We all have busy lives, and most often if we want to advance our future prospects, training alongside a job is the only option open to us. Training tracks certified by Microsoft can fill that gap. Maybe you'd like to find advisors with experience of the IT industry, who can offer guidance on which area of the industry would suit you most, and the kind of responsibilities that are a good match for somebody with your character and ability. Training programs must be tailored to reflect your ability level and skill set. Hence, once you've decided on the right IT job for you, your next requirement is the most suitable program that will get you into that job.

All programs you're considering should always lead to a nationally (or globally) recognised accreditation as an end-goal - not a useless 'in-house' printed certificate to hang in your hallway. From a commercial standpoint, only top businesses such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA (to give some examples) provide enough commercial weight. Nothing else makes the grade.

Of course: the training itself or a certification isn't the end-goal; the career that you want to end up in is. Far too many training organisations completely prioritise the qualification itself. It's possible, for example, to get a great deal of enjoyment from a year of study and then find yourself trapped for decades in a job you hate, as a consequence of not performing the correct level of soul-searching at the outset.

Make sure you investigate your feelings on earning potential and career progression, plus your level of ambition. It's vital to know what industry expects from you, which particular accreditations are needed and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Long before starting a particular study programme, trainees are advised to chat over the exact job needs with an experienced industry advisor, in order to be sure the training program covers all the bases.

Consider the points below in detail if you've been persuaded that that over-used sales technique about a guarantee for your exam looks like a reason to buy:

Everybody's aware that they're still being charged for it - it's obviously been added into the overall price charged by the college. It's certainly not free (although some people will believe anything the marketing companies think up these days!) If it's important to you to get a first time pass, evidence suggests you must avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, give it the priority it deserves and be ready for the task.

Why should you pay a training college up-front for examination fees? Hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the appropriate time, rather than pay marked up fees - and sit exams more locally - rather than in some remote place. A great deal of money is secured by a significant number of organisations who get money upfront for exam fees. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don't get to do their exams and so they pocket the rest. Believe it or not, providers exist who actually bank on it - as that's how they make a lot of their profit. It's also worth noting that you should consider what an 'exam guarantee' really means. The majority of organisations will not pay for re-takes until you've completely satisfied them that you're ready this time.

With the average price of Pro-metric and VUE exams coming in at approximately 112 pounds in Great Britain, it makes sense to pay as you go. Not to fork out thousands extra in up-front costs. Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.

How the program is actually delivered to you can often be overlooked. How is the courseware broken down? And in what order and what control do you have at what pace it arrives? Typically, you will join a program taking 1-3 years and receive one element at a time until graduation. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this: What would happen if you didn't finish all the exams within the time limits imposed? And maybe you'll find their order of completion won't be as easy as an alternative path could be.

Ideally, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - giving you them all to come back to in the future - at any time you choose. This allows a variation in the order that you complete your exams as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.

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