CompTIA A+ Training News
There are four specialised areas of training in the complete CompTIA A+ course, of which you need to pass two to be considered A+ qualified. But limiting yourself to 2 of the specialised areas might well not equip you for a job. Look for training that covers all the specialist areas - for greater confidence in the world of work.
Alongside being taught how to build PC’s and fix them, students on A+ courses will learn how to operate in antistatic conditions, along with remote access, fault finding and diagnostics. If you feel it appropriate to add Network+ training, you’ll also have the ability to look after networks, giving you the facility to apply for more senior positions.
Including examination fees upfront and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams is a common method with many training course providers. But look at the facts:
They’ve allowed costings for it ultimately. One thing’s for sure - it isn’t free - it’s just been rolled into the price of the whole package. We all want to pass first time. Progressively working through your exams in order and funding them as you go puts you in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt - you take it seriously and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.
Take your exams at a local pro-metric testing centre and find the best deal for you at the time. Considerable numbers of so-called credible training colleges make huge profits because they’re asking for examinations upfront and hoping that you won’t take them all. Also, you should consider what an ‘exam guarantee’ really means. Most companies won’t be prepared to pay for re-takes until you can prove to them you’re ready to pass.
The cost of exams was about 112 pounds last year through UK VUE or Prometric centres. So what’s the point of paying maybe a thousand pounds extra for ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when it’s obvious that what’s really needed is a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools.
It’s likely that you probably enjoy fairly practical work - a ‘hands-on’ person. If you’re like us, the world of book-reading and classrooms is something you’ll force on yourself if you absolutely have to, but you really wouldn’t enjoy it. You should use video and multimedia based materials if book-based learning really isn’t your style. Learning psychology studies show that long term memory is improved when we use all our senses, and we take action to use what we’ve learned.
Fully interactive motion videos with demonstrations and practice sessions will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And they’re far more fun. Don’t take any chances and look at examples of the courseware provided before you purchase a course. Always insist on instructor-led video demonstrations and interactive modules with audio-visual elements.
Opt for CD and DVD ROM based physical training media where possible. You’re then protected from the variability of broadband quality and service.
At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be 24×7 round-the-clock support with professional mentors and instructors. Too many companies only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually). Always avoid training courses that only support students through a call-centre messaging system after office-staff have gone home. Training schools will give you every excuse in the book why you don’t need this. Essentially - support is needed when it’s needed - not when it’s convenient for them.
Top training providers provide a web-based 24 hours-a-day service involving many support centres over many time-zones. You’ll have a simple environment that switches seamlessly to the best choice of centres no matter what time of day it is: Support when it’s needed. If you fail to get yourself online 24×7 support, you’ll quickly find yourself regretting it. You might not want to use the service late at night, but you may need weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.
Working on the cutting-edge of new technology really is electrifying. You become one of a team of people impacting progress around the world. We’ve barely started to scrape the surface of how technology will define our world. The internet will profoundly change the way we view and interrelate with the entire world over the coming years.
The standard IT technician in the United Kingdom has been shown to receive noticeably more than fellow workers in other market sectors. Average incomes are around the top of national league tables. There is a significant national demand for professionally qualified IT workers. It follows that as the industry constantly develops, it looks like there will be for a good while yet.
We’re often asked why qualifications from colleges and universities are being replaced by more qualifications from the commercial sector? With an ever-increasing technical demand on resources, the IT sector has of necessity moved to specific, honed-in training that the vendors themselves supply - for example companies such as Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA. Often this saves time and money for the student. Academic courses, as a example, can often get caught up in too much loosely associated study - with much too broad a syllabus. This prevents a student from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.
It’s rather like the advert: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. All an employer has to do is know what areas need to be serviced, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. That way they can be sure they’re interviewing applicants who can do the job.
