We're regularly asked to explain why academic qualifications are less in demand than the more commercial certifications? Vendor-based training (in industry terminology) is more effective in the commercial field. Industry is aware that this level of specialised understanding is essential to cope with a technically advancing workplace. CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA dominate in this arena. Higher education courses, for instance, often get bogged down in a lot of loosely associated study - and much too wide a syllabus. This prevents a student from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials.

Think about if you were the employer - and you required somebody who had very specific skills. Which is the most straightforward: Go through a mass of different academic qualifications from graduate applicants, having to ask what each has covered and which commercial skills have been attained, or choose particular accreditations that precisely match your needs, and then choose your interviewees based around that. You'll then be able to concentrate on getting a feel for the person at interview - rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.

Usually, trainers will provide mainly work-books and reference manuals. Obviously, this isn't much fun and not really conducive to taking things in. Where we can get all of our senses involved in our learning, then we normally see dramatically better results.

You can now study via easy-to-use DVD or CD ROM's. By watching and listening to instructors on video tutorials you'll take everything in through their teaching and demonstrations. You can then test yourself by utilising the practice lab's and modules. Don't take any chances and look at a small selection of training examples before you sign on the dotted line. What you want are instructor-led video demonstrations and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.

It doesn't make sense to opt for on-line only training. With highly variable reliability and quality from all internet service providers, you should always obtain CD or DVD ROM based materials.

Consider only learning programmes that'll lead to commercially approved exams. There are way too many small colleges offering unknown 'in-house' certificates which are worthless when you start your job-search. Only properly recognised accreditation from the major players like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA and Adobe will be useful to a future employer.

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