If you may be starting with a training provider that still provides workshop days as part of their program, then take note of these problems encountered by most IT hopefuls:

- All that travelling - frequent journeys and quite often 100's of miles each time.

- If, like many of us, you work, then weekday only workshops are difficult to make. You could be having to deal with 2-3 days at a time as well.

- Lost annual leave - many trainees are given only twenty days of leave annually. If half or more of that is used up by educational events, that isn't going to leave much vacation time for students and their families.

- Training classes sometimes get fully subscribed quite quickly, so we end up having to take something that we don't really want.

- The 'pace' - centre-days typically feature trainees of varied abilities, so tension can run high between students with more background knowledge and those who prefer a more relaxed pace.

- Count the cost of all the travel, fares, accommodation, food and parking and you could find yourself astounded. Attendees have reported extra costs ranging from hundreds to over a thousand pounds. Do the maths - and understand where they're coming from.

- Study privacy can be high on the list of priorities to a lot of trainees. You don't want to throw away any job advancement, pay-rises or accomplishment in your job just because you're retraining. If your boss finds out you've committed to accreditation in a different industry, how will they regard you?

- Who amongst us hasn't avoided asking a question, because we wanted to maintain the illusion that we did, in fact, understand?

- Being away from home with your work during the week - a fair few students find they have to work or live somewhere else for part of the programme. Days in-centre become very difficult then, but you've already coughed up the readies in your initial payment.

The ultimate convenience is to watch a videoed lesson - with instructor-led learning available any time of the day that suits. Whenever you experience difficulties, make use of the 24x7 support (that should come with any technical program.) Keep in mind, if your PC is a notebook PC, you can study wherever you want. Irrespective of how often you feel you need to repeat something, on-screen teachers are never going to run out of patience! Also, in this situation, you don't have to worry about any note-taking. It's all there for you. The upshot: Much less stress and hassle, less cost, and you've got no travelling to do.

Don't get hung-up, as a lot of students can, on the training course itself. You're not training for the sake of training; this is about gaining commercial employment. Focus on the end-goal. Never let yourself become one of those unfortunate people that choose a course that sounds really 'interesting' and 'fun' - only to end up with a qualification for something they'll never enjoy.

Take time to understand your leanings around career progression and earning potential, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. You should understand what industry expects from you, what particular accreditations will be required and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Sense dictates that you always seek guidance and advice from an experienced industry advisor before settling on a training program, so you can be sure that a program provides the appropriate skill-set.

If you're interested in the development side of things, MS provide the 'MCITP' DB Developer certification. Without totally stretching in to Database programming, this handles more of the preliminary rationale & setup of databases. If you're thinking about Database programming then you really should visit the appropriate programming pages on this site. To be honest, there is more desire for the Administration side from both students and employers. Even so, if the developer track will suit your needs, it might be advisable to include the 'MCITP' DB-Developer into a wider programming training-track. Over the coming years, you will also find added 'MCTS' accreditation in 'SQL' Server '08 increasingly appropriate.

Think about the facts below very carefully if you think the marketing blurb about a guarantee for your exam looks like a reason to buy:

Obviously it's not free - you're still being charged for it - the cost has just been rolled into the whole training package. Qualifying on the first 'go' is what everyone wants to do. Entering examinations one at a time and funding them as you go has a marked effect on pass-rates - you take it seriously and are mindful of the investment you've made.

Why pay a college up-front for examinations? Find the best exam deal or offer when you're ready, don't pay mark-ups - and do it locally - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call. Many current training companies secure a great deal of profit through getting in the money for all the exam fees up-front and banking on the fact that many won't be taken. Additionally, 'Exam Guarantees' often aren't worth the paper they're written on. Many training companies will not pay for re-takes until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won't fail again.

Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on an 'Exam Guarantee' is short-sighted - when hard work, commitment and the right preparation via exam simulations is what will get you through.

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