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For those ready to get certified at the MCSA level of study, the latest courses on sale are based on CD and DVD ROM's using interactive training. So if you have a certain amount of knowledge but are looking to formalise your skill set, or you're a beginner, you'll come across hands-on MCSA courses to cater for you.

For those ready to get certified at the MCSA level of study, the latest courses on sale are based on CD and DVD ROM's using interactive training. So if you have a certain amount of knowledge but are looking to formalise your skill set, or you're a beginner, you'll come across hands-on MCSA courses to cater for you.

Each of these options will need a different type of course, so pay attention to check you're being offered the best one prior to making a start. Identify a training company that takes the time to understand what you're trying to achieve, and will work with you to sort out how it will all work, long before they start talking about courses.

A lot of people are under the impression that the traditional school, college or university path is still the most effective. So why is commercial certification beginning to overtake it?

With a growing demand for specific technological expertise, the IT sector has moved to specialist courses only available through the vendors themselves - in other words companies like Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA. This frequently provides reductions in both cost and time.

Of course, a necessary amount of background detail needs to be learned, but essential specialisation in the particular job function gives a commercially educated person a huge edge.

In simple terms: Authorised IT qualifications provide exactly what an employer needs - the title is a complete giveaway: as an example - I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Windows XP Administration and Configuration'. So companies can identify exactly what they need and what certifications are required to perform the job.

Frequently, the everyday IT hopeful doesn't have a clue in what direction to head in a computing career, or even what sector they should look at getting trained in.

After all, if you have no background in the IT industry, how are you equipped to know what any qualified IT worker fills their day with? Let alone decide on which certification program will be most suitable for your success.

Usually, the way to come at this problem in the best manner comes from a thorough discussion of a number of areas:

* Your personality can play a major role - what kind of areas spark your interest, and what are the things that get you down.

* What length of time can you allocate for your training?

* Is the money you make further up on your priority-scale than some other areas.

* Some students don't fully understand the amount of work required to get fully certified.

* Having a good look at what commitment and time you'll make available.

For most of us, dissecting each of these concepts will require meeting with a professional that can investigate each area with you. And not just the certifications - but also the commercial expectations and needs of the market as well.

Of all the important things to consider, one of the most essential is always full 24x7 support through trained professional instructors and mentors. It's an all too common story to find providers that will only offer a basic 9am till 6pm support period (maybe later on certain days) with very little availability over the weekend.

Avoid, like the plague, any organisations who use 'out-of-hours' call-centres - where an advisor will call back during normal office hours. It's no use when you're stuck on a problem and need an answer now.

Keep your eyes open for providers that utilise many support facilities around the globe in several time-zones. All of them should be combined to enable simple one-stop access together with round-the-clock access, when it's convenient for you, with no fuss.

If you fail to get yourself 24x7 support, you'll quickly find yourself regretting it. You may avoid using the support during late nights, but you may need weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

Always expect the most up to date Microsoft (or relevant organisation's) authorised exam preparation packages.

Because a lot of IT examining boards are American, you'll need to be used to the correct phraseology. It's no use just answering any old technical questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing.

As you can imagine, it's very crucial to ensure that you're absolutely ready for your actual certification exam before embarking on it. Rehearsing 'mock' tests logs the information in your brain and will save a lot of money on failed exams.