Why Is 24x7 Support So Important In Technical IT Training?

In the world of distance learning, it's genuinely recognised by the best IT trainers that good on-going support is essential for a candidate to be successful in a technical subject (as opposed to a 'creative' program like web design, which doesn't necessarily require support.) Many companies claim to have 24x7 assistance, but in reality - very few really commit to the provision of such support.

Even some of the big players claim they have round the clock help, but in reality it's often office hours support from tutors between their lessons, and an out-of-hours messaging service. If it's ten in the evening, students have to leave a message and with any luck get a call back over the next few days - usually during office hours!

If you're planning to study alongside a job, you've probably started to see the first flaw - that's right, there's no direct access to tutors or mentors while you're studying in the evenings and at weekends. Then when they get around to calling back, you'll very likely be at work.

You may be thinking 'How dare they pass that off as genuine 24x7 support?' and we would agree with you. However the truth in some cases could be a lot darker than you may at first think.  Some colleges have such a large overhead that they can't make money if all their students are successful and complete the course. Yes - you did read that right. Students who pay for a full course and give up part way through are not as big a drain on the college's resources, and so are more profitable for the company. This means these training companies have no incentive to be really helpful to students. If they spent more money enhancing their support, their profit margins would disappear.

So why is proper 24x7 support so important to a student studying a technical IT training course? Well it's all down to human nature. When we decide to embark on an IT training programme, we're committed and enthusiastic. There's the joy of doing something innovative and fresh, and learning new methods and ideas gives us a buzz. The best way to stay keen and motivated is to develop momentum in our training course. So whenever we have a challenge, it needs to be sorted straight away. Not in three days time, or tomorrow, not even in a few hours time - it needs to be sorted now so we can move on from the challenge and not stop the training session when we're stuck.

Why? Because it's a lot harder to re-start with an unsolved problem.

More people will quit a course because of frustration and hurt feelings than any other problem. If you start to feel resentful and bitter about the lack of support, you blame the college for everything that's holding you back, and it's much easier to stop altogether. You've heard the rhetoric, 'It was the colleges fault - the support was so bad I had to give up'.

If it's your intention to tackle a technical career course, you need a training provider fully committed to your success. Dedicated, professional companies know the importance of mentor assistance, and wouldn't dream of putting you on a course without genuine 24x7 support.  Only direct access to a team of experts whenever you need them is sufficient.

Anything less means they don't care enough, and they don't deserve you.

(C) 2009 LearningLolly