Look at IT training courses in any guidebook or website and you'll find your eyes glazing over. There are hundreds of qualifications, from GCSEs to Masters degrees and everything in between. How can you find the one for you?
Don't spend a fortune on expensive training courses (employers will give you specialist training on the job), but do look for courses that lead to a recognised qualification, accredited by a well-known examining body, such as OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations).
Retraining to get IT skills doesn't have to mean a return to full-time education. Local colleges offer short or part-time courses and you don't have to wait till next autumn - many colleges have courses starting throughout the year. You can also learn over the Internet at your own speed and convenience - although if there's an exam at the end of the course you'll need to take it at an accredited centre to prevent cheating!
If you're relatively new to computers, you don't have to throw yourself into a long course that leads to a big qualification. Start small and work your way up to the level that suits you. If you do opt for a longer course, make sure any training you do is tailored to the workplace. Experience is valuable, so employers will prefer it if you've done work placements or projects.
Train for free
If you have access to the Internet - at home, work or maybe a local library - there are plenty of online courses to choose from. Here at iVillage we've teamed up with Vision2Learn to offer a free course at a level that suits you. The courses take 60 hours to complete and you choose whether to spread them over many months or do them as quickly as possible.
If you're a beginner, the Vision2Learn First Steps in IT course teaches the basics and lets you test yourself with online quizzes. Successfully completing the course means you'll get a nationally recognised Level 1 Certificate for IT Users, awarded by NCFE. If you're more advanced, you can take a Level 2 or 3 course. The courses are eligible for government funding, so as long as you're over 16 and live in England they won't cost you a penny.
The BBC also runs an excellent online computing course called Becoming Webwise that lets you learn at your own speed and test yourself. Once you've completed the course you can decide whether to take a test at a local accredited centre or not. The test costs around £35 and the advantage of taking it is that it can count towards a number of computer qualifications, including OCR CLAIT and City & Guilds 7261 in Information Technology. The one-hour test is made up of multiple-choice questions and three short practical tasks.
Get recognised
Recognised qualifications prove to potential employers that you know your way around a computer. These include ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) and New CLAIT(OCR Level 1 Certificate for IT Users). You can take these courses and the tests for them at local colleges and IT training centres at low cost. New CLAIT is a broad qualification for beginners - you do a core course on computing and choose four further modules to study. ECDL is a bit more advanced but less flexible - it's made up of seven units and you have to do all of them.
You can go on from CLAIT to take more in-depth courses called CLAIT Plus (OCR Level 2 Certificate for IT Users) and CLAIT Advanced (OCR Level 3 Certificate for IT Users). The knowledge and skills gained in these courses can be used as evidence towards gaining an NVQ (national vocational qualification) in information technology. An NVQ is a work-based qualification that doesn't involve exams - instead you have to demonstrate your skills in the workplace. It's common to get a trainee position where you're learning new skills at work and then work towards an NVQ with your employer's help.
The courses above will give you all-round knowledge in using computers and popular software packages. If you want to go into more depth - to become a whiz at just word processing or website design, for example - you'll want to specialise.
LearnDirect offers hundreds of IT courses, many specific to particular software packages. You can learn on an Internet-connected computer anywhere, but you'll need to take tests at a local LearnDirect centre.
Office software is dominated by Microsoft, so you might want to take a Microsoft Office Specialist exam. This will prove your skills in using popular packages like Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint and Outlook. Like many IT courses, you can save money if you teach yourself and then just pay to take the exam (around £50 for each package).
Working in IT
Big companies like Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle also offer specialist IT qualifications in networks, databases etc. Employers do value them but the courses are expensive and generally paid for by companies. If specialist skills would be useful to you but you're not in a position where an employer will foot the bill, consider teaching yourself from books - ideally borrow the textbooks from someone who has done the course.
Getting a job in IT doesn't always require a degree or expensive specialist training (see the link below for a low-down on jobs in the industry). For a trainee job in operations or support, for example, you just need general computing skills. Any of the qualifications mentioned here will help to demonstrate your skills and interest, but potential employers will also give aptitude tests to see if you have what it takes. In the Careers Changers section of the IT Compass website you'll find a programming simulation that's similar to the sort of aptitude tests you could expect.
Read: Getting into IT, part one