Computer Training - CompTIA Clarified
Posted by Jason Kendall on July 5th, 2009
CompTIA A + has a total of four exams and specialised sectors, but you only have to achieve certification in two for qualification purposes. This is why most training colleges restrict their course to just 2 areas. Yet learning about all 4 will give you a far deeper level of understanding of your subject, something you’ll discover is vital in professional employment.
Courses in A+ computer training teach diagnostic techniques and fault-finding - via hands on and remote access, as well as building and fixing and understanding antistatic conditions. Should you be thinking of maintaining networks, you’ll need to add Network+ to your A+ course. This qualification will enable you to assist you greatly in the job market. You may also want to consider the networking qualifications from Microsoft, i.e. MCP, MCSA MCSE.
Looking around, we find a plethora of work available in computing. Finding the particular one for you is generally problematic. Since in the absence of any commercial background in IT, how can most of us be expected to know what anyone doing a particular job actually does? Contemplation on many factors is most definitely required when you want to discover the right answer for you:
* The kind of individual you are - the tasks that you enjoy, and don’t forget - what don’t you like doing.
* For what reasons you’re moving into computing - it could be you’re looking to overcome a long-held goal such as working for yourself maybe.
* Does salary have a higher place on your wish list than some other areas.
* There are many ways to train in Information Technology - you’ll need to gain some background information on what differentiates them.
* You’ll also need to think hard about what kind of effort and commitment that you will set aside for your training.
To be honest, your only option to investigate these matters is via a conversation with an advisor or professional that understands the IT industry (and chiefly the commercial requirements.)
Review the following facts carefully if you believe the marketing blurb about ‘guaranteeing’ exams sounds like a benefit to the student:
You’re paying for it ultimately. One thing’s for sure - it isn’t free - it’s simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole. It’s everybody’s ambition to qualify on the first attempt. Going for exams in order and funding them one at a time makes it far more likely you’ll pass first time - you put the effort in and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.
Look for the very best offer you can at the time, and keep hold of your own money. You’ll also be able to choose where to take your exam - so you can find somewhere local. Huge profits are made by some training companies who get money upfront for exam fees. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don’t get to do their exams but the company keeps the money. Amazingly, there are providers that depend on students not taking their exams - as that’s how they make a lot of their profit. Re-takes of any failed exams with organisations who offer an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are monitored with tight restrictions. You’ll be required to sit pre-tests until you’ve proven that you’re likely to pass.
Exam fees averaged approximately 112 pounds twelve months or so ago through Prometric or VUE centres around the United Kingdom. So don’t be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more to get ‘Exam Guarantees’, when common sense dictates that what’s really needed is a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools.
If you’re like many of the students we talk to then you probably enjoy fairly practical work - the ‘hands-on’ individual. If you’re like us, the world of book-reading and classrooms would be considered as a last resort, but it doesn’t suit your way of doing things. So look for on-screen interactive learning packages if books just don’t do it for you. Research has time and time again demonstrated that connecting physically with our study, is proven to produce longer-lasting and deeper memory retention.
Fully interactive motion videos utilising video demo’s and practice lab’s will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And you’ll find them fun and interesting. Make sure to obtain a study material demo’ from the school that you’re considering. The materials should incorporate slide-shows, instructor-led videos and virtual practice lab’s for your new skills.
It doesn’t make sense to opt for on-line only training. Because of the variable quality and reliability of all internet service providers, ensure that you have access to CD or DVD ROM based materials.
When did you last consider your job security? Typically, this only rears its head when we experience a knock-back. But really, the lesson often learned too late is that job security simply doesn’t exist anymore, for most of us. It’s possible though to hit upon security at the market sector level, by looking for high demand areas, together with a shortage of skilled staff.
The computing Industry skills shortfall throughout the United Kingdom falls in at approx twenty six percent, as reported by the latest e-Skills analysis. It follows then that for each four job positions that exist in the computer industry, employers can only source trained staff for three of the four. This single notion alone clearly demonstrates why the country needs considerably more workers to get trained and enter the IT industry. Actually, acquiring professional IT skills as you progress through the years to come is probably the safest career move you’ll ever make.
Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you isn’t always given the appropriate level of importance. In what way are your training elements sectioned? What is the order and at what speed is it delivered? Typically, you will purchase a course taking 1-3 years and receive a module at a time. While this may sound logical on one level, consider this: What would happen if you didn’t finish each and every exam at the required speed? Sometimes their preference of study order won’t be as easy as some other structure would for you.
In all honesty, the very best answer is to have a copy of their prescribed order of study, but get everything up-front. You then have everything in the event you don’t complete everything inside of their required time-scales.