What might someone searching for certified training from Microsoft expect from providers these days? Undoubtedly, training organisations should be offering a variety of courses that match the needs of Microsoft authorised training routes. You'll want to shortlist your ideas with somebody who knows about the commercial demands for IT staff, and can help you choose the most fruitful career to go with your personal characteristics. Having selected the career path you want, you'll need a suitable training program personalised to go with your skills and abilities. Your course material should leave no room for complaints.

Adding in the cost of exam fees upfront and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is common for many companies. But look at the facts:

In this day and age, we are a little bit more aware of sales ploys - and most of us realise that of course we're actually paying for it (it's not a freebie because they like us so much!) If it's important to you to qualify first 'go', evidence suggests you must avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, give it the priority it deserves and be ready for the task.

Hold on to your money and pay for the exam at the time, and save having to find the money early. You also get more choice of where you take your exam - which means you can stay local. Big margins are made by many companies that get money for exam fees in advance. A number of students don't take them for various reasons and so the company is quids-in. Amazingly, there are providers that actually bank on it - as that's how they make a lot of their profit. Pay heed to the fact that, with the majority of Exam Guarantees - you are not in control of when you are allowed to do a re-take. You will have to demonstrate an excellent pass-rate before they'll approve a re-take.

Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are approximately 112 pounds in the UK. Students should be very wary of forking out hundreds of pounds extra in charges for 'Exam Guarantees' (most often hidden in the package) - when the best course materials, the right level of support and commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.

A fatal Faux-Pas that we encounter all too often is to focus entirely on getting a qualification, and not focus on the desired end-result. Training academies are brimming over with students who chose a course based on what sounded good - rather than what would get them their end-goal of a job they enjoyed. Don't be part of the group who set off on a track which looks like it could be fun - and end up with a plaque on the wall for a career they'll never really get any satisfaction from.

You also need to know how you feel about earning potential and career progression, and how ambitious you are. You need to know what industry expects from you, which accreditations will be required and how you'll gain real-world experience. Long before starting a learning programme, it's good advice to talk through individual career requirements with an experienced industry professional, in order to be sure the learning path covers all the necessary elements.

It's so important to understand this key point: Always get full 24x7 instructor and mentor support. Later, you'll kick yourself if you let this one slide. Don't accept training that only supports you via an out-sourced call-centre message system outside of normal office hours. Colleges will try to talk you round from this line of reasoning. But, no matter how they put it - support is needed when it's needed - not at times when they find it cheaper to provide it.

Keep your eyes open for providers that use several support centres across multiple time-zones. These should be integrated to give a single entry point and 24x7 access, when it's convenient for you, without any problems. Don't ever make the mistake of taking second best with the quality of your support. Many would-be IT professionals that give up, are in that situation because of support (or the lack of).

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