The area most overlooked by new students mulling over a new direction is the issue of 'training segmentation'. Essentially, this is how the program is broken down into parts for drop-shipping to you, which can make a dramatic difference to what you end up with. Many think it logical (with most training taking 1-3 years for a full commercial certification,) that a training provider will issue a single section at a time, as you complete each part. But: What if for some reason you don't get to the end of all the sections or exams? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Due to no fault of yours, you mightn't complete everything fast enough and not receive all the modules you've paid for.

Ideally, you want everything at the start - enabling you to have them all to come back to at any time in the future - irrespective of any schedule. You can also vary the order in which you complete your exams as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.

Only consider retraining programs that progress to commercially recognised certifications. There are far too many minor schools promoting unknown 'in-house' certificates which aren't worth the paper they're printed on in today's commercial market. All the major commercial players such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe have globally recognised proficiency programs. Huge conglomerates such as these will make sure you're employable.

In amongst the top nominees for the biggest issue to be got round for IT students is often the 'in-centre' workshop requirement. Many training academies harp on about the so-called 'benefits' of these classes, it's almost certain though that you'll find them a burden to be carried because of:

- Many round journeys - sometimes hundreds of miles at a time.

- Requesting constant holidays or time off - most training companies will only provide weekday availability and typically group 2-3 days together. This isn't ideal for most people who work, especially if you include the travel time on top.

- With only 4 weeks off each year, giving half of them to study days means we'll be hard-pushed to get a holiday with our families.

- Training events can 'sell out' fast and can be very crammed in.

- Often, tension develops inside the classroom because different students want to work at different paces.

- Rising travel prices - driving or taking public transport to and from the training centre plus over-night accommodation can mount up over several visits. With only a basic 5-10 centre-days costing around 35 pounds for one night's accommodation, plus forty pounds for petrol and food at 15 pounds, we arrive at four to nine hundred pounds of extra costs to cover.

- Privacy is important to us all. We don't want to risk throwing away any advancement that we're owed because we're getting trained in a different area.

- Posing questions in front of other class-mates often makes us feel self-conscious. Ever avoided asking a question just because you honestly thought you might seem thick?

- Working away from home - a minority of students need to live or work somewhere else for part of their training. Classes are therefore very difficult then, unfortunately the money has already changed hands in your initial payment.

Doesn't it make much more sense to be trained at a time that's convenient for you - not the school - and use videos of instructors with interactive virtual-lab's. Whenever an ugly problem rears its head, utilise the 24x7 Support (that we hope you'll insist on with any technical courses.) Keep in mind, if you've got a notebook PC, study isn't restricted to the home or office. You don't have to worry about any note-taking - you have the lessons and accompanying information ready-made for you. If you want to re-do anything, it's immediately available. Could it be more straightforward: Time and money is saved and travelling is avoided altogether; and you have a far more comfortable learning setting.

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