Workshops are often touted as a major benefit by a lot of training academies. When you chat with most computer industry trainees who have partaken in a couple, you'll discover that they're really a mistake as they hadn't properly considered the following:

- Frequent driving or public transport - very long trips most times.

- Workshop availability; normally Monday to Friday and two or three days in a row. You then have the difficulty of the days away from work.

- The majority of us discover 4 weeks annual leave is barely enough. Use up a big chunk of this for study classes and watch how much harder things become.

- Workshops can get overly large as well.

- Tension is sometimes created in the classroom as students want to progress at their own pace.

- Quite a lot of trainees talk of the high costs involved with travelling back and forth to the training school while forking out for food and accommodation gets very high.

- Study privacy can be high on the list of priorities to a lot of attendees. There's no need to throw away potential advancement, income boosts or achievement at work because you're getting trained in a different area. When your boss discovers you're putting yourself through accreditation in a different industry, what will they think?

- Don't think it's unusual for trainees not to pose the question that's bugging them - just down to the fact that they're amongst other classmates.

- You should remember, days in-centre become virtually undoable, where you live or work away from home for part of the week.

It has to make a lot more sense to study when it's convenient for you - not the company - and employ instructor-led videos with interactive lab's. Study at home on your desktop PC or use your laptop to enjoy the sun. Any questions; then use the provided 24x7 live support (that we hope you'll insist on with any technical courses.) Modules and lessons can be repeated when you're preparing for exams - memory is aided by repetition. And there's no need to take notes - everything is already laid on. Put directly: You avoid a bunch of hassle, save money and time, and avoid polluting the skies.

Often, students don't think to check on a vitally important element - how their training provider divides up the training materials, and into how many parts. You may think it logical (with a typical time scale of 1-3 years to gain full certified status,) for your typical trainer to courier the courseware in stages, until you've passed all the exams. Although: What would happen if you didn't finish each and every exam at the proposed pace? Often the staged order doesn't come as naturally as some other order of studying might.

An ideal situation would be to have all your study materials packed off to your address right at the beginning; the entire thing! Then, nothing can hinder your progress.

Many companies only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and forget the reasons for getting there - which is of course employment. Your focus should start with the final destination in mind - too many people focus on the journey. Imagine training for just one year and then end up doing a job for a lifetime. Don't make the error of opting for what may seem to be a program of interest to you only to waste your life away with a job you don't like!

You also need to know your leanings around career progression and earning potential, and whether you intend to be quite ambitious. It's vital to know what (if any) sacrifices you'll need to make for a particular role, what exams are required and where you'll pick-up experience from. Always seek guidance and advice from a skilled advisor, even if there's a fee involved - it's considerably cheaper and safer to investigate at the start whether something is going to suit and interest you, rather than realise after two full years that you've picked the wrong track and have wasted years of effort.

Charging for exam fees upfront then including an exam guarantee is a popular marketing tool with many training course providers. But let's examine why they really do it:

You're paying for it one way or another. It certainly isn't free - they've simply charged more for the whole training package. The honest truth is that when students fund their own exams, at the time of taking them, the chances are they're going to pass first time - since they're aware of what they've paid and so will prepare more thoroughly.

Why should you pay your college in advance for examinations? Find the best exam deal or offer at the time, instead of paying any mark-up - and do it in a local testing centre - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call. Big margins are made by many companies that take the exam money up-front. For various reasons, many students don't take their exams but no refunds are given. Amazingly, providers exist who actually bank on it - as that's where a lot of their profit comes from. It's also worth noting that you should consider what an 'exam guarantee' really means. The majority of organisations will not pay for you to re-take until you've completely satisfied them that you're ready this time.

The cost of exams was 112 pounds or thereabouts twelve months or so ago via VUE or Pro-metric centres in the UK. So don't be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more for 'an Exam Guarantee', when it's obvious that the most successful method is study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams.

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