UK CompTIA a Plus Training - Thoughts

There are four specialist areas of training in a full CompTIA A+ program; you’re qualified as an achiever in A+ when you’ve passed the test for just two specialist areas. Because of this, it’s usual for colleges to limit themselves to 2 study areas. The truth is it’s necessary to have the information on each subject as industry will ask for an understanding of all four areas. You don’t have to complete all 4 certifications, but it seems common sense that you at least have a working knowledge of every area.

A+ certification without additional courses will set you up to mend and maintain stand-alone PC’s and MAC’s; ones which are usually not part of a network – which means the home or small business market.

You may also want to think about adding the CompTIA Network+ training as it will enable you to take care of computer networks, which is where the bigger salaries are.

Students will sometimes miss checking on something of absolutely vital importance – how their training provider divides up the physical training materials, and into how many separate packages.

Often, you will join a program staged over 2 or 3 years and get posted one section at a time – from one exam to the next. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this:

What if there are reasons why you can’t finish every single section? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Because of nothing that’s your fault, you may go a little slower and therefore not end up with all the modules.

For future safety and flexibility, it’s not unusual for students to make sure that every element of their training is posted to them in one go, with nothing held back. That means it’s down to you how fast or slow and in what order you’d like to take your exams.

Many men and women are under the impression that the traditional school, college or university path is still the most effective. Why then is commercial certification becoming more in demand?

The IT sector is of the opinion that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, certified accreditation from such organisations as Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA is closer to the mark commercially – at a far reduced cost both money and time wise.

Many degrees, for instance, often get bogged down in too much background study – with a syllabus that’s far too wide. Students are then held back from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.

It’s rather like the advert: ‘It does what it says on the label’. All an employer has to do is know what they need doing, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. That way they can be sure they’re interviewing applicants who can do the job.

Searching for your first position in IT can feel more straightforward if you’re offered a Job Placement Assistance program. The fact of the matter is it’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to land the right work – as long as you’ve got the necessary skills and qualifications; employers in this country need your skills.

Having said that, it’s important to have help with your CV and interview techniques though; also we would encourage everyone to get their CV updated the day they start training – don’t procrastinate and leave it for when you’re ready to start work.

It’s possible that you won’t have even taken your exams when you land your first junior support role; yet this can’t and won’t happen unless you’ve posted your CV on job sites.

If you’d like to get employment in your home town, then you may well find that a local (but specialised) recruitment consultancy can generally serve you better than the trainer’s recruitment division, due to the fact that they’re far more likely to know the jobs that are going locally.

Please be sure that you don’t conscientiously work through your course materials, and then just stop and leave it up to everyone else to find you a job. Get off your backside and start looking for yourself. Put as much energy and enthusiasm into landing your new role as you did to get trained.

Trainees looking at this market can be very practical by nature, and don’t really enjoy classrooms, and poring through books and manuals. If you’re thinking this sounds like you, use multimedia, interactive learning, where everything is presented via full motion video.

Learning psychology studies show that much more of what we learn in remembered when we involve as many senses as possible, and we get physically involved with the study process.

Modern training can now be done at home via easy-to-use DVD or CD ROM’s. Instructor-led tutorials will mean you’ll learn your subject via the expert demonstrations. Then you test your knowledge by interacting with the software and practicing yourself.

Every company that you look at should be able to show you a few examples of the materials provided for study. You should hope for instructor-led videos and a wide selection of interactive elements.

Seek out CD and DVD ROM based physical training media wherever available. Thus avoiding all the issues associated with the variability of broadband quality and service.

(C) Jason Kendall. Go to LearningLolly.com for great ideas. IT Training Course or Comptia Training Course.