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.
As well as learning how to build PC’s and fix them, students of A+ will learn how to operate in antistatic conditions, how to fault find, to diagnose and to remotely access problems.
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.
Getting your first commercial position can feel more straightforward if you’re supported with a Job Placement Assistance program. The fact of the matter is it’s not as hard as some people make out to secure the right work – once you’re trained and certified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
You would ideally have CV and Interview advice and support though; also we would encourage all students to get their CV updated as soon as they start a course – don’t wait till you’ve finished your exams.
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.
Just ensure you don’t put hundreds of hours of effort into your studies, and then just stop and leave it up to everyone else to secure your first position. Stop procrastinating and get on with the job. Channel the same focus into finding your first job as you did to gain the skills.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Traditional teaching in classrooms, involving piles of reference textbooks, is often a huge slog for most of us. If this describes you, look for learning programmes that are multimedia 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.
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.
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