It's quite some achievement that you've already got this far! A fraction of the population say they enjoy their work, but the majority just bitch about it and nothing happens. As you've reached this page it's likely that you've a personal interest in re-training, so you've already stood out from the crowd. The next step is to get busy to find your direction.

On the subject of training, it's important to initially know your requirements from the career you're looking to get into. It's important to discover if the grass actually is greener before you spend time and effort re-directing your life. It's good sense to regard the destination you're hoping for, to make an informed decision:

* Do you operate better working alone or is being part of a team vital for your sanity?

* Banking and building are not coping well at the moment, so it's important to look very carefully at what sector will be best for you?

* When you've done all your re-training, would you like your new abilities to get you jobs for the rest of your working life?

* Is it important for your training course to be in an industry where as far as you can see you'll remain employable until retirement?

The largest sector in the United Kingdom to tick all of the above boxes is the IT industry. There is a requirement for greater numbers of qualified people in IT, just check out any jobs website and you'll see for yourself. Don't misunderstand and think it's full of techie geeks looking at their computerscreens every day - it's much more diverse than that. The majority of staff in IT are ordinary people, and they have very interesting and well paid jobs.

The age-old way of teaching, using textbooks and whiteboards, is often a huge slog for most of us. If this sounds like you, dig around for more practical courses which feature interactive and multimedia modules. If we're able to utilise all of our senses into our learning, then we normally see dramatically better results.

Interactive audio-visual materials with demonstrations and practice sessions will turn you off book-based study for ever more. And you'll actually enjoy doing them. Every company that you look at must be pushed to demo a few samples of the materials provided for study. Expect video tutorials, instructor led classes and many interactive sections.

It's folly to choose training that is only available online. Due to the variable nature of connection quality from most broadband providers, make sure you get actual CD or DVD ROM's.

All programs you're considering really needs to work up to a widely recognised accreditation at the end - and not a worthless 'in-house' plaque for your wall. The top IT companies such as Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco all have globally recognised proficiency programs. These heavyweights will give some sparkle to your CV.

Locating job security these days is incredibly rare. Companies can remove us out of the workplace at the drop of a hat - as and when it suits them. We could however discover market-level security, by searching for high demand areas, mixed with a lack of qualified workers.

Reviewing the Information Technology (IT) sector, the recent e-Skills investigation brought to light a 26 percent skills deficit. To explain it in a different way, this means that the United Kingdom is only able to source three qualified staff for each 4 job positions in existence now. This alarming idea shows the urgent need for more properly qualified Information Technology professionals throughout the country. No better time or market settings will exist for obtaining certification in this quickly expanding and budding market.

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