To become a proficient web designer and have the most recognised qualification for today's employment market, the course you need is Adobe Dreamweaver. The complete Adobe Web Creative Suite ought also to be understood in its entirety. This will educate you in Flash and Action Script, (and more), and will put you on track to gain your Adobe Certified Professional or an Adobe Certified Expert accreditation.

Constructing the website is just the start of the skills needed though - in order to drive traffic, update content, and work on dynamic sites that are database driven, you will need other programming skills, such as HTML, PHP and MySQL. A good web designer will additionally develop a good understanding of Search Engine Optimisation and E Commerce.

Your training program should always include the latest Microsoft (or relevant organisation's) accredited exam simulation and preparation packages. Make sure that the exams you practice aren't just asking you the right questions from the right areas, but ask them in the same way that the proper exam will ask them. It completely unsettles trainees if the questions are phrased in unfamiliar formats. Mock exams are very useful as a resource to you - so much so, that at the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.

Be alert that all exams you're working towards are recognised by industry and are the most recent versions. 'In-house' certificates are usually worthless. Unless your qualification is issued by a major player like Microsoft, Cisco, CompTIA or Adobe, then you'll probably find it will be commercially useless - as it'll be an unknown commodity.

Potential trainees hopeful to start an Information Technology career generally haven't a clue which direction they should take, let alone which sector to build their qualifications around. What are the chances of us grasping the tasks faced daily in an IT career if we've never been there? Often we haven't met someone who works in that sector anyway. To get through to the essence of this, a discussion is necessary, covering a number of definitive areas:

* Your personality can play a major part - what kind of areas spark your interest, and what are the areas that really turn you off.

* What time-frame are you looking at for your training?

* What are your thoughts on salary vs job satisfaction?

* Considering the huge variation that IT covers, it's important to be able to take in what's different.

* You'll also need to think hard about the amount of time and effort you'll put into your education.

In all honesty, you'll find the only real way to investigate these issues is via a conversation with an advisor or professional that has experience of the IT industry (and more importantly it's commercial requirements.)

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