One interesting way that training companies make a big mark-up is by charging for exams up-front and offering an exam guarantee. This sounds impressive, but let's just examine it more closely:

Certainly it's not free - you're still footing the bill for it - it's just been included in your package price. It's well known in the industry that if students pay for each progressive exam, at the time of taking them, the chances are they're going to qualify each time - since they'll think of their investment in themselves and their application will be greater.

Do the examinations as locally as possible and find the best deal for you at the time. Is there a good reason to pay interest on a bigger loan than is necessary because you've paid early for exams when you don't need to? A great deal of money is made because training colleges are getting money in early for exam fees - and hoping either that you won't take them, or it will be a long time before you do. The majority of companies will require you to do mock exams and hold you back from re-takes until you have proved to them you have a good chance of passing - making an 'exam guarantee' just about worthless.

Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are around 112 pounds in the United Kingdom today. Why pay exorbitant 'Exam Guarantee' fees (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when a quality course, support and exam preparation systems and a dose of commitment and effort are what's required.

The way a programme is physically sent to you is usually ignored by most students. In what way are your training elements sectioned? And in what order and at what speed is it delivered? The majority of training companies will set up a 2 or 3 year study programme, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you get to the end of each exam. If you think this sound logical, then consider this: What if you find the order insisted on by the company won't suit you. What if you find it hard to complete each and every section at the speed required?

In all honesty, the best option is to get an idea of what they recommend as an ideal study order, but get all the study materials at the start. You then have everything in the event you don't complete everything as fast as they'd like.

To most home PC users, the word 'Windows' comes to mind once they think about Microsoft. The word 'Office' may equally come to mind because many individuals equate the 'applications' system with the company itself. The most common program is 'Word', which is an application for word processing. Excel is also a very well-liked application for spread-sheets, along with Access that allows us to produce databases. If we add the 'PowerPoint' presentations software then we finalise the key elements generally related to the 'Office' collection. There is though a lot more to Office in total, for example 'Microsoft' Outlook serves as a calendar, email and messaging system.

'Databases' possess their very own language called 'SQL' ('Structured Query Language') which is used to decipher information from a 'standardised' database. Anybody hoping to work on databases in a professional manner must first learn how to understand SQL, in order to manage data efficiently. 'Developers' ('DBD's') set-up & design Databases for 'Administrators' (DBA's) to manage, interrogate & produce reports about the data. Quite a number of developers are programmers as well, & can create software programs for 'databases' in either C# or 'VB'.

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