If you think Cisco training might be for you, and you've no practical experience with network switches or routers, we'd recommend taking a CCNA course. This teaches you skills for setting up and maintaining routers. The world wide web is built up of many routers, and large commercial ventures with several locations also use them to keep their networks in touch.
The sort of jobs available with this kind of skill mean it's likely you'll end up working for big organisations that are spread out geographically but still want internal communication. Or, you may move on to joining an internet service provider. These jobs are well paid and in demand.
Find a tailored course that will take you through a specific training path to ensure that you have comprehensive skills and knowledge prior to commencing your Cisco training.
Students often end up having issues because of a single courseware aspect very rarely considered: The method used to 'segment' the courseware before being packaged off through the post. Many companies enrol you into a 2 or 3 year study programme, and courier the materials in pieces as you complete each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: What would their reaction be if you find it difficult to do each element at the required speed? Sometimes their preference of study order won't fit you as well as an alternative path could be.
In an ideal situation, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - giving you them all for the future to come back to - as and when you want. This also allows you to vary the order in which you complete each objective as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.
One feature that several companies offer is job placement assistance. It's intention is to help you find your first job in the industry. Don't get caught up in this feature - it's easy for eager sales people to make it sound harder than it is. Ultimately, the still growing need for IT personnel in this country is what will make you attractive to employers.
Nevertheless, don't leave it until you've finished your training before getting your CV updated. As soon as you start a course, list what you're working on and place it on jobsites! It's not unusual to find that you will be offered your first role while you're still a student (even in the early stages). If your course details aren't on your CV (and it's not being looked at by employers) then you aren't even in the running! Most often, a local IT focused recruitment consultancy (who will get paid commission to place you) will perform better than any division of a training company. Also of course they should know the local area and commercial needs.
Essentially, as long as you focus the same level of energy into getting a position as into training, you won't have any problems. A number of men and women inexplicably conscientiously work through their course materials and do nothing more once they've passed their exams and seem to suppose that interviewers know they're there.
It would be wonderful to believe that our careers will remain safe and the future is protected, however, the truth for the majority of jobs around England today appears to be that there is no security anymore. Security can now only exist through a rapidly escalating marketplace, driven by a shortage of trained workers. It's this shortage that creates the correct setting for a secure market - a far better situation.
Taking a look at the computer business, the most recent e-Skills study brought to light a 26 percent deficit in trained staff. That means for every 4 jobs in existence across Information Technology (IT), there are barely three qualified workers to do them. This one reality alone shows why the United Kingdom needs a lot more workers to get trained and get into the IT industry. Surely, this really is a fabulous time to retrain into Information Technology (IT).
With so much choice, there's no surprise that most potential students get stuck choosing the job they should even pursue. Because having no commercial skills in IT, in what way could we understand what someone in a particular job does? To attack this, there should be a discussion of a number of unique issues:
* Your individual personality and what you're interested in - which work-centred jobs you like and dislike.
* What is the time-frame for the retraining?
* What priority do you place on job satisfaction vs salary?
* With many, many ways to train in IT - there's a need to achieve some key facts on what makes them different.
* Having a serious look at what commitment and time you can give.
To be honest, it's obvious that the only real way to research these issues is via a conversation with an advisor who has years of experience in computing (and specifically the commercial requirements.)