Training For a Career in CompTIA In Detail

A+ consists of four exams and specialised sectors, but your only requirement is to get certified in 2 to be considered A+ competent. Because of this, a great number of colleges restrict their course to just 2 areas. However, training you in all four will provide you with a far greater perspective of your subject, something you’ll discover is a Godsend in professional employment.

Once on the A+ training course you’ll be taught how to build, fix, repair and work in antistatic conditions. You’ll also cover fault-finding and diagnostic techniques, both remotely and via direct access.

If your ambition is being responsible for networks of computers, add the excellent CompTIA Network+ to the CompTIA A+ training you’re doing. This will prepare you to get a higher paid position. Other ones that might be interesting to you are the Microsoft networking qualifications (MCP, MCSA and MCSE).

Far too many companies focus completely on the certification process, and forget what you actually need – which will always be getting the job or career you want. Your focus should start with where you want to get to – don’t make the journey more important than where you want to get to.

Never let yourself become one of those unfortunate students who select a program that sounds really ‘interesting’ and ‘fun’ – only to end up with a qualification for something they’ll never enjoy.

It’s a good idea to understand the expectations of your industry. Which accreditations you’ll be required to have and how to gain experience. You should also spend a little time thinking about how far you wish to go as often it can present a very specific set of qualifications.

You’d also need help from someone who knows the commercial realities of the industry you’ve chosen, and is able to give you ‘A day in the life of’ outline of the job being considered. This is of paramount importance as you’ll need to fully understand if you’re going down the right road.

It’s quite a normal occurrence for students not to check on something of absolutely vital importance – the way their training provider segments the physical training materials, and into what particular chunks.

The majority of training companies will set up a 2 or 3 year study programme, and drop-ship the materials to you piecemeal as you pass each exam. If you think this sound logical, then consider this:

What if you don’t finish every section? Maybe the prescribed order won’t suit you? Due to no fault of yours, you may not meet the required timescales and consequently not get all your materials.

For the perfect solution, you want ALL the study materials up-front – so you’ll have them all to come back to at any time in the future – as and when you want. You can also vary the order in which you attack each section as and when something more intuitive seems right for you.

One of the most important things to insist on has to be comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support from expert mentors and instructors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support.

Email support is too slow, and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will take the information and email an instructor – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it’s convenient to them. This is no use if you’re stuck with a particular problem and only have a specific time you can study.

We recommend that you search for providers that have multiple support offices active in different time-zones. All of them should be combined to give a single entry point and 24×7 access, when you need it, with the minimum of hassle.

Always pick a training company that offers this level of study support. Only true 24×7 round-the-clock live support truly delivers for technical programs.

A lot of students assume that the school and FE college route is the way they should go. Why then are commercial certificates slowly and steadily replacing it?

Accreditation-based training (to use industry-speak) is far more effective and specialised. Industry is aware that specialisation is what’s needed to cope with a technically advancing marketplace. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA are the big boys in this field.

Many degrees, for instance, clog up the training with a lot of loosely associated study – with a syllabus that’s far too wide. This prevents a student from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.

Think about if you were the employer – and you wanted someone who could provide a specific set of skills. Which is the most straightforward: Pore through reams of different degrees and college qualifications from various applicants, having to ask what each has covered and what trade skills they’ve acquired, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that perfectly fit your needs, and then choose your interviewees based around that. You can then focus on how someone will fit into the team at interview – rather than establishing whether they can do a specific task.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Hop over to www.CareerQualifications.co.uk/rcarqua.html or PHP Training Course.