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.
Do your exams at a local pro-metric testing centre and find the best deal for you at the time.
Is there a good reason to pay interest on a bigger loan than is necessary because you’ve paid early for examinations when you didn’t need to? A great deal of money is made by companies charging upfront for all their exams – and then cashing in when they’re not all taken.
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.
Exams taken at VUE and Prometric centres are approximately 112 pounds in Britain at the time of writing. Why spend so much more on ‘Exam Guarantee’ costs (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when good quality study materials, the proper support and commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.
A question; why might we choose commercial certification instead of traditional academic qualifications obtained from schools, colleges or universities?
Corporate based study (as it’s known in the industry) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has become aware that specialisation is necessary to handle an increasingly more technical world. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the key players in this arena.
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!
You might not even have taken your exams when you will be offered your first junior support job; yet this isn’t going to happen unless your CV is with employers.
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.
Massive developments are coming via technology over the next generation – and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year.
Computing technology and dialogue through the internet will noticeably change our lives in the future; remarkably so.
And it’s worth remembering that income in the IT sector across the UK is significantly more than average salaries nationally, so in general you’ll more than likely gain considerably more as an IT specialist, than you could reasonably hope to achieve elsewhere.
With the IT marketplace emerging at an unprecedented rate, it’s likely that demand for certified IT specialists will flourish for a good while yet.
Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Check out learninglolly.com/A_Training_Courses.html or HERE.