Four specialist training areas feature in the complete CompTIA A+ course, of which 2 passes are needed to gain A+ competency. We would advise however that restricting yourself to two out of the 4 subjects available might well not equip you for a job. Look for training that covers all the specialist areas – for greater confidence in the world of work.
In addition to learning about the ins and outs of building and maintaining computers, trainees involved in this training will have instruction on how to operate in antistatic conditions, as well as diagnostics, fault-finding and remote access.
If you feel it appropriate to add Network+ to your A+ course, you’ll additionally be equipped to assist with or manage networks of computers, giving you the facility to expect a better remuneration package.
How the program is actually delivered to you isn’t always given the appropriate level of importance. How many stages do they break the program into? What is the order and do you have a say in when you’ll get each part?
The majority of training companies will set up a program typically taking 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each section or exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following:
What if you don’t finish all the sections or exams? And what if the order provided doesn’t meet your requirements? Due to no fault of yours, you mightn’t complete everything fast enough and not get all the study materials as a result.
In a perfect world, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning – so you’ll have them all for the future to come back to – as and when you want. This allows a variation in the order that you move through the program if another more intuitive route presents itself.
Make sure that all your certifications are what employers want – don’t bother with programmes that only give in-house certificates.
From an employer’s viewpoint, only the major heavyweights like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco (for example) will get you into the interview seat. Anything less just won’t hit the right spot.
It’s likely that you probably enjoy fairly practical work – a ‘hands-on’ personality type. Typically, the painful task of reading endless manuals can be just about bared when essential, but it doesn’t suit your way of doing things. Consider interactive, multimedia study if learning from books is not your thing.
Research into the way we learn shows that long term memory is improved when all our senses are involved, and we get physically involved with the study process.
Programs are now found in disc format, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Using video-streaming, you can sit back and watch the teachers showing you precisely how to perform the required skill, with some practice time to follow – with interactive lab sessions.
It would be silly not to view some examples of the kind of training materials you’ll be using before you sign on the dotted line. You should expect video tutorials, instructor demo’s and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab’s.
Often, companies will only use training that is purely available online; and although this is okay the majority of the time, think what will happen if internet access is lost or you get slow speeds and down-time etc. It’s much safer to rely on physical CD or DVD discs that will solve that problem.
Finding job security nowadays is incredibly rare. Businesses will throw us from the workplace at the drop of a hat – as and when it suits them.
It’s possible though to hit upon security at market-level, by digging for areas of high demand, tied with a shortage of skilled staff.
The computing Industry skills shortage throughout the UK falls in at roughly 26 percent, as noted by the 2006 e-Skills survey. Quite simply, we can’t properly place more than just 3 out of each 4 job positions in the computer industry.
This single fact in itself clearly demonstrates why the UK requires considerably more trainees to get into the industry.
Quite simply, acquiring professional IT skills during the coming years is likely the greatest choice of careers you could make.
Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Pop to Comptia Certification or Click HERE.




