Some training companies are still offering one of the most out-dated training concepts - classroom lessons. Quite often pushed as a positive point, if you talk to a student who has had to attend a few, don't be surprised to be lectured on several if not most of the following problems:

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

- Requesting frequent time off work - most training companies can only give availability during weekdays and link several days together. This isn't ideal for most people who work, even more so if travelling time is added into the mix.

- Lost annual leave - the majority of students are given only twenty days of leave annually. If you give up at least half to your training workshops, that isn't going to leave much vacation time for students and their families.

- With the high costs involved, a lot of training companies have to put on larger classes - certainly not ideal (increasing the ratio of students to teachers).

- Workshop pace - workshops often contain trainees of mixed talent, consequently there is often tension between the quicker-learners and those with less experience.

- Quite a lot of trainees talk of the high costs involved with travelling back and forth to the training centre whilst paying for accommodation and food becomes prohibitively expensive.

- Not wanting employers to know about the training will be of paramount importance to quite a lot of attendees. Why give up any lift up the ladder, wage increases or achievement at work because of your studies. If your employer knows you're putting yourself through training in another sector, how will they regard you?

- Most of us avoid posing questions while sitting with our fellow attendees - so we don't appear ignorant.

- For those of us who need to on occasion live or work away from home, imagine the increased difficulty in getting to the required events, when time-off becomes even harder to obtain.

It obviously makes so much more sense to learn at a time that's convenient for you - not the school - and employ instructor-led videos with interactive lab's. Whenever you get stuck, get onto the live 24x7 support (that should come with any technical program.) Keep in mind, if you have a laptop, study can take place anywhere. Classes and lessons can be repeated at any time you need to brush up - repetition is good for memory. And note-taking is gone forever - it's all laid on for you. Although this doesn't suddenly remove every problem, it undoubtedly removes stress and makes things simpler. And you've reduced travel, hassle and costs.

Proficient user skills can be obtained through certain 'Microsoft' accreditation paths, and professional support skills via others. To learn about 'Office' 2003 (XP) consider MOS - 'Microsoft Office Specialist'. For Office 2007 ('Vista') skills opt for MCAS - 'Microsoft Certified Application Specialist'. A grade up from MOS and MCAS is MCDST - Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, which provides you with the skills to support other users in an office.

You could equally be considering a more senior job in the I.T. industry, which would require more in depth & specialist MS certification training. In an attempt to upgrade their more advanced certification programs, 'Microsoft' have recently restructured many of their exams. Microsoft Certified IT Professional ('MCITP') & 'Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist' (MCTS) have been brought in, though a number of 'Microsoft Certified Professional' ('MCP') exams continue to be current. MCTS training programs are usually achieved as building blocks to the 'MCITP'.

MS own Visual Studio, which is the fore-most Windows software development environment. They offer a number of 'languages', with 'C#.Net' & 'VB.Net' ('Visual Basic') currently being the most frequently used. Each of them are featured on the Programming and Development pages on this site. Essentially the most extensively recognised accreditations are now the 'Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist' and the 'Microsoft Certified Professional Developer'.

To nearly all Computer users, the word Windows comes to mind once they think about 'Microsoft'. It could also signify Microsoft 'Office', which supplies us with a range of popular PC applications. MS 'Word' is the most commonly utilised application for word processing around the globe. While Excel is the most commonly used spreadsheet and 'Access' provides database capabilities to numerous companies. The final of the most important 4 applications in 'Office' is 'PowerPoint', which is widely used for delivering presentations. In reality Microsoft have taken their 'Office' solution a lot further - for instance with Outlook for messaging, calendar formatting & e-mailing.

A top of the range training course package will also offer wholly authorised simulation materials and exam preparation packages. Make sure that the practice exams haven't just got questions on the correct subjects, but also asking them in the way the real exams will formulate them. This throws trainees if they're met with completely different formats and phraseologies. Ensure that you request some practice exams so you can test your knowledge whenever you need to. Simulations of exams will help to boost your attitude - then you won't be quite so nervous at the actual exam.

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