat with an advisor to sort out your optimum route.

Many training companies will only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later; very few go late in the evening or at weekends.

Never purchase training that only supports students with a message system after office-staff have gone home. Trainers will defend this with all kinds of excuses. The bottom line is – you need support when you need support – not when it suits them.

It’s possible to find professional training packages who provide their students online direct access support 24×7 – including evenings, nights and weekends.

If you fail to get yourself 24×7 support, you’ll end up kicking yourself. You may not need it late at night, but consider weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

Of course: a course itself or a certification isn’t the end-goal; a job that you want is. Far too many training organisations completely prioritise the qualification itself.

Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing the job for 20 years. Don’t make the error of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ course only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!

You’ll want to understand the expectations of your industry. Which precise exams you’ll need and how you’ll go about getting some commercial experience. It’s also worth spending time considering how far you think you’ll want to go as often it can present a very specific set of certifications.

Obtain help from a professional advisor who has commercial knowledge of your chosen market-place, and is able to give you ‘A typical day in the life of’ outline of what you’ll actually be doing during your working week. It makes good sense to discover if this is the right course of action for you before you embark on your training program. After all, what is the point in starting to train only to realise you’ve made a huge mistake.

Beginning from the viewpoint that it makes sense to locate the employment that excites us first, before we can contemplate which development program fulfils our needs, how do we decide on the way that suits us?

How can we possibly grasp the day-to-day realities of any IT job if we’ve never been there? Maybe we haven’t met someone who performs the role either.

To get to the bottom of this, there should be a discussion of a variety of different aspects:

* Personalities play a starring part – what gives you a ‘kick’, and what are the things that put a frown on your face.

* Why you’re looking at stepping into IT – it could be you’re looking to triumph over a long-held goal like being self-employed for example.

* How highly do you rate salary – is it the most important thing, or do you place job satisfaction a little higher on your list of priorities?

* With so many ways to train in Information Technology – there’s a need to achieve some background information on what differentiates them.

* Having a cold, hard look at what commitment and time you’ll make available.

To cut through all the jargon and confusion, and uncover the best path to success, have an informal meeting with an industry-experienced advisor; an individual that understands the commercial reality whilst covering all the qualifications.

We’re regularly asked to explain why academic qualifications are now falling behind more qualifications from the commercial sector?

With an ever-increasing technical demand on resources, the IT sector has been required to move to specialist courses that the vendors themselves supply – namely companies such as CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA. This frequently provides reductions in both cost and time.

Vendor training works through honing in on the skills that are really needed (together with a relevant amount of related knowledge,) as opposed to trawling through all the background detail and ‘fluff’ that computer Science Degrees often do – to fill a three or four year course.

When an employer knows what areas they need covered, then they just need to look for someone with a specific qualification. Commercial syllabuses all have to conform to the same requirements and can’t change from one establishment to the next (like academia frequently can and does).

(C) Jason Kendall. Look at LearningLolly.com for in-depth career tips. MCSA 2008 or MCSA 2003 Course.