Congratulations! As you're reading this article you've doubtless been pondering on learning new skills to change career - so already you've made a start. Very few of us are happy and fulfilled in our work, but no action is ever taken. So, why not be one of the few who take responsibility for their future.

It's in your interests that prior to beginning a course of training, you have a conversation with someone who knows the industry and can point you in the right direction. The right person will be able to assess your personal likes and dislikes and give you guidance on the right role for you:

* Would you like to work with others? If the answer's yes, would you enjoy being part of a team or do you want to meet lots of new people? Maybe you'd rather be left alone to get on with things?

* The building trade and the banking industry are a little shaky at the moment, so it's important to look very carefully at what sector will answer your needs?

* Having completed your retraining, are you hoping your new skills will give you the ability to see you to retirement age?

* Will the information you learn give you the opportunity to get a good job, and stay employable until your retirement plans kick in?

We would strongly recommend that your number one choice is the IT sector - it's no secret that it is one of the few growth sectors. It's not all nerdy people gazing at their PC's constantly - it's true some IT jobs demand that, but the majority of roles are done by ordinary people who earn considerably more than most.

Commercial qualifications are now, very visibly, already replacing the traditional academic paths into the industry - but why has this come about? With an ever-increasing technical demand on resources, industry has had to move to the specialised core-skills learning only available through the vendors themselves - that is companies like Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe. Often this saves time and money for the student. Academic courses, for example, can often get caught up in vast amounts of loosely associated study - and much too wide a syllabus. This holds a student back from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials.

Think about if you were the employer - and your company needed a person with some very particular skills. What's the simplest way to find the right person: Trawl through loads of academic qualifications from several applicants, having to ask what each has covered and which trade skills they have, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that exactly fulfil your criteria, and make your short-list from that. The interview is then more about the person and how they'll fit in - rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

We need to make this very clear: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 professional support from mentors and instructors. Later, you'll kick yourself if you don't. Locate training schools where you can access help at any time you choose (no matter if it's in the middle of the night on a weekend!) Make sure it's always direct access to tutors, and not access to a call-in service which takes messages - so you're constantly waiting for a call-back - probably during office hours.

If you look properly, you'll find the top providers who give students direct-access online support at all times - no matter what time of day it is. If you fail to get yourself direct-access 24x7 support, you'll regret it very quickly. You might not want to use the service throughout the night, but you may need weekends, early mornings or late evenings.

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