April 19th, 2009 | 
Author: There are four specialised areas of training in the full CompTIA A+ syllabus, of which you need to pass two for competency in A+. We would advise however that limiting yourself to 2 out of the 4 subjects available could expose flaws in your knowledge when applying for a job. Choose a course with all 4 subjects – this will give you the edge in the working environment.
A+ certification by itself will mean that you’re able to repair and fix stand alone Macs, computers and laptops; ones that are most often not part of a network – this generally applies to home use and small companies. You may also want to think about adding Network+ training to your A+ as you can then also look after networks of computers, which is where the bigger salaries are.
Seeing as the UK computing market presents such an array of great job possibilities for us all – what are the questions we should be posing and what elements carry the most importance?
A knowledgeable and specialised advisor (vs a salesman) will talk through your abilities and experience. This is useful for working out your starting level of study. Remember, if you’ve had any relevant work-experience or certification, then it’s not unreasonable to expect to commence studying further along than someone who is new to the field. If this is your opening attempt at studying to take an IT exam then you may want to practice with user-skills and software training first.
The age-old way of teaching, utilising reference manuals and books, can be pretty hard going sometimes. If this sounds like you, find training programs that are multimedia based. If we can involve all our senses in the learning process, then the results are usually dramatically better.
The latest audio-visual interactive programs involving demonstration and virtual lab’s will beat books every time. And they’re far more fun. Always insist on a training material demonstration from the training company. You should ask for instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and interactive labs where you get to practice.
Often, companies will only use purely on-line training; and while this is acceptable much of the time, imagine the problems if internet access is lost or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. It’s much safer to rely on DVD or CD discs which will solve that problem.
At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be comprehensive 24×7 direct-access support through expert mentors and instructors. Too many companies only seem to want to help while they’re in the office (9am till 6pm, Monday till Friday usually) and nothing at the weekends. Beware of institutions who use ‘out-of-hours’ messaging systems – where an advisor will call back during normal office hours. It’s no use when you’re stuck on a problem and want support there and then.
World-class organisations provide a web-based 24×7 service involving many support centres over many time-zones. You will have an interface which switches seamlessly to the best choice of centres irrespective of the time of day: Support on demand. Never settle for a lower level of service. Support round-the-clock is the only way to go with IT study. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; often though, we’re at work when traditional support if offered.
Workshops are often touted as an important element by some training schools. After talking to the majority of IT hopefuls that have tried them out, you’ll likely realise that they’ve now become a major negative because of many things:
* The amount of travel required – frequent trips and sometimes hundreds of miles a time.
* Weekday only availability to workshops is usual, and with 2-3 days to book off work, this can be difficult for a lot of trainees who are working.
* The majority of us find 4 weeks holiday each year doesn’t go very far. Knock off over half of it for training events and watch how much harder things become.
* Training classes often end up too big.
* The pace of the workshop – workshops often consist of trainees of varying talent, consequently tension can run high between students with more background knowledge and those with less experience.
* Never forget the extra cost of driving or taking public transport and over-night accommodation either. Often, this will cost hundreds and even thousands of pounds extra. Work it out – you’ll get a shock.
* Training privacy will be of paramount importance to most students. Why sacrifice potential advancement, income boosts or achievement at work because of your studies. If your boss finds out you’re putting yourself through training in another sector, what are they going to be thinking?
* Posing questions in a class full of students can make us a little uncomfortable. Surely, at some point, you’ve avoided asking a question just because you didn’t want to appear stupid?
* Don’t forget, workshops frequently become simply unreachable, when you live away for part of your week or month.
The most elegant solution rests with watching a videoed workshop – with instructor-led learning available at a time that’s convenient to you alone. Study at home on your desktop PC or use your laptop to enjoy the sun. If you have any questions, then logon to the 24×7 support facility (that you should have insisted on for any technical study.) Just watch and re-watch the study units as many times as you want or need. There’s also no need to take notes because the class is available whenever you want it. The final outcome: Reduced hassle, more money in the bank, and no travelling or long journeys.
Discovering job security in this economic down-turn is very unusual. Businesses will remove us out of the workplace with very little notice – as and when it suits them. When we come across growing skills shortfalls coupled with high demand areas of course, we can find a fresh type of security in the marketplace; driven by the conditions of constant growth, employers find it hard to locate the staff required.
Taking a look at the computing sector, the recent e-Skills survey showed an over 26 percent deficit in trained staff. Meaning that for each 4 job positions that exist throughout the computer industry, we’ve only got three properly trained pro’s to do them. Highly trained and commercially certified new professionals are as a result at an absolute premium, and it’s estimated to remain so for a long time. Unquestionably, now really is such a perfect time to train for Information Technology (IT).
Author Jason Kendall splits his work between advising and consulting on quality training and UK Support. To find out more on Comptia A+ Certification, visit LearningLolly A+ Training.
Article Source: Networking CompTIA A Plus Training in 2009
