Good for you! Hitting upon this feature suggests you're contemplating your career, and if training for a new career's in your mind then you've already got further than most. Did you know that surprisingly few of us consider ourselves fulfilled and satisfied with our jobs - yet most will do absolutely nothing about it. Why not break free and take action - don't you think you deserve it.

Before we even think about individual courses, discuss your thoughts with an industry expert who can help you sort out the right type of training for you. A person who will get a feel for your personality, and discover what job role you'll be most comfortable with:

* Is it your preference to work in isolation or is being part of a team an essential criteria for you?

* What do you require from the area of industry you choose? (Building and banking - not so stable as they once were.)

* How long a career do you hope to have once retrained, and can your chosen industry provide you with that possibility?

* Do you expect your new knowledge base to allow you to find the work you're looking for, and stay employable until your retirement plans kick in?

Consider the IT industry, it will be well worth your time - you'll find it's one of the only growth areas throughout Europe. Salaries are also more generous than most.

A question; why should we consider commercial qualifications and not the usual academic qualifications gained through schools and Further Education colleges? Vendor-based training (in industry terminology) is more effective in the commercial field. Industry has acknowledged that specialisation is vital to handle a technologically complex marketplace. Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA dominate in this arena. Typically, students are simply taught the necessary specifics in depth. Actually, it's not quite as pared down as that, but the most important function is always to concentrate on the fundamentally important skill-sets (along with a certain amount of crucial background) - without trying to cram in every other area (as universities often do).

Just like the advert used to say: 'It does what it says on the tin'. Companies need only to know where they have gaps, and then advertise for someone with the specific certification. Then they know that anyone who applies can do the necessary work.

An effective training program should also include accredited exam simulation and preparation packages. Ensure that the mock exams aren't just asking you the right questions from the right areas, but are also posing them in the exact format that the real exams will formulate them. It can really throw some trainees if the questions are phrased in unfamiliar formats. Practice exams can be very useful in helping you build your confidence - so much so, that at the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.

Wouldn't it be great to know for sure that our jobs will remain safe and the future is protected, however, the truth for most jobs around the UK at the moment is that security just isn't there anymore. Whereas a marketplace with high growth, with huge staffing demands (due to an enormous shortfall of trained professionals), enables the possibility of proper job security.

Recently, a UK e-Skills study brought to light that over 26 percent of all available IT positions remain unfilled due to a huge deficit of appropriately certified professionals. Therefore, for each four job positions in existence in IT, companies can only find enough qualified individuals for three of the four. Highly trained and commercially accredited new employees are thus at a total premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for a long time to come. It's unlikely if a better time or market state of affairs could exist for acquiring training in this hugely expanding and developing market.

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