Good for you! As you're reading this article we guess you must be considering getting re-qualified for a new job - that means you've already taken one more step than the majority. A small minority of us are pleased to go to work each day, but it's rare anyone does more than moan. So, why not be one of the few who take responsibility for their future.

With regard to specific training programs, find an expert who will be able to guide you on which area will be right for you. Someone who has the ability to get a feel for your personality, and discover what job role you'll be most comfortable with:

* Is it your preference to work in isolation or is being part of a team an essential criteria for you?

* What thoughts are fundamental when considering the market sector you'll be employed in?

* Is this the final time you want to study, and based on that, will this new career allow you to do that?

* Would it be useful for your study to be in an area where you're comfortable your chances of gainful employment are high until retirement?

We would advise you to really explore Information Technology - there are greater numbers of jobs than workers to do them, because it's one of the few choices of career where the industry is on the grow. In contrast to what some people believe, it isn't a bunch of techie geeks gazing at their computer screens every day (if you like the sound of that though, they do exist.) The vast majority of roles are filled by people like you and me who enjoy better than average salaries.

A number of people presume that the traditional school, college or university track is the way they should go. So why then are commercial certificates becoming more in demand? Corporate based study (in industry terminology) is more effective in the commercial field. Industry is aware that this level of specialised understanding is vital to handle an increasingly more technical world. Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA are the key players in this arena. Many degrees, for instance, can often get caught up in vast amounts of loosely associated study - with much too broad a syllabus. This holds a student back from learning the core essentials in sufficient depth.

Think about if you were the employer - and you required somebody who had very specific skills. What should you do: Pore through loads of academic qualifications from hopeful applicants, asking for course details and what workplace skills they have, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that perfectly fit your needs, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. 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.

An all too common mistake that many potential students make is to look for the actual course to take, rather than starting with where they want to get to. Training academies have thousands of students who chose a course based on what sounded good - in place of something that could gain them an enjoyable career or job. It's possible, in many cases, to find immense satisfaction in a year of study only to end up putting 20 long years into a tiresome job role, simply because you did it without some decent due-diligence at the beginning.

Make sure you investigate your leanings around career progression and earning potential, plus your level of ambition. It makes sense to understand what (if any) sacrifices you'll need to make for a particular role, which qualifications they want you to have and where you'll pick-up experience from. Before setting out on a study course, it's good advice to chat over the exact market needs with a professional advisor, in order to be sure the retraining course covers all the necessary elements.

Consider only learning courses that lead to commercially approved exams. There are loads of trainers promoting unknown 'in-house' certificates which are worthless when it comes to finding a job. Unless your qualification is issued by a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco or CompTIA, then chances are it won't be commercially viable - because it won't give an employer any directly-useable skills.

The way a programme is physically sent to you is often missed by many students. How many stages do they break the program into? And in what order and at what speed is it delivered? Usually, you'll enrol on a course that takes between and 1 and 3 years and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this: What if you find the order offered by the provider doesn't suit. What if you find it hard to complete all the elements within their timetable?

Put simply, the perfect answer is to have their ideal 'order' of training laid out, but get all the study materials at the start. You then have everything should you not complete it within their ideal time-table.

A top of the range training program will also include accredited exam preparation systems. Don't go for training programs depending on unauthorised exam papers and questions. The terminology of their questions can be quite different - and this leads to huge confusion when it comes to taking the real exam. Why don't you analyse whether you're learning enough by doing quizzes and mock ups of exams to prepare you for taking the real thing.