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Four specialist training areas feature in the full CompTIA A+ syllabus, of which 2 passes are needed to gain A+ competency. Be aware though that only learning about 2 of the four specialities could expose flaws in your knowledge when applying for a job. Try to cover all four - employers will notice the difference.
As well as being taught how to build PC’s and fix them, students on A+ courses will be taught how to work in antistatic conditions, along with remote access, fault finding and diagnostics.
Should you want to work towards being responsible for networks of computers, add the very comprehensive CompTIA Network+ to your A+ course. Including Network+ will put you in a position to apply for more interesting jobs. Alternatively, you may prefer the route to networking via Microsoft, in the form of MCP’s, MCSA or the full MCSE.
Commencing with the understanding that we need to choose the employment that excites us first, before we can even consider what training program meets that requirement, how are we supposed to find the right path?
Working through a list of IT job-titles is no use whatsoever. Surely, most of us have no idea what our own family members do for a living - let alone understand the ins and outs of a specific IT job.
To get to the bottom of this, we need to discuss several unique issues:
* What nature of person you think yourself to be - the tasks that you get enjoyment from, plus of course - what makes you unhappy.
* Are you looking to reach a closely held dream - for instance, working for yourself sometime soon?
* What scale of importance is the salary - is it the most important thing, or does job satisfaction rate further up on your priority-list?
* Always think in-depth about the time required to get fully certified.
* The level of commitment and effort you’re prepared to commit the training program.
The bottom line is, the only real way of covering these is via a good talk with someone that has enough background to provide solid advice.
Some training providers offer a Job Placement Assistance service, to help you get your first job. Because of the great demand for appropriately skilled people in Great Britain today, it’s not necessary to make too much of this option though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to find your first job as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications.
Nevertheless, don’t wait till you have passed your final exams before polishing up your CV. As soon as your training commences, list what you’re working on and place it on jobsites!
Many junior support jobs have been offered to trainees who are still learning and have yet to take their exams. At the very least this will get your CV into the ‘possible’ pile and not the ‘no’ pile.
Generally, you’ll receive better performance from a specialist locally based employment agency than you will through a training provider’s recruitment division, as they will be more familiar with the area and local employers.
Not inconsiderable numbers of students, it would appear, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (sometimes for years), and just give up when it comes to finding their first job. Introduce yourself… Do everything you can to put yourself out there. Good jobs don’t just knock on your door.
Most training providers only give basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); very few go late in the evening or at weekends.
Find a good quality service with proper support available at any time of day or night (even 1am on Sunday morning!) Make sure it’s always direct access to tutors, and not a message system as this will slow you down - consistently being held in a queue for a call-back during office hours.
The very best training providers have many support offices across multiple time-zones. By utilising an interactive interface to seamlessly link them all together, any time of the day or night, help is at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems.
Seek out a training provider that gives this level of learning support. Only proper 24×7 round-the-clock live support delivers what is required.
A expert and specialised advisor (as opposed to a salesman) will want to thoroughly discuss your current level of ability and experience. There is no other way of calculating your study start-point.
With a strong background, or sometimes a little real-world experience (possibly even some previous certification?) then it’s more than likely your starting level will be very different from someone with no background whatsoever.
If you’re a student embarking on IT studies as a new venture, it can be helpful to break yourself in gently, starting with some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. This is often offered with any educational course.
Be careful that the exams you’re considering doing are commercially relevant and are bang up to date. Training companies own certificates are generally useless.
To an employer, only the major heavyweights like Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco (as an example) really carry any commercial clout. Anything less just won’t hit the right spot.