'In-Centre workshop days' are often touted as a great facet by many trainers. If you talk to the majority of computer industry hopefuls who have partaken in a couple, you'll likely realise that they've now become a mistake as they hadn't properly considered the following:

- Lots of round trips - normally hundreds of miles at a time.

- Monday to Friday availability to events is typically the case, and with 2-3 days to book off work, this is usually problematic for many working people.

- Holiday days lost - most workers get just four weeks holiday each year. If you use up half of that with study events, vacation time is going to be quite short for students and their families.

- 'In-Centre' workshop days often become overly large as well.

- Many students want to study at a slower or quicker pace than the rest of the class. Often this can bring about tension in the class.

- The growing costs associated with travel - travelling to the training facility and of course several days accommodation can start to get expensive over several visits. If you only assumed 5-10 classes costing 35 pounds for one over-night room, plus 40 pounds for petrol and food at 15 pounds, we find an extra four to nine hundred pounds of hidden costs on top.

- Privacy is important to us all. We should never risk losing any possible promotion that we're owed while we're training.

- Raising questions around our class-mates can make us a little uncomfortable. Surely, at some point, you've avoided asking a question as you didn't want to appear stupid?

- Working away from home - a fair few attendees find they have to work or live away for sections of their training. Workshops are therefore impossible at that point, unfortunately you've already coughed up the readies with your initial fees.

It obviously makes much more sense to take classes at a time that's convenient for you - not the school - and employ virtual lab environments with videos of your instructors. Ponder this... If you have a notebook PC then you could study wherever you happen to be at that time. And live 24x7 support is an online click away if you hit challenges. Note-taking is a thing of the past - every lesson is laid out for you already. Any time you want to repeat something, you've got it all. The outcome: Reduced hassle, money saved, and no travelling or long journeys.

A skilled and specialised consultant (vs a salesperson) will cover in some detail your current situation. This is useful for working out your study start-point. If you've got a strong background, or maybe some live experience (possibly even some previous certification?) then obviously the point from which you begin your studies will vary from someone with no background whatsoever. Where this will be your first effort at studying for an IT examination then you should consider whether to practice with some basic user skills first.

Think about the facts below in detail if you're inclined to think the sales ploy of a guarantee for your exam looks like a reason to buy:

You're paying for it somehow. It's definitely not free - they've just worked it into the package price. Should you seriously need to get a first time pass, evidence suggests you must fund each exam as you take it, give it the necessary attention and give the task sufficient application.

Go for the best offer you can find at the time, and hang on to your cash. You'll then be able to select where you take your exam - meaning you can choose a local testing centre. A surprising number of questionable training providers make huge amounts of money through charging for exam fees early and hoping that you won't take them all. It's worth noting that exam re-takes with training course providers who offer an 'Exam Guarantee' are always heavily controlled. You'll be required to sit pre-tests to make sure they think you're going to pass.

Prometric and VUE exams are approximately 112 pounds in the UK. What's the point of paying huge fees for 'exam guarantees' (most often hidden in the package) - when the best course materials, the right level of support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

A ridiculously large number of organisations only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and forget what you actually need - which is of course employment. You should always begin with the final destination in mind - don't get hung-up on the training vehicle. It's a terrible situation, but a great many students start out on programs that sound fabulous from the sales literature, but which provides a job that doesn't satisfy. Talk to many college students to see what we mean.

Never let your focus stray from where you want to get to, and then build your training requirements around that - don't do it back-to-front. Stay on target and begin studying for a job you'll still be enjoying many years from now. Obtain help from an experienced industry professional who has commercial knowledge of your chosen market-place, and who can offer 'A typical day in the life of' outline of what you'll actually be doing with each working day. It makes good sense to understand whether or not this is right for you long before you commence your studies. There's little point in starting your training and then find you've taken the wrong route.

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