Training For a Career in CompTIA A Plus Revealed
There are four specialised areas of training in the overall A+ programme, but you’re just required to achieve pass marks in 2 for competency in A+. However only learning about 2 of the specialised areas is likely to leave your knowledge base somewhat light. Choose a course with all 4 subjects – you’ll be glad you did when it comes to interview time.
As well as learning about the ins and outs of building and maintaining computers, trainees on an A+ training course will be taught how to work in antistatic conditions, as well as diagnostics, fault-finding and remote access.
If you add Network+ to your A+ course, you will additionally be able to assist with or manage networks of computers, giving you the facility to move further up the career path.
Think about the points below very carefully if you believe that old marketing ploy of an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:
Patently it’s not free – you’re still paying for it – the cost has just been rolled into the whole training package.
We all want to pass first time. Progressively working through your exams one at a time and paying for them just before taking them makes it far more likely you’ll pass first time – you take it seriously and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.
Do your exams at a local pro-metric testing centre and find the best deal for you at the time.
Paying in advance for examination fees (plus interest – if you’re financing your study) is a false economy. Resist being talked into filling the training company’s account with your money simply to help their cash-flow! Many will hope you won’t get to do them all – so they don’t need to pay for them.
Most companies will require you to do mock exams and not allow you to re-take an exam until you’ve demonstrated an excellent ability to pass – which makes an ‘Exam Guarantee’ frankly useless.
Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is foolish – when consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.
We’re often asked why qualifications from colleges and universities are less in demand than the more qualifications from the commercial sector?
Corporate based study (as it’s known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has become aware that specialisation is necessary to handle an increasingly more technical world. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the key players in this arena.
Essentially, only required knowledge is taught. It isn’t quite as lean as that might sound, but the most important function is always to focus on the exact skills required (along with a certain amount of crucial background) – without overdoing the detail in everything else (as degree courses are known to do).
What if you were an employer – and you required somebody who had very specific skills. What is easier: Pore through a mass of different academic qualifications from graduate applicants, asking for course details and which workplace skills they have, or choose a specific set of accreditations that precisely match your needs, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.
One feature that several companies offer is a Job Placement Assistance program. It’s intention is to help you find your first job in the industry. At the end of the day it’s not as hard as some people make out to land a job – assuming you’re well trained and qualified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don’t put it off until you’ve graduated or passed any exams.
Quite frequently, you will get your first role whilst still on the course (even when you’ve just left first base). If you haven’t updated your CV to say what you’re studying (and it hasn’t been posted on jobsites) then you aren’t even in the running!
The top companies to help you find a job are normally local IT focused employment agencies. As they’re keen to place you to receive their commission, they’ll work that much harder to get a result.
Just be sure that you don’t spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, only to stop and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Get off your backside and get out there. Invest as much resource into securing your first job as it took to pass the exams.
Massive developments are coming via technology over the next generation – and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year.
Computing technology and dialogue through the internet will noticeably change our lives in the future; remarkably so.
Should receiving a good salary be high on your goal sheet, then you’ll welcome the news that the regular income for IT employees in general is noticeably more than salaries in the rest of the economy.
With the IT marketplace emerging at an unprecedented rate, it’s likely that demand for certified IT specialists will flourish for a good while yet.
(C) 2009 S. Edwards. Pop over to CLICK HERE or www.learninglolly.com/A_Training_Courses.html.