There are four A+ exams and specialised sectors, but you're just expected to achieve certification in two to be thought of as qualified. Because of this, a great number of colleges restrict their course to just 2 areas. But giving you all four options will provide you with a far greater perspective of the subject, which you'll come to realise is essential in professional employment.
Qualifying in CompTIA A+ without additional courses will mean that you're able to repair and fix stand-alone PC's and MAC's; ones that are generally not connected to a network - which means the home or small business market.
If you would like to be someone who works in a multi-faceted environment - in network support, add Network+ to your CompTIA A+, or alternatively look at doing an MCSA or MCSE with Microsoft as you'll need a more advanced experience of the way networks work.
One crafty way that course providers make a big mark-up is by charging for exams up-front and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This looks like a great idea for the student, until you think it through:
Patently it isn't free - you're still paying for it - it's just been wrapped up in the price of the package.
If it's important to you to get a first time pass, then you should avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, focus on it intently and be ready for the task.
Hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you're ready, and hang on to your cash. You'll also be able to choose where to do your exams - so you can choose somewhere closer to home.
A lot of current training course providers make huge amounts of money through getting in the money for exam fees early then hoping you won't see them all through.
You should fully understand that re-takes with organisations with an 'Exam Guarantee' are tightly controlled. They will insist that you take pre-tests first until you've proven that you're likely to pass.
VUE and Prometric examinations are in the region of 112 pounds in Great Britain. Why spend so much more on fees for 'exam guarantees' (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when good quality study materials, the proper support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.
One useful service offered by some training providers is a Job Placement Assistance program. This is to help you get your first commercial position. The fact of the matter is it isn't a complex operation to land your first job - assuming you're well trained and qualified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
You would ideally have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; and we'd recommend everyone to work on polishing up their CV the day they start training - don't procrastinate and leave it until you've graduated or passed any exams.
Getting your CV considered is more than not being known. A surprising amount of junior jobs are got by trainees (sometimes when they've only just got going.)
Most often, a specialist locally based employment service (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company's service. It also stands to reason that they'll know the area and local employers better.
A big frustration for a number of course providers is how hard trainees are prepared to study to get qualified, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the job they've acquired skills for. Get out there and hustle - you might find it's fun.
Of all the important things to consider, one of the most essential is always full 24x7 support with professional mentors and instructors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support.
Avoid, like the plague, any organisations that use messaging services 'out-of-hours' - where an advisor will call back during office hours. This is useless when you're stuck and need an answer now.
The very best training providers have many support offices across multiple time-zones. An online system provides an interactive interface to link them all seamlessly, no matter what time you login, there is always help at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems.
Never compromise when it comes to your support. The majority of IT hopefuls who give up, are in that situation because of a lack of support.
Now, why is it better to gain qualifications from the commercial sector as opposed to familiar academic qualifications gained through the state educational establishments?
Industry now recognises that to learn the appropriate commercial skills, official accreditation supplied for example by CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA often is more effective in the commercial field - for considerably less.
Vendor training works through focusing on the particular skills that are needed (alongside an appropriate level of background knowledge,) rather than spending months and years on the background 'padding' that academic courses can get bogged down in - to pad out the syllabus.
The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - everything they need to know is in the title: for example, I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003'. Consequently companies can look at their needs and what certifications are needed for the job.
Qualifying in CompTIA A+ without additional courses will mean that you're able to repair and fix stand-alone PC's and MAC's; ones that are generally not connected to a network - which means the home or small business market.
If you would like to be someone who works in a multi-faceted environment - in network support, add Network+ to your CompTIA A+, or alternatively look at doing an MCSA or MCSE with Microsoft as you'll need a more advanced experience of the way networks work.
One crafty way that course providers make a big mark-up is by charging for exams up-front and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This looks like a great idea for the student, until you think it through:
Patently it isn't free - you're still paying for it - it's just been wrapped up in the price of the package.
If it's important to you to get a first time pass, then you should avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, focus on it intently and be ready for the task.
Hold on to your money and pay for the exam when you're ready, and hang on to your cash. You'll also be able to choose where to do your exams - so you can choose somewhere closer to home.
A lot of current training course providers make huge amounts of money through getting in the money for exam fees early then hoping you won't see them all through.
You should fully understand that re-takes with organisations with an 'Exam Guarantee' are tightly controlled. They will insist that you take pre-tests first until you've proven that you're likely to pass.
VUE and Prometric examinations are in the region of 112 pounds in Great Britain. Why spend so much more on fees for 'exam guarantees' (usually wrapped up in the course package price) - when good quality study materials, the proper support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.
One useful service offered by some training providers is a Job Placement Assistance program. This is to help you get your first commercial position. The fact of the matter is it isn't a complex operation to land your first job - assuming you're well trained and qualified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.
You would ideally have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; and we'd recommend everyone to work on polishing up their CV the day they start training - don't procrastinate and leave it until you've graduated or passed any exams.
Getting your CV considered is more than not being known. A surprising amount of junior jobs are got by trainees (sometimes when they've only just got going.)
Most often, a specialist locally based employment service (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) is going to give you a better service than a centralised training company's service. It also stands to reason that they'll know the area and local employers better.
A big frustration for a number of course providers is how hard trainees are prepared to study to get qualified, but how ill-prepared they are to market themselves for the job they've acquired skills for. Get out there and hustle - you might find it's fun.
Of all the important things to consider, one of the most essential is always full 24x7 support with professional mentors and instructors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support.
Avoid, like the plague, any organisations that use messaging services 'out-of-hours' - where an advisor will call back during office hours. This is useless when you're stuck and need an answer now.
The very best training providers have many support offices across multiple time-zones. An online system provides an interactive interface to link them all seamlessly, no matter what time you login, there is always help at hand, avoiding all the delays and problems.
Never compromise when it comes to your support. The majority of IT hopefuls who give up, are in that situation because of a lack of support.
Now, why is it better to gain qualifications from the commercial sector as opposed to familiar academic qualifications gained through the state educational establishments?
Industry now recognises that to learn the appropriate commercial skills, official accreditation supplied for example by CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA often is more effective in the commercial field - for considerably less.
Vendor training works through focusing on the particular skills that are needed (alongside an appropriate level of background knowledge,) rather than spending months and years on the background 'padding' that academic courses can get bogged down in - to pad out the syllabus.
The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have - everything they need to know is in the title: for example, I am a 'Microsoft Certified Professional' in 'Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003'. Consequently companies can look at their needs and what certifications are needed for the job.
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