If there's any chance you'll be enrolling with a certification company that still utilises workshops as a feature of their programme, then listen to these hassles reported by many IT hopefuls:

- Frequent round trips - usually 100's of miles or more.

- Weekday only availability to workshops is typically the case, and getting two to three days out of work is usually problematic for the majority of students who work.

- And let's not ignore the lost holiday days. Often, we get 20 days holiday per year. If half is given up to classes, then it doesn't leave much for us and our families.

- Classes sometimes get over full.

- Maybe you like to work at a slower or quicker pace than the rest of the class. Often this can bring about a lot of tension amongst the class.

- The cost of travel - driving or taking public transport backwards and forwards to the training college together with bed and breakfast for the night can start to get expensive each time you attend. With only an average of 5 to 10 classes costing 35 pounds for a single over-night room, plus a petrol cost of 40 pounds and food at 15.00, we find an extra four to nine hundred pounds of add-on cost.

- We all enjoy our privacy. We should never risk giving up any possible promotion due to us while we retrain.

- Posing questions around our class-mates will often make us feel awkward. Have you ever left a question un-asked just because you were worried it might make you look silly?

- For those of us who need to sometimes live or work away from home, imagine the increased difficulty in getting to the requisite events, as time is now more scarce than ever.

Why not simply watch and be taught by tutors one-to-one from pre-made lessons, studying them when it's convenient for you, not someone else. You can train wherever you want. If you've got a laptop, you could catch some sunshine outside as you study. Any problems and utilise the 24x7 Support. You have the ability to re-watch and re-cover the study units whenever you need to. There's absolutely no need to scribble any notes as you have the lesson indefinitely. Put simply: Time and money is saved, you have reduced hassle and you completely avoid polluting the skies.

You should only consider retraining courses which will move onto industry accepted certifications. There's a plethora of trainers suggesting their own 'in-house' certificates which aren't worth the paper they're printed on when you start your job-search. Only fully recognised certification from the likes of Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco and Adobe will open the doors to employers.

People at the very start of their computer user learning curve should choose the ECDL. It will deal with how to operate the basic elements of 'Windows' (the system that 'runs' the majority of personal computers.) You'll also discover about web browsers (to help you to log onto the net,) and email software (so that you can stay in contact with colleagues and friends.) This training program also outlines word-processing, spreadsheets & databases.

Moving things on a stage further, you might be looking for more vocational training to enhance your career prospects. One of the most common of these is more in-depth training in Microsoft Office. The most practical commercial qualifications teaching Office are 'Microsoft Office Specialist' & 'Microsoft Certification Application Specialist' (recognised respectively as 'MOS' and 'MCAS'). Whereas the former is based around the Microsoft Office 2003 environment under Windows XP, the second works with 'Windows Vista' and 'Office' 2007. 'XP' remains the most used in industry, but 'Vista' might be more useful in the future. You'll find separate examinations for each that cover Excel for spreadsheets, "Access" for databases, PowerPoint for presentations and "Word" for 'word processing'. These certifications will demonstrate to a company that you're appropriately trained to make use of these packages to their fullest level.

You'll come across courses which guarantee examination passes - this always means exams have to be paid for upfront, when you pay for the rest of your course. But before you get taken in by guaranteed exams, be aware of the facts:

You'll be charged for it ultimately. It's definitely not free - they've just worked it into the package price. The fact is that if students pay for each progressive exam, one at a time, they will be much more likely to qualify each time - as they'll be conscious of their investment in themselves and their application will be greater.

Shouldn't you be looking to not pay up-front, but when you take the exam, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance to a training company, and also to sit exams more locally - instead of miles away at the college's beck and call? A surprising number of current training providers make big margins by getting paid for exam fees early then hoping you won't see them all through. It's worth noting that exam re-takes through companies who offer an 'Exam Guarantee' are always heavily controlled. You will be required to do mock exams until you've proven that you're likely to pass.

Shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds on 'Exam Guarantees' is remiss - when consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.