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.
It could be a good idea to think about adding the CompTIA Network+ training as it will enable you to work with networks, and have a more responsible working role.
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.
Beware of putting too much emphasis, as many people do, on the certification itself. Training for training’s sake is generally pointless; you’re training to become commercially employable. You need to remain focused on where you want to go.
Never let yourself become one of those unfortunate people who choose a training program that seems ‘fun’ or ‘interesting’ – only to end up with a qualification for an unrewarding career path.
Stay focused on where you want to go, and then build your training requirements around that – not the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals and ensure that you’re training for something you’ll still be enjoying many years from now.
All students are advised to talk with an experienced professional before they embark on a retraining path. This gives some measure of assurance that it features what is required for the career path that has been chosen.
One area often overlooked by those weighing up a particular programme is the concept of ‘training segmentation’. Basically, this means how the program is broken down into parts for drop-shipping to you, which makes a huge difference to the point you end up at.
A release of your materials stage by stage, as you complete each module is the usual method of releasing your program. This sounds sensible, but you should take these factors into account:
What if for some reason you don’t get to the end of every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Through no fault of your own, you might take a little longer and not receive all the modules you’ve paid for.
For future safety and flexibility, many trainees now want to insist that all study materials are delivered immediately, and not in stages. That means it’s down to you in what order and how fast or slow you’d like to work.
It’s likely that you’ve always enjoyed practical work – a ‘hands-on’ individual. Typically, the trial of reading reference books and manuals can be just about bared when essential, but you’d hate it. You should use video and multimedia based materials if you’d really rather not use books.
Many studies have proved that memory is aided when we receive multi-sensorial input, and we take action to use what we’ve learned.
Interactive full motion video involving demonstration and virtual lab’s will beat books every time. And you’ll find them fun and interesting.
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.
Some companies only have access to training that is purely available online; sometimes you can get away with this – but, consider how you’ll deal with it if your access to the internet is broken or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. It is usually safer to have actual CD or DVD ROMs that removes the issue entirely.
Copyright Scott Edwards. Hop over to Website Design Course or CareerRetrainingCourses.co.uk/ucareco.html.