Four separate areas of study make up a full CompTIA A+; you're thought of as A+ competent when you've achieved certifications for half of them. For th...
Four separate areas of study make up a full CompTIA A+; you're thought of as A+ competent when you've achieved certifications for half of them. For this reason,
most colleges limit themselves to 2 study areas. In fact to carry out a job effectively, you'll need the training for all four areas as many jobs will be looking for an understanding of all four areas. Don't feel pressured to take all four exams, but we would recommend you at least have a working knowledge of every area.
When you embark on the A+ training program you will learn how to build and repair PC's and operate in antistatic conditions. You'll also cover fault-finding and diagnostic techniques, both remotely and via direct access. Should you decide to add Network+ training to your A+, you will additionally be able to assist with or manage networks of computers, meaning you're in a position to expect a better remuneration package.
A typical blunder that students everywhere can make is to choose a career based on a course, instead of focusing on the desired end-result. Colleges are brimming over with unaware students that chose a program because it looked interesting - instead of the program that would surely get them the career they desired. Students often train for a single year but end up doing a job for a lifetime. Don't make the mistake of taking what may be an 'interesting' course and then put 10-20 years into a job you hate!
You'll want to understand what industry will expect from you. Which particular exams they'll want you to gain and in what way you can gain some industry experience. You should also spend a little time setting guidelines as to how far you think you'll want to go as often it can force you to choose a particular set of exams. Long before starting a study course, it's good advice to discuss specific career requirements with an industry professional, to ensure the study course covers all the bases.
If an advisor doesn't question you thoroughly - the likelihood is they're just a salesperson. If they're pushing towards a particular product before getting to know your background and experience, then you know you're being sold to. If you have a strong background, or maybe some real-world experience (some certifications gained previously perhaps?) then obviously your starting level will be very different from a student that is completely new to the industry. For those students starting IT studies and exams anew, you might like to start out slowly, beginning with some basic user skills first. Usually this is packaged with any study program.
Adding in the cost of exam fees with the course fee and offering an 'Exam Guarantee' is a common method with a number of training colleges. But let's examine why they really do it:
You're paying for it by some means. It's definitely not free - it's just been rolled into the price of the whole package. The fact is that when students fund their own exams, at the time of taking them, they will be much more likely to get through on the first attempt - since they'll think of their payment and will therefore apply themselves appropriately.
Doesn't it make more sense to go for the best offer when you're ready, not to pay the fees marked up by a training company, and to do it in a local testing office - rather than possibly hours away from your area? Why tie up your cash (or borrow more than you need) for examinations when there was no need to? A great deal of money is secured by training companies getting paid upfront for exams - and then hoping that you won't take them all. Re-takes of any failed exams through companies who offer an 'Exam Guarantee' inevitably are heavily regulated. You'll be required to sit pre-tests so you can prove to them you have a good chance of passing.
Splashing out often many hundreds of pounds extra on 'Exam Guarantees' is foolish - when study, commitment and preparing with good quality mock and practice exams is actually the key to your success.
Let's face it: There's pretty much no individual job security anymore; there's only market or sector security - as any company can drop any single member of staff if it suits the company's trade interests. We can however locate security at market-level, by looking for areas that have high demand, coupled with work-skill shortages.
Reviewing the computing market, a recent e-Skills survey brought to light a twenty six percent deficit in trained staff. Or, to put it differently, this means that Great Britain can only locate 3 trained people for each 4 positions available today. Well trained and commercially grounded new workers are thus at a resounding premium, and it's estimated to remain so for many years to come. As the Information Technology market is increasing at such a quick pace, there really isn't any other sector worth investigating for retraining.
