What could a trainee searching for Microsoft certified training expect to discover? Clearly, companies ought to have a number of routes that cover the portfolio of training tracks certified by Microsoft. Try to shortlist your ideas with somebody who is on familiar terms with the IT industry, and can influence your choice of the best kind of work to go with your personal characteristics. Be assured that your course is matched to your needs and abilities. The best companies will make sure that your training track is appropriate for the job you want to get.

The somewhat scary thought of finding your first job can be eased because some trainers offer a Job Placement Assistance facility. Because of the great demand for appropriately skilled people in Britain even when times are hard, there's no need to get too caught up in this feature though. It really won't be that difficult to get a job once you're well trained and qualified.

You would ideally have CV and Interview advice and support though; additionally, we would recommend all students to work on polishing up their CV as soon as they start a course - don't procrastinate and leave it until you've qualified. You might not even have passed your first exam when you land your first junior support position; however this isn't going to happen if your CV isn't in front of employers. If it's important to you to find work near your home, then you'll often find that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy might be of more use than some national concern, because they're far more likely to be familiar with local employment needs.

A good number of people, it seems, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (sometimes for years), only to give up at the first hurdle when finding a job. Introduce yourself... Do everything you can to let employers know about you. Don't expect a job to just fall into your lap.

Commercially accredited qualifications are now, most definitely, beginning to replace the traditional academic paths into IT - why then should this be? With a growing demand for specific technological expertise, the IT sector has moved to the specialised training that can only come from the vendors - namely companies like Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA. Frequently this is at a far reduced cost both money and time wise. Many degrees, for instance, clog up the training with too much background study - with a syllabus that's far too wide. Students are then held back from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

The crux of the matter is this: Accredited IT qualifications let employers know exactly what you're capable of - it says what you do in the title: i.e. I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003'. So companies can identify just what their needs are and what certifications are needed for the job.

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