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.

Qualifying in CompTIA A+ without additional courses will set you up to repair and fix computers and Macs; principally ones that aren’t joined to a network – essentially the domestic or small business sector.

If you would like to be the person who works in a multi-faceted environment – fixing and supporting networks, build on A+ with Network+, or consider the Microsoft networking route (MCSA – MCSE) as you’ll need a deeper understanding of how networks work.

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.

Getting onto the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s is far better than not even being known about. Often junior support jobs are given to students (who’ve only just left first base.)

The top companies to help get you placed are usually specialist independent regional recruitment consultancies. As they’re keen to place you to receive their commission, they’re perhaps more focused on results.

Many trainees, it seems, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of looking for a job. Sell yourself… Do your best to let employers know about you. Don’t expect a job to just fall into your lap.

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.

It’s unfortunate, but thousands of new students begin programs that seem spectacular from the marketing materials, but which provides a job that is of no interest. Try talking to typical college graduates to see what we mean.

Make sure you investigate what your attitude is towards career progression and earning potential, and if you’re ambitious or not. It’s vital to know what will be expected of you, what particular qualifications are required and in what way you can develop commercial experience.

All students are advised to talk with an experienced professional before they embark on a retraining path. This gives some measure of assurance that it features what is required for the career path that has been chosen.

One area often overlooked by those weighing up a particular programme is the concept of ‘training segmentation’. Basically, this means how the program is broken down into parts for drop-shipping to you, which makes a huge difference to the point you end up at.

Many companies enrol you into a 2 or 3 year study programme, and deliver each piece one-by-one as you complete each section or exam. Sounds reasonable? Well consider these facts:

Maybe the order of study insisted on by the company won’t suit you. It may be difficult to get through every element inside of their particular timetable?

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.

We see a huge improvement in memory retention when all our senses are brought into the mix – educational experts have expounded on this for decades now.

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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