If Cisco training is your aspiration, and you've no practical experience with routers or switches, we'd recommend taking the CCNA training. This will provide you with the knowledge you need to understand routers. The world wide web is built up of many routers, and large commercial ventures with several different sites also rely on them to allow their networks of computers to communicate.

Gaining this type of certification means you'll most probably find yourself working for large companies that are spread out geographically, but still want internal communication. Other usual roles could be with an internet service provider. Both types of jobs command good salaries.

Qualifying up to the CCNA level is where you should be aiming; don't let some salesperson talk you into starting with the CCNP. After gaining experience in the working environment, you can decide if this level is required. If you decide to become more qualified, you'll have the experience you require to take on your CCNP - which is quite a hard qualification to acquire - and shouldn't be taken lightly.

Searching for your first position in IT is often made easier with the help of a Job Placement Assistance program. Don't get caught up in this feature - it's easy for their marketing department to make it sound harder than it is. At the end of the day, the still growing need for IT personnel in Britain is the reason you'll find a job.

CV and Interview advice and support might be provided (if it isn't, consult one of our sites). Make sure you polish up your CV immediately - don't wait until you've finished your exams! It's possible that you won't have even qualified when you land your first junior support role; although this can't and won't happen unless you've posted your CV on job sites. Generally, a local IT focused employment agency (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company's service. Also of course they should be familiar with the local industry and employment needs.

Please be sure that you don't spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, then call a halt and expect somebody else to find you a job. Get off your backside and start looking for yourself. Channel as much energy and enthusiasm into getting the right position as you did to get trained.

It's usual for students to get confused with one aspect of their training which doesn't even occur to them: How the training is broken down and packaged off through the post. Many think it logical (when study may take one to three years to pass all the required exams,) for your typical trainer to courier one section at a time, as you achieve each exam pass. But: What if for some reason you don't get to the end of every single exam? And what if the order provided doesn't meet your requirements? Due to no fault of yours, you might take a little longer and consequently not get all your materials.

In an ideal situation, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - so you'll have them all for the future to come back to - irrespective of any schedule. Variations can then be made to the order that you attack each section if you find another route more intuitive.

So many training providers only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and completely miss why you're doing this - which will always be getting the job or career you want. Your focus should start with the end in mind - don't make the vehicle more important than the destination. Don't be part of the group who set off on a track that sounds really 'interesting' and 'fun' - and end up with a plaque on the wall for a career they'll never really get any satisfaction from.

It's well worth a long chat to see the exact expectations industry will have. What accreditations they'll want you to gain and how to gain experience. Spend some time thinking about how far you reckon you're going to want to build your skill-set as often it can control your selection of certifications. Look for help from a skilled advisor who 'gets' the commercial realities of the area you're interested in, and will be able to provide 'A typical day in the life of' synopsis of what you'll actually be doing on a day-to-day basis. It makes good sense to ensure you're on the right track long before you jump into the study-program. What's the reason in kicking off your training and then discover you're on the wrong course.