Consider the following points in detail if you think that over-used sales technique about a guarantee for your exam looks like a reason to buy:

Obviously it's not free - you're still paying for it - the price has simply been included in the whole thing. If it's important to you to qualify first 'go', then you should pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and give the task sufficient application.

Look for the very best offer you can when you take the exam, and avoid college mark-up fees. In addition, it's then your choice where to do the examinations - so you can choose somewhere closer to home. Buying a course that includes payments for exam fees (and interest charges if you're borrowing money) is a false economy. Why fill a company's coffers with your hard-earned cash only to please their Bank Manager! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you won't get to do them all - so they get to keep the extra funds. Re-takes of previously unsuccessful exams with training course providers who offer an 'Exam Guarantee' are monitored with tight restrictions. They will insist that you take pre-tests first until you've demonstrated an excellent ability to pass.

VUE and Prometric examinations are around 112 pounds in the United Kingdom today. What's the point of paying huge 'Exam Guarantee' costs (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when a quality course, support and study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is what will really guarantee success.

If you're thinking of using a trainer that still provides 'in-centre workshop days' as a benefit of their course, then listen to these difficulties encountered by many students:

- Lots of round trips - often hundreds of miles each and every time.

- Weekday only availability to workshops is the norm, and trying to take several days leave in a single chunk can be difficult for most working students.

- Let us not ignore lost holiday time. We typically get 4 weeks annual leave. If over 50 percent is used in classes, then there's very little left over for us.

- Workshop days normally get over full.

- Often trainees want to progress quickly, but some need a more gentle learning curve and be allowed to set their own speed. This breeds tension and unrest in most cases.

- The cost of travel - travelling to the training facility and of course bed and breakfast for the night can really add up over several visits. If we just assume an average of 5 to 10 classes at a cost of 35 pounds for one over-night room, plus forty pounds for petrol and food at 15.00, we find an extra four to nine hundred pounds of hidden costs on top.

- You should never risk any chance of being ignored for a lift up the ladder or pay-rises because you're getting trained in a different area.

- Surely, all of us at some time have shied away from raising a hand in the air, because we wanted to fit in?

- If your work takes you away from home, it's apparent that workshops are now very hard to attend - but unfortunately, they've been paid for in advance.

Surely it makes more sense to learn when it suits you -- not the training company - and make use of interactive videos of instructors teaching a class. Ponder this... If you have a notebook PC then you could study wherever you want. And 24x7 support is only a web-click away in case of difficulty. Just re-watch and re-cover the study modules as often as you want to brush up. And of course, you won't need to scribble any notes because you'll always have access to the teaching. Quite simply: You save time, hassle, money and altogether avoid polluting the environment.

Many training companies have a handy Job Placement Assistance facility, to help you get your first job. But don't place too much emphasis on it - it's quite easy for their marketing department to overplay it. The fact of the matter is, the still growing need for IT personnel in this country is the reason you'll find a job.

Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however - you should get plenty of help from your training provider on this. Don't wait for when you're ready to start work. It's not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been offered to students who are still studying and have still to get qualified. This will at least get you into the 'maybe' pile of CV's - rather than the 'No' pile. If you'd like to get employment in your home town, then you'll often find that an independent and specialised local employment service can generally serve you better than a centralised service, because they're far more likely to have insider knowledge of the jobs that are going locally.

Essentially, as long as you focus the same level of energy into getting your first job as into training, you won't have any problems. A number of people strangely put hundreds of hours into their course materials and then call a halt once qualified and seem to expect employers to find them.

Some training providers only give support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later; very few go late in the evening or at weekends. Avoid, like the plague, any organisations that use 'out-of-hours' call-centres - where you'll get called back during office hours. This is useless when you're stuck and need an answer now.

We recommend looking for colleges that use several support centres around the globe in several time-zones. All of them should be combined to give a single entry point and round-the-clock access, when it suits you, with the minimum of hassle. Look for a trainer that gives this level of learning support. Because only live 24x7 support provides the necessary backup.

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