22 Mar 10 CompTIA A Plus Courses In Detail

There are four specialist areas of training in a full CompTIA A+ program; you’re considered A+ competent once you’ve passed your exams for 2 out of 4 subjects. Because of this, most training providers only have two of the courses on their syllabus. In fact to carry out a job effectively, you’ll need the teaching in all areas as many positions will demand an understanding of the entire course. It’s not essential to pass exams in all of them, but we would recommend you study for all four areas.

CompTIA A+ without additional courses will mean that you’re able to fix and maintain stand-alone PC’s and MAC’s; ones which are usually not part of a network – essentially the domestic or small business sector.

It could be a good idea to think about adding the CompTIA Network+ training as it will give you the knowledge to work with networks, which is where the bigger salaries are.

A skilled and professional advisor (vs a salesman) will cover in some detail your current experience level and abilities. This is paramount to calculating your starting point for training.

Occasionally, the training inception point for someone experienced in some areas will be vastly different to the student with no experience.

It’s wise to consider some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. Starting there can make the learning curve a much easier going.

Let’s admit it: There really is pretty much no individual job security anymore; there can only be market or business security – a company will let anyone go when it fits the business’ trade needs.

We could however find security at market-level, by digging for areas that have high demand, tied with a lack of qualified workers.

The most recent British e-Skills study highlighted that twenty six percent of IT jobs are unfilled because of an appallingly low number of trained staff. That means for every 4 jobs that are available across IT, we have only 3 certified professionals to do them.

Properly qualified and commercially accredited new professionals are accordingly at an absolute premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for a long time.

Quite simply, seeking in-depth commercial IT training as you progress through the years to come is likely the finest choice of careers you could make.

The sometimes daunting task of securing your first job is often relieved because some trainers offer a Job Placement Assistance service. The need for this feature can be bigged up out of proportion though – it’s quite easy for training companies to overplay it. The fact of the matter is, the need for well trained IT people in this country is the reason you’ll find a job.

Get your CV updated straight-away though – you should get plenty of help from your training provider on this. Don’t wait until you’ve qualified.

It’s possible that you won’t have even got to the exam time when you land your first junior support job; although this isn’t going to happen unless your CV is with employers.

The best services to get you a new position are usually local IT focused employment agencies. As they will get paid by the employer when they’ve placed you, they’ll work that much harder to get a result.

A common frustration of some training companies is how hard people are prepared to work to become certified, but how un-prepared they are to work on getting the position they’re trained for. Don’t falter at the last fence.

Watch out that all certifications that you’re considering will be recognised by employers and are bang up to date. ‘In-house’ exams and the certificates they come with are generally useless.

All the major commercial players like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco all have globally approved proficiency programs. These heavyweights will give some sparkle to your CV.

Copyright 2009 Scott Edwards. Pop to Comptia Certification or Click HERE.

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