There are four specialist areas of training in a full CompTIA A+ program; you’re seen as competent at A+ when you’ve gained exams for two of the four areas. Because of this, most colleges only have two of the courses on their syllabus. In reality it’s necessary to have the training for all four areas as industry will be looking for an understanding of each specialist area. You don’t have to complete all 4 certifications, however we’d advise that you study for all four areas.
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.
Think about the points below very carefully if you believe that old marketing ploy of an ‘Exam Guarantee’ sounds great value:
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.
Should you seriously need to qualify first ‘go’, you must pay for each exam as you go, prioritise it appropriately and be ready for 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.
They do this through concentrating on the particular skills that are needed (along with a relevant amount of related knowledge,) instead of covering masses of the background non-specific minutiae that computer Science Degrees are prone to get tied up in (because the syllabus is so wide).
Just as the old advertisement said: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. All an employer has to do is know what areas need to be serviced, 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.
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.
Not inconsiderable numbers of people, it would appear, are prepared to study their hearts out (sometimes for years), only to give up at the first hurdle when attempting to secure their first job. Sell yourself… Work hard to get yourself known. Don’t think a job’s just going to jump out in front of you.
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.
Should receiving a good salary be high on your goal sheet, then you’ll welcome the news that the regular income for IT employees in general is noticeably more than salaries in the rest of the economy.
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.
(C) Scott Edwards 2009. Browse around www.acertification.co.uk or Click Here.
Lerma Masip | 
03 10th, 2010| 