Nice One! By reading this it's likely you're thinking about learning new skills to change career - so you've already done more than most. A small minority of us are happy and fulfilled in our work, but it's rare anyone does more than moan. You could join a select group who take responsibility for their future.

It's advisable to get some help before you start - talk to someone who's familiar with your chosen field; a guide who can really get to know you and find the best job role for you, and offer only the courses which will get you there:

* Do you enjoy a busy working environment? Are you better with new people or those you know well? Or are you better with things that you can get on with on your own?

* What criteria are fundamental with regard to the sector of industry you'll be employed in?

* Is it important that this should be a one off time that you will need more qualifications?

* Would you like your study to be in an area where you know your chances of gainful employment are high up to the time you want to stop?

We would advise that one of your key sectors is Information Technology - it's common knowledge that it is one of the few growth sectors. IT isn't all techie people looking at computer screens constantly - it's true those jobs exist, but most jobs are done by Joe averages who do very well out of it.

We can't make a big enough deal out of this point: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 support from professional instructors. You will have so many problems later if you don't adhere to this. You'll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and phone support is usually just a call-centre that will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor - who will call back over the next day or so (assuming you're there), at a time suitable for them. This is no good if you're stuck with a particular problem and only have a specific time you can study.

The very best training providers utilise several support facilities around the globe in several time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to link them all seamlessly, irrespective of the time you login, there is always help at hand, without any problems or delays. Don't accept second best with the quality of your support. The majority of students who can't get going properly, are in that situation because of a lack of support.

Many people question why qualifications from colleges and universities are now falling behind more qualifications from the commercial sector? The IT sector now recognises that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, proper accreditation from such organisations as CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA often is more effective in the commercial field - for much less time and money. Essentially, the learning just focuses on what's actually required. It's not quite as straightforward as that, but the principle remains that students need to master the precisely demanded skill-sets (along with a certain amount of crucial background) - without overdoing the detail in everything else (as academia often does).

The bottom line is: Commercial IT certifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - the title says it all: i.e. I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Planning and Maintaining a Windows 2003 Infrastructure'. So an employer can look at their needs and what certifications are required to perform the job.

A valuable training course package will undoubtedly incorporate wholly authorised exam preparation packages. Because the majority of IT examining boards tend to be American, you must be prepared for the way exams are phrased. You can't practice properly by just answering any old technical questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing. Practice exams can be very useful as a resource to you - then when the time comes for you to take your actual exams, you don't get uptight.

Be alert that all exams you're working towards are commercially relevant and are bang up to date. The 'in-house' certifications provided by many companies are generally useless. From a commercial standpoint, only the big-boys such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA (for instance) will get you into the interview seat. Anything less just doesn't cut the mustard.