Congratulate yourself that you’re on the right track! Just ten percent of people say they enjoy their work, but a huge number simply moan about it and that’s it. Because you’ve done research we have a hunch that you’re at least considering retraining, which means you’re already ahead of the pack. What comes next is find out more and then take action.

When considering retraining, it’s important to first define what you want and don’t want from the career you would like to get. Ensure that things would be a lot better before much time and effort is spent re-directing your life. So much better to look at the end goal first, to make the right judgements:

* Would you like to work with others? If the answer’s yes, would you enjoy being part of a team or are you hoping to meet new people? Or would you rather work alone with a task?

* Are you thinking carefully about which area you could be employed in? (In this economy, it’s vital to get it right.)

* Is this the final time you plan to retrain, and therefore, will this new career allow you to do that?

* Will this new qualification give you the opportunity to get a good job, and keep working until you choose to stop?

Don’t overlook Information Technology, that’s our recommendation – it’s one of the few growth areas in Great Britain and Europe. Another benefit is that remuneration packages are much better than most.

Without a doubt: There’s pretty much no individual job security now; there’s only market or sector security – companies can just drop any single member of staff if it suits the business’ trade needs.

Of course, a marketplace with high growth, with a constant demand for staff (as there is a growing shortage of properly qualified professionals), enables the possibility of proper job security.

Offering the computer industry for instance, a recent e-Skills survey brought to light major skills shortages in the UK in excess of 26 percent. Meaning that for every 4 jobs that exist around Information Technology (IT), there are only 3 trained people to do them.

This disturbing truth underpins an urgent requirement for more appropriately trained Information Technology professionals around the UK.

While the market is evolving at such a speed, it’s unlikely there’s any better market worth investigating for a new future.

Students often end up having issues because of one area of their training usually not even thought about: The breakdown of the course materials before being physically delivered to you.

Many companies enrol you into a 2 or 3 year study programme, and drop-ship the materials to you piecemeal as you complete each section or exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following:

What would their reaction be if you find it difficult to do each and every exam at the proposed pace? Sometimes their preference of study order doesn’t come as naturally as some other structure would for you.

To be in the best situation you would have all the learning modules posted to your home before you even start; every single thing! Thus avoiding any future problems that could impede your capability of finishing.

Of course: a training itself or an accreditation is not what you’re looking for; the career you’re training for is. Too many training companies completely prioritise just the training course.

It’s an awful thing, but a great many students begin programs that seem wonderful from the sales literature, but which delivers a career that is of no interest at all. Try talking to typical university leavers to see what we mean.

Be honest with yourself about the income level you aspire to and whether you’re an ambitious person or not. Usually, this will point the way to which precise qualifications will be required and how much effort you’ll have to give in return.

Seek out help from a professional advisor that ‘gets’ the commercial realities of the area you’re interested in, and will be able to provide ‘A typical day in the life of’ synopsis of what you’ll actually be doing during your working week. It’s good sense to understand whether or not this is right for you long before your course begins. What’s the point in kicking off your training and then find you’ve taken the wrong route.

Don’t listen to any salesperson that offers any particular course without a thorough investigation to better understand your current abilities and level of experience. Make sure they can draw from a wide-enough array of training so they’re actually equipped to give you a program that suits you..

Remember, if in the past you’ve acquired any accreditation or direct-experience, then you may be able to pick-up at a different starting-point to a trainee with no history to speak of.

Where this will be your first effort at IT study then you might also want to cut your teeth on a user-skills course first.

(C) Jason Kendall. Go to LearningLolly.com for quality advice. www.learninglolly.com or Career Training.