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 your ambition is being responsible for networks of computers, add the very comprehensive CompTIA Network+ to your A+ course. This qualification will mean you can apply for more interesting jobs. Other ones that might be interesting to you are the route to networking via Microsoft, in the form of MCP’s, MCSA or the full MCSE.
A subtle way that colleges make more money is through up-front charges for exams then giving it ‘Exam Guarantee’ status. It looks like a good deal, but let’s just examine it more closely:
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.
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.
We’re often asked why qualifications from colleges and universities are less in demand than the more qualifications from the commercial sector?
As we require increasingly more effective technological know-how, industry has moved to specialist courses only available through the vendors themselves – that is companies like Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA. Frequently this is at a far reduced cost both money and time wise.
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.
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.
Finding your first job in the industry sometimes feels easier to handle if you’re supported with a Job Placement Assistance service. Don’t get overly impressed with this service – it isn’t unusual for training companies to overplay it. Ultimately, the massive skills shortage in this country is why employers will be interested in you.
Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews is sometimes offered (if not, see one of our sites for help). Make sure you update that dusty old CV straight away – not when you’re ready to start work!
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!
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.
Society largely thinks that the revolution in technology we have experienced is lowering its pace. There is no truth in this at all. We have yet to experience incredible advances, and the internet particularly is going to dominate how we conduct our lives.
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.
It seems there’s no easing up for IT sector increases in Great Britain as a whole. The market sector is still growing hugely, and as we have a skills gap that means we only typically have three IT workers for every four jobs it’s not showing any signs that there’ll be any kind of easing off for years to come.
Written by Scott Edwards. Go to Comptia Courses or Click HERE.
