'In-Centre' days are often touted as a major benefit by a lot of training academies. After talking to many IT students who have partaken in a couple, you'll likely realise that they've now become a major negative because of many things:

- Periodic long journeys - hundreds of miles in more cases than not.

- Workshop accessibility; typically Mon-Fri and two or three days in a row. It's not easy to get the days away from work.

- Holiday days lost - many students get just four weeks holiday each year. If over half of it is swallowed up by training days, that isn't going to leave much vacation time for students and their families.

- Training workshops fill up fast and often end up larger than is ideal.

- Some trainees lean towards a pace that is different to the other class members. This can create a lot of tension amongst the class.

- And don't forget the increased cost of driving and accommodation either. This may well run to hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra. Work it out - you'll be (unpleasantly) surprised.

- Privacy is important to us all. We should never risk giving up any advancement due to us while we're training.

- Who amongst us hasn't shied away from raising a hand in the air, because we didn't want to look stupid?

- For those who have work away from home, you now have to deal with the fact that workshops can become very hard to attend - but unfortunately, they've been paid for in advance.

A more flexible training route is to use pre-made workshops at home, in comfort - taking them when it's convenient to you - not anybody else. Whenever an ugly problem rears its head, get onto the live 24x7 support (that should come with any technical program.) Bear in mind, if you have a notebook PC, you can study wherever you want. All the lessons can be repeated as often as you want - repetition is good for memory. And you can forget taking notes - it's all provided. Although this doesn't avoid each and every issue, it unquestionably removes stress and makes things simpler. Plus you've got less travel, costs and hassle.

Finding job security these days is very unusual. Businesses will remove us out of the workplace at the drop of a hat - as and when it suits them. Now, we only experience security through a swiftly escalating market, driven by a lack of trained workers. This shortage creates the right conditions for a secure marketplace - a far better situation.

The IT skills shortage across the country falls in at roughly twenty six percent, as reported by the latest e-Skills analysis. Essentially, we can only fill 3 out of each 4 job positions in IT. This troubling idea clearly demonstrates the requirement for more commercially accredited IT professionals in the United Kingdom. We can't imagine if a better time or market settings could exist for acquiring training in this swiftly increasing and budding business.

Don't get hung-up, as many people do, on the training course itself. Training is not an end in itself; you should be geared towards the actual job at the end of it. Begin and continue with the end in mind. It's a sad testimony to the sales skills of many companies, but the majority of trainees start out on programs that sound fabulous from the sales literature, but which provides a job that doesn't satisfy. Try talking to typical college students and you'll see where we're coming from.

It's essential to keep your focus on where you want to get to, and formulate your training based on that - don't do it the other way round. Stay focused on the end-goal and ensure that you're training for a job that will keep you happy for many years. We advise all students to talk with highly experienced advisors before they embark on a learning programme. This helps to ensure it contains the commercially required skills for that career path.

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