It would be wonderful to believe that our careers are safe and our work futures are protected, but the likely scenario for most sectors throughout England today seems to be that there is no security anymore. We can however locate security at the market sector level, by looking for areas that have high demand, tied with a shortage of skilled staff.

The most recent United Kingdom e-Skills investigation highlighted that over 26 percent of all available IT positions are unfilled mainly due to a lack of well-trained staff. To put it another way, this highlights that the UK can only find 3 trained people for each four job positions that are available at the moment. Attaining in-depth commercial computer certification is thus a quick route to succeed in a long-lasting as well as gratifying occupation. While the market is increasing at the speed it is, is there any other market worth considering for retraining.

Make sure that all your certifications are current and what employers are looking for - you're wasting your time with programs that only give in-house certificates. Unless the accreditation comes from a big-hitter like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe, then it's likely it will have been a waste of time - as it'll be an unknown commodity.

One area often overlooked by trainees considering a training program is the concept of 'training segmentation'. This is essentially the method used to break up the program for timed release to you, which makes a huge difference to how you end up. The majority of training companies will set up a program spread over 1-3 years, and courier the materials in pieces as you finish each section. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: Sometimes the steps or stages insisted on by the company won't suit you. And what if you don't finish each and every section within the time limits imposed?

To be honest, the perfect answer is to have their ideal 'order' of training laid out, but get all the study materials at the start. Meaning you've got it all if you don't manage to finish within their ideal time-table.

It's so important to understand this key point: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 instructor support. You'll severely regret it if you don't heed this. Beware of institutions that use call-centres 'out-of-hours' - with the call-back coming in during normal office hours. It's no use when you're stuck on a problem and need an answer now.

It's possible to find the top providers which give students direct-access online support 24x7 - including evenings, nights and weekends. If you fail to get yourself 24x7 support, you'll end up kicking yourself. You may not need it late in the night, but consider weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

You'll come across courses which guarantee examination passes - this always means you have to pay for the exams at the start of your training. However, prior to embracing the chance of a guarantee, look at the following:

Everybody's aware that they're still footing the bill for it - it's not so hard to see that it's been inserted into the gross price invoiced by the training provider. It's absolutely not free - and it's insulting that we're supposed to think it is! If you want to pass in one, then the most successful route is to pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and be ready for the task.

Look for the very best offer you can when you take the exam, and keep hold of your own money. You'll then be able to select where you do the examinations - meaning you can choose a local testing centre. Including money in your training package for exams (which also includes interest if you've taken out a loan) is madness. Why fill a company's coffers with extra money of yours just to give them more interest! A lot bank on the fact that you don't even take them all - then they'll keep the extra money. Additionally, many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of organisations will not pay for re-takes until you're able to demonstrate an excellent mock pass rate.

Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on an 'Exam Guarantee' is short-sighted - when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.

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