The market provides a plethora of professional positions up for grabs in the IT industry. Deciding which one could be right for yourself is a mammoth decision. Since without any commercial background in Information Technology, in what way could we be expected to understand what anyone doing a particular job actually does? Getting to an informed resolution can only grow via a detailed examination of several unique factors:

- Your personality type and interests - what kind of work-oriented areas you enjoy or dislike.

- What time-frame are you looking at for the training process?

- Have you thought about job satisfaction vs salary?

- Looking at the many markets that computing encapsulates, it's a requirement that you can understand what is different.

- It's wise to spend some time thinking about any sacrifices you'll need to make, as well as what commitment and time you're going to give to gaining your certifications.

To bypass the barrage of jargon, and find the best route for you, have an in-depth discussion with an industry-experienced advisor; someone that will cover the commercial realities and truth whilst covering all the qualifications.

We have established that databases certainly are a essential element of the life we live, so what sort of career-paths are there within this sector? If we look at the careers of of I.T. experts, there are two major Database sectors - Creating & constructing the 'databases' - and the software that manages and allows access to them; and managing them - combined with creating reporting-systems that use that information. Database-Administrators are more often known as 'DBA's', and this role is the one in most demand. A DBA will generally be employed by a medium sized or larger organisation, and manage the every day operations of a certain Database. They will manage the procedures which have an impact on the information, including security & back up, & work with senior management to provide reporting - in order that the business can apply that intelligence to perform better. They'll also know the database 'language' of SQL ('Structured Query Language') - pronounced 'see-quel' - which provides a standardised way of interrogating a Database for the intelligence they require.

Both DBAs & DB developers are typically decidedly methodical & organised people, who have a great attention to details, & like working in small teams, or by themselves. They frequently work with senior or higher managers, and consequently will need advanced communication skills. Security is becoming an increasing problem as a large amount of 'sensitive' information is captured and stored - making database work extremely responsible. Business employers seek out individuals with integrity that they can trust implicitly, and certain businesses will actually expect you to have security-clearance prior to giving you a job. Accountant-types & business 'process' authorities succeed within this environment, and a lot go onto higher management assignments, as a good understanding of the information that drives an enterprise can lead to improved chances of promotion.

Talk to any practiced advisor and they can normally tell you many terrible tales of salespeople ripping-off unsuspecting students. Stick to an industry professional who digs deep to find out what's right for you - not for their bank-account! You need to find a starting-point that will suit you. Don't forget, if you've had any relevant qualifications that are related, then you may be able to commence studying further along than a student who's starting from scratch. It's wise to consider some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. Beginning there can make your learning curve a less steep.

A lot of students are under the impression that the tech college or university track is still the best way into IT. So why then are commercially accredited qualifications becoming more popular with employers? With the costs of academic degree's increasing year on year, together with the IT sector's general opinion that vendor-based training often has more relevance in the commercial field, there's been a large rise in Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe certified training courses that supply key solutions to a student for considerably less. This is done by concentrating on the skill-sets required (along with a relevant amount of related knowledge,) as opposed to spending months and years on the background 'extras' that degree courses are prone to get tied up in - to pad out the syllabus.

If an employer understands what areas need to be serviced, then all they have to do is advertise for a person with the appropriate exam numbers. The syllabuses are set to exacting standards and don't change between schools (in the way that degree courses can).

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