Microsoft Word is an important part of the office suite. Many of my clients find themselves purchasing Microsoft Office products from the manufacturer and then acquiring Microsoft certification later to get new skills in the field. This is a perfectly logical strategy because it removes the risk for the buyer while simultaneously providing the opportunity for enhanced earnings. But with so many options out there, how does one decide which Microsoft Office Specialist to hire?

There are actually several routes to follow when searching for a Microsoft Word certification training course. The most popular is seeking out an online institution that offers online training courses. However, this option comes with its own set of challenges. One major shortcoming is that you may never know if your training course provider is certified by Microsoft. If they are not, how will they offer Microsoft certification exams to their students? And even if they are certified by Microsoft, are they offering an adequate training course to adequately prepare you for the certification tests?

My preferred option is to seek out an institution that offers both onsite courses and self-study training courses. Onsite courses are offered by schools, colleges and other institutions that offer formal Microsoft certification training. These courses are much more extensive than traditional online courses, because they involve a real classroom where students can interact one-on-one with an expert Microsoft Word consultant. The advantage of onsite courses is that they are often the best value for money. In addition, students can often access Microsoft Office training software at the same place, which means that the total cost of the training course is spread out over a longer period of time, rather than all at once when using software training courses online.

Self-study training courses, or “instructional” courses, can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. The disadvantage of such a course is that it is not supervised by an experienced Microsoft Office Specialist and so it may not be as thorough or up-to-date as a real classroom course would be. Such a course could be useful for a person who is just starting to learn about Word, however, it is unlikely that it would be any more helpful than a typical classroom course. If you’re already certified in Microsoft Office, you will probably already know which products and features you want to learn about, and which skills are essential to achieving those goals. In this case, self-study tutorials will only serve you as a reference.

The other main consideration when choosing between training courses is how the course will integrate with your existing Microsoft Office experience. For example, are you looking to upgrade from an existing Windows certification course, or are you starting fresh? The price of the training course is important in its impact on your Microsoft certification programme, and this needs to be compared with any potential benefits from the course. Different certifications are targeted at different audiences, so you need to choose a course that is relevant to the target audience. If you’re trying to certify a new skill set within Microsoft Office, there’s also a choice of options.

If you’re looking to upgrade to a higher Microsoft Office Specialist certification level, then you’ll have the additional expense of additional training and exams to earn that certification. You might also have an employer who will pay for your training, so you’ll need to negotiate this before beginning your course. Again, this needs to be comparable with any available benefits from any courses you’re considering.

The third area where you need to be careful about choosing is whether the online training course is actually any good. There are many courses available that claim to offer this service – some of them are very low quality and actually produce little value for money. To really evaluate any training course, you should read some reviews left by past students. Word-of-mouth is still the best form of evaluating any product, and this applies to learning Word. If a lot of people are saying that a course is rubbish then it’s probably rubbish. It’s very easy to check this way – just Google some courses and see what comes back.

Once you’ve done all this, you’ll know how to choose the right Microsoft Office training course for you. Make sure that you have the correct training, and that you’re paying a reasonable price for the course. This will make sure that you don’t spend more than you have to, and that you can actually start to benefit from taking the course straight away.