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 ...
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. This is why it's usual for colleges to limit themselves to 2 study areas. In reality to carry out a job effectively, you'll need the training for all four areas as many jobs will demand an awareness of each specialist area. Don't feel pressured to qualify in them all,
however we'd advise that you learn about all four.
CompTIA A+ training programs cover fault-finding and diagnostics - remotely as well as hands on, as well as building, fixing, repairing and operating in antistatic conditions. If you're considering being someone who is involved with a big team - fixing and supporting networks, add Network+ to your CompTIA A+, or follow the Microsoft route - MCP's, MCSA or MCSE to give you a wider knowledge of the way networks work.
A number of students think that the tech college or university route is still the best way into IT. So why then are qualifications from the commercial sector becoming more popular with employers? Industry is of the opinion that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, official accreditation from the likes of Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA is closer to the mark commercially - for much less time and money. Patently, a reasonable amount of background knowledge needs to be taught, but essential specialised knowledge in the exact job role gives a commercially trained student a huge edge.
The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications give employers exactly what they're looking for - everything they need to know is in the title: as an example - I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Windows XP Administration and Configuration'. Therefore an employer can look at the particular needs they have and what certifications are required to perform the job.
You should only consider retraining courses that grow into industry recognised qualifications. There are way too many small companies proposing minor 'in-house' certificates that are essentially useless in the real world. If your certification doesn't come from a major player like Microsoft, CompTIA, Cisco or Adobe, then chances are it will be commercially useless - as no-one will have heard of it.
Coming across job security nowadays is incredibly rare. Companies often throw us from the workplace with very little notice - whenever it suits. We could however hit upon security at market-level, by searching for areas of high demand, mixed with a lack of qualified workers.
The IT skills shortage in the United Kingdom currently stands at approximately 26 percent, as shown by the latest e-Skills survey. To put it another way, this reveals that Great Britain is only able to source three properly accredited workers for each four job positions in existence at the moment. Highly qualified and commercially educated new employees are correspondingly at a resounding premium, and it looks like they will be for much longer. No better time or market state of affairs will exist for obtaining certification in this quickly expanding and evolving sector.
Speak with a knowledgeable consultant and they'll entertain you with many horror stories of salespeople ripping-off unsuspecting students. Stick to an experienced industry advisor that quizzes you to uncover the best thing for you - not for their retirement-fund! Dig until you find an ideal starting-point that fits you. Where you have a strong background, or even a touch of commercial experience (maybe some existing accreditation?) then it could be that your starting level will vary from someone with no background whatsoever. It's wise to consider some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first. It will usually make your learning curve a much easier going.
