There are a total of 4 specialist training sectors in the A+ syllabus, of which 2 passes are needed for your A+ qualification. Be aware though that limiting yourself to 2 of the specialised areas could expose flaws in your knowledge when applying for a job. Choose a course with all 4 subjects – employers will notice the difference.
CompTIA A+ without additional courses will set you up to fix and maintain computers and Macs; ones which are usually not part of a network – this generally applies to home use and small companies.
You may also want to consider adding the CompTIA Network+ training as it will give you the knowledge to become a networking engineer, which means greater employment benefits.
Those that are drawn to this type of work are often very practical, and don’t always take well to classrooms, and endless reading of dry academic textbooks. If this is putting you off studying, try the newer style of interactive study, where learning is video-based.
If we’re able to get all of our senses involved in our learning, then the results are usually dramatically better.
The latest audio-visual interactive programs involving demonstration and virtual lab’s will beat books every time. And they’re far more fun.
All companies should be able to show you a few samples of their courseware. You should hope for instructor-led videos and a variety of interactive modules.
Plump for actual CD or DVD ROM’s if possible. You can then avoid all the difficulties of broadband outages, failure and signal quality issues etc.
Validated exam preparation and simulation materials are vital – and really must be obtained from your course provider.
Sometimes people can get confused by practising exam questions that don’t come from the authorised examining boards. It’s not uncommon that the question formats and phraseology is startlingly different and you should be prepared for this.
Mock exams can be very useful in helping you build your confidence – so when it comes to taking the proper exam, you won’t be worried.
An important area that is sometimes not even considered by trainees considering a training program is ‘training segmentation’. This is essentially how the program is broken down into parts to be delivered to you, which can make a dramatic difference to what you end up with.
Often, you will join a program requiring 1-3 years study and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. It seems to make sense on one level, but consider these issues:
What would their reaction be if you find it difficult to do each and every module at the speed they required? Often the prescribed exam order doesn’t come as naturally as some other structure would for you.
Ideally, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning – giving you them all for the future to come back to – at any time you choose. This also allows you to vary the order in which you move through the program if you find another route more intuitive.
Does job security truly exist anymore? In the UK for instance, with industry changing its mind at alarming speeds, it seems increasingly unlikely.
Security only exists now in a rapidly increasing marketplace, fuelled by a shortfall of trained staff. It’s this alone that creates the correct background for a secure marketplace – a more attractive situation all round.
The Information Technology (IT) skills deficit in the United Kingdom is standing at approx 26 percent, as noted by the latest e-Skills survey. To put it another way, this highlights that the UK can only find three qualified staff for each four job positions that are available now.
Gaining in-depth commercial IT certification is accordingly an effective route to succeed in a long-lasting and enjoyable livelihood.
Actually, retraining in Information Technology throughout the next year or two is very likely the best choice of careers you could make.
Written by Scott Edwards. Check out Comptia Certification or MCSE Training.
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