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.
CompTIA A+ training programs cover fault-finding and diagnostics – via hands on and remote access, as well as learning to build, repair and fix and having knowledge of antistatic conditions.
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.
You’ll come across courses which guarantee examination passes – this always means exams have to be paid for upfront, at the start of your training. However, prior to embracing this so-called guarantee, look at the following:
You’ll pay for it by some means. You can be assured it’s not a freebie – it’s simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole.
Those who take exams one at a time, funding them as they go are far more likely to pass first time. They’re conscious of what they’ve paid and take the necessary steps to be up to the task.
Does it really add up to pay the training college early for exam fees? Find the best deal you can when you take the exam, rather than pay marked up fees – and sit exams more locally – rather than in some remote place.
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.
Due to typical VUE and Prometric tests in the United Kingdom costing around 112 pounds, it makes sense to pay as you go. Not to fork out thousands extra in up-front costs. Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.
Commercially accredited qualifications are now, very visibly, already replacing the traditional routes into IT – but why has this come about?
Industry now recognises that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, official accreditation from the likes of Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe is far more effective and specialised – for much less time and money.
Patently, a necessary degree of associated knowledge needs to be learned, but essential specialised knowledge in the exact job role gives a commercially trained student a distinct advantage.
Assuming a company understands what they’re looking for, then all they have to do is advertise for someone with a specific qualification. The syllabuses are set to meet an exact requirement and do not vary between trainers (like academia frequently can and does).
Some training providers offer a Job Placement Assistance program, designed to steer you into your first job. Often, this feature is bigged up too much, as it’s really not that difficult for a well trained and motivated person to secure a job in the IT industry – as employers are keen to find appropriately qualified personnel.
However, don’t leave it until you’ve completed your exams before polishing up your CV. As soon as your training commences, enter details of your study programme and place it on jobsites!
A good number of junior support jobs have been bagged by people who’re still on their course and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.
You can usually expect better results from an independent and specialised local recruitment consultancy than you will through a training company’s recruitment division, as they’ll know the local area and commercial needs better.
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.
At times individuals don’t understand what IT is doing for all of us. It’s stimulating, innovative, and means you’re working on technology affecting everyones lives in the 21st century.
We’re barely beginning to comprehend what this change will mean to us. How we communicate and interact with everyone around us will be inordinately affected by technology and the web.
Let’s not ignore salaries moreover – the typical remuneration throughout Britain for a typical IT employee is noticeably greater than in the rest of the economy. It’s a good bet you’ll bring in quite a bit more than you’d expect to earn doing other work.
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.
Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Visit CLICK HERE or acertification.co.uk.