Green Wave Web Design

There are four specialised areas of training in the full CompTIA A+ syllabus, of which 2 passes are needed for your A+ qualification. However restricting yourself to two of the four specialities is likely to leave your knowledge base somewhat light. At least learn about all four – employers will notice the difference.

Once on the CompTIA A+, you will learn how to build, fix, repair and work in antistatic conditions. Diagnostic techniques and fault finding are also on the syllabus, as is remote access.

If you add Network+ to your CompTIA A+ training course, you will additionally be able to assist with or manage networks of computers, meaning you’re in a position to move further up the career path.

Many trainers have a handy Job Placement Assistance program, designed to steer you into your first job. Often, too much is made of this feature, because it is actually not that hard for well qualified and focused men and women to find a job in the IT industry – as employers are keen to find appropriately trained staff.

Nevertheless, avoid waiting until you’ve finished your training before getting your CV updated. The day you start training, list what you’re working on and get it out there!

It’s not unusual to find that you will be offered your first role whilst still on the course (occasionally right at the beginning). If your CV doesn’t show your latest training profile (and it’s not being looked at by employers) then you won’t even be considered!

Generally, you’ll receive quicker service from a specialised and independent local recruitment service than you’ll experience from any course provider’s employment division, as they will understand the local industry and employment needs.

To bottom line it, if you put as much hard work into finding your first IT position as into studying, you’re not likely to experience problems. Some trainees inexplicably spend hundreds of hours on their course materials and then just stop once they’ve passed their exams and seem to suppose that interviewers know they’re there.

A typical blunder that potential students often succumb to is to focus entirely on getting a qualification, and take their eye off the desired end-result. Schools are brimming over with students that chose an ‘interesting’ course – instead of what would yield an enjoyable career or job.

You may train for one year and then end up doing the job for 20 years. Avoid the mistake of finding what seems like a very ‘interesting’ program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!

Spend some time thinking about how much you want to earn and the level of your ambition. This will influence which precise certifications you’ll need to attain and how much effort you’ll have to give in return.

Before you embark on a study course, trainees are advised to chat over the specific job requirements with an experienced industry advisor, in order to be sure the retraining programme covers all that is required.

Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you is often missed by many students. How many stages do they break the program into? What is the order and at what speed is it delivered?

Usually, you’ll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and receive a module at a time. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this:

Many students find that the trainer’s ’standard’ path of training isn’t as suitable as another. They might find varying the order of study will be far more suitable. And what if you don’t get to the end at the pace they expect?

To be in the best situation you would have all the learning modules packed off to your address right at the beginning; the whole caboodle! Thus avoiding any future problems that could impede the reaching of your goals.

People attracted to this sort of work can be very practical by nature, and won’t enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and endless reading of dry academic textbooks. If this is putting you off studying, opt for more involving, interactive learning materials, where learning is video-based.

Research has always verified that becoming involved with our studies, to utilise all our senses, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.

Courses are now available on CD and DVD discs, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Using video-streaming, you will be able to see the instructor presenting exactly how to do something, and then have a go at it yourself – in a virtual lab environment.

It would be silly not to view a small selection of training examples before you purchase a course. You should expect video tutorials, instructor demo’s and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab’s.

You should avoid purely online training. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where obtainable, as you need to be able to use them whenever it’s convenient for you – and not be totally reliant on a good broadband connection all the time.

(C) 2009 – S. Edwards. Go to JobQualification.co.uk/tjobqual.html or Flash Courses.