International Women's Day

Just been to an event in Thornton Hough Hotel which is just around the corner from me. It was great - full of inspirational stories about women who wanted to turn their life around and gain a new business / career and what stops them.

This made me think for a minute about what had motivated me to go into business and undoutedly it was circumstance - it was more convenient for me to go the business route than to commit to a 9 - 5 job (and all those extra hours) - child care - school holidays etc etc. So I started up an IT training business - or I thought I did.

What I actually did was get in touch with all those really successful training companies and asked if they needed my skills to help them deliver courses - well they did and I made a good living from it - but at the back of my mind I was not sure that companies would buy from me direct and that I was doomed to do a lot of the hard work but sometimes only get a fraction of the fee that the client had paid.

The reason I did this was economics. I was sure that if I worked as an associate to these companies I would bring in enough money to pay the bills. And so I went on - but actually my dream was to break out of this mould and really begin to contribute to helping people realise their dreams by learning and developing new skills that they needed for their "game plan".

Suddenly one day it hit me like a ton of bricks - I could go on like this on the treadmill and never reach my dream OR I could take a risk. A couple of years on I am still taking risks but having so much fun doing it.

If I can help you talk through the options. Please let me know - I'm a very good listener and sometimes it just helps to talk things through.

Bye for now.

New Year - New Start

I get to meet and talk to all sorts of different people in my business and recently have begun to wonder just why women don't enter the world of IT. Having worked in it all my life I can tell you that it is.

• Well paid
• In turns very challenging, frustrating and satisfying
• Very good for travel you can spend January in Florida and June in Cannes if you pick the right job
• Not just about IT - the best paid IT managers have now got an array of business and marketing qualifications and that's what gets them the job.

At The Learning Space, one of my greatest pleasures is getting women into the right career in IT. A couple of months ago, a lovely woman contacted me, she wanted to study for a qualification in Computer Support so she could start a computer support business now that the children had grown up. She had such great plans and determination and I feel sure she will succeed in her venture. I'll look forward to telling you about her progress.

Please drop me a line if you want some advice or change of career and not sure how to go about it. I'd love to help.

Current Certifications and how they map to job roles

The IT sector in the North West is growing at a rate of 13% per year against 12% a year in other parts of the UK and is set to grow. This means that good IT skills have never been in such demand.
Microsoft Certified Desktop Technician (MCDST) for help desk vacancies.
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) for computer network support.
Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW) for anyone considering a career in web design or development
Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer (MCSD) for a career as a programmer or systems developer
Other titles include Oracle, ITIL and Prince2 to name but a few.
So - how do you get these qualifications? For something like an MCSE, you need to spend about 6 weeks in a classroom and devote about 6 - 12 months of hard study. This may prove difficult if you are working full time. A more convenient way is online mentored learning where you access a course via the internet and have a qualified professional as a mentor ready to help you with any questions or clarify any concepts. Students are given unlimited access for up to 2 years. The courses are self paced so you could finish them in six weeks if you wanted to or take longer to fit in with your circumstances.
What do these courses cost? For courses leading to professional qualifications you should allow £2000 to £3000 or if opting for a classroom based training £6000 to £8000.
The most important figures however, are the salaries you can expect to earn using these qualification:
MCDST (computer support - entry level) £21,000
MCSE (Network Engineer ) £32,839
MCSD (Software Developer) £37,277
CIW (Web Developer) £25,500
source http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/
You can fund the training in one of two ways.
If you are self employed - go to your local Business Link and ask if they have any funding for training
Career Development Loan (UK only) - this is a loan which is not repayable until one month after the course finishes. Students are required to pay a 20% deposit which can be spread over a number of months and then have nothing to pay and no interest until the course is complete by which time hopefully you will have substantially increased your earning power
If you decide to study for an IT qualification it is important to use a reputable company who will assess your suitability and chance of success by carrying out a full training needs analysis and guidance as to which type of qualification you would be best suited for.
by Jeanne Hatton

The Learning Space

I started this blog to help to cut through some of the confusion in IT qualifications. When the fist certification industry (Novell's CNE) first raised it's head, people were excited - at last they can prove that they have the knowledge to go and fight or tame all these unruly networks out there - now 20 years later, it's easy to be confused. If you want a qualification in computer networks - where do you start? CompTIA - network+, Microsoft Certified Network Engineer, CISO CCNA - how long will they take, will I pass. All too often the route is taken with a minimum of advice and the path is taken, one exam is passed or failed and then - guess what, the manufacturers such as Microsoft bring out another product and you no longer have the must have qualification.

After a career as a professional qualification taker, I am exhausted to think that in order to keep up my qualifications in the next couple of years I will have to take 5 different series of courses and sit an average of 15 exams.

I stumbled across an online library which allows me to take as many courses as I wish for a 12 month license. Having a training company Uniti Solutions I decided to buy one of these libraries so I could train myself up and pass on skills to others. All the certification courses were fully mentored so I could chat to a qualified professional any time of the day or night. After a while I asked if I could become a distributor for them (they are Skillsoft products and have won many awards. I thought that if I was so impressed with them, others would be too. The result is on my website The Learning Space .

I welcome any posts from anyone who wishes to take a qualification (whether online or not) I will be happy to give any help and advice I can.

Bye for now

Jeanne