Congratulations! Discovering this piece indicates you're probably wondering about where you're going, and if it's re-training you're considering that means you've taken it further than almost everybody else. Did you know that a small minority of us consider ourselves contented at work - yet the vast majority of us will take no corrective action. Why not liberate yourself and take action - don't you think you deserve it.

With regard to individual courses, find an expert who will give you advice on which area will be right for you. Someone who can get to know your personality, and discover what job role you'll be most comfortable with:

* Would you like lots of contact with people? If so, do you want a team or is meeting new people important to you? Alternatively, do you like to deal with your responsibilities alone?

* Do you have a preference which sector you would be suited to? (These days, it's even more crucial to choose carefully.)

* Is this the last time you want to study, and if it is, will this new career give you scope to do that?

* Are you concerned with regard to your chances of new employment opportunities, and staying employable until you plan to retire?

The largest sector in Great Britain that can satisfy a trainee's demands is the IT sector. There's a demand for more skilled staff in IT, just check out any job site and there'll be a long list. But don't think it's only geeky nerds sitting in front ofscreens all day - there are loads more jobs than that. Large numbers of staff in the industry are just like the rest of us, and they have very interesting and well paid jobs.

Commencing with the idea that we need to choose the job we want to do first, before we're even able to chew over what educational program ticks the right boxes, how do we decide on the right path? After all, if you don't have any background in the IT sector, how are you equipped to know what some particular IT person actually does day-to-day? Let alone arrive at which educational path is the most likely for success. Generally, the way to deal with this quandary properly lies in a deep chat, covering some important points:

* What nature of individual you are - the tasks that you find interesting, plus of course - what makes you unhappy.

* Is it your desire to realise an important goal - for example, becoming self-employed in the near future?

* Where is the salary on a scale of importance - is it the most important thing, or do you place job satisfaction further up on your priority-list?

* Some students don't fully understand the level of commitment expected to gain all the necessary accreditation.

* You have to understand what differentiates the myriad of training options.

For the average person, sifting through so much data will require meeting with an advisor who can investigate each area with you. And we don't just mean the qualifications - you also need to understand the commercial requirements and expectations of the market as well.

Trainees looking at this market often have a very practical outlook on work, and don't always take well to classrooms, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If this is putting you off studying, opt for more involving, interactive learning materials, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. We see a huge improvement in memory retention when all our senses are brought into the mix - experts have been clear on this for many years.

Locate a program where you'll receive a selection of CD and DVD based materials - you'll start with videos of instructor demonstrations, with the facility to fine-tune your skills in fully interactive practice sessions. It would be silly not to view some examples of the kind of training materials you'll be using before you sign the purchase order. You should expect video tutorials, instructor demo's and interactive audio-visual sections with practice modules.

Purely on-line training should be avoided. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where obtainable, enabling them to be used at your convenience - and not be totally reliant on your internet connection always being 'up' and available.

The way a programme is physically sent to you isn't always given the appropriate level of importance. How many stages do they break the program into? And in what order and do you have a say in when you'll get each part? The majority of training companies will set up a 2 or 3 year study programme, and send out each piece as you complete each section or exam. If you think this sound logical, then consider this: How would they react if you didn't complete each and every module at the speed they required? Often the prescribed exam order won't fit you as well as another different route may.

In a perfect world, you'd get ALL the training materials right at the beginning - giving you them all to come back to at any time in the future - as and when you want. This allows a variation in the order that you move through the program as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.