There are four specialised areas of training in the full CompTIA A+ syllabus, of which you need to pass two for competency in A+. But limiting yourself to 2 of the specialised areas might well not equip you for a job. Choose a course with all 4 subjects – for greater confidence in the world of work.
If you decide to become a student on the CompTIA A+, you’ll be taught how to build and repair PC’s and operate in antistatic conditions. Fault finding and diagnostic techniques through hands on and remote access are also covered.
If you feel it appropriate to add Network+ to your A+ course, you’ll additionally be equipped to look after networks, allowing you to move further up the career path.
One of the most important things to insist on has to be proper direct-access 24×7 support from 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).
You’ll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and phone support is often to a call-centre that will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor – who will call back over the next day or so (assuming you’re there), when it’s convenient to them. This isn’t a lot of good if you’re stuck with a particular problem and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.
Keep your eyes open for colleges that utilise many support facilities from around the world. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to provide a single interface and also access round-the-clock, when you need it, with the minimum of hassle.
Unless you insist on online 24×7 support, you’ll end up kicking yourself. You might not want to use the service late in the night, but you may need weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.
A typical blunder that students everywhere can make is to concentrate on the course itself, instead of focusing on where they want to get to. Universities are stacked to the hilt with direction-less students that chose an ‘interesting’ course – rather than what would get them their end-goal of a job they enjoyed.
Students often train for a single year but end up doing a job for a lifetime. Don’t make the error of choosing what sounds like an ‘interesting’ course and then spend decades in a job you don’t like!
Stay focused on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and create a learning-plan from that – not the other way round. Keep your eyes on your goals – making sure you’re training for a career that’ll reward you for many long and fruitful years.
Have a conversation with a professional advisor that has a commercial understanding of the realities faced in the industry, and is able to give you detailed descriptions of what you actually do in that role. Researching these areas before commencement of any training program has obvious benefits.
A sneaky way that course providers make extra profits is via an ‘exam inclusive’ package and offering an exam guarantee. It looks like a good deal, until you think it through:
You’ll pay for it ultimately. It certainly isn’t free – they’ve just worked it into the package price.
It’s well known in the industry that if a student pays for each examination, at the time of taking them, there’s a much better chance they’ll pass first time – since they are conscious of their payment and so will prepare more thoroughly.
Why pay a training company early for examinations? Go for the best offer when you take the exam, instead of paying a premium – and take it closer to home – rather than in some remote place.
A great deal of money is netted by a significant number of organisations who get money for exam fees in advance. For quite legitimate reasons, a number of students don’t get to do their exams but the company keeps the money. Believe it or not, providers exist who actually bank on it – as that’s very profitable for them.
Additionally, many exam guarantees are worthless. Many training companies won’t pay for you to re-take until you have demonstrated conclusively that you won’t fail again.
On average, exams cost approximately 112 pounds in the last 12 months through UK VUE or Prometric centres. So don’t be talked into shelling out hundreds or thousands of pounds more to have ‘an Exam Guarantee’, when it’s obvious that the most successful method is consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software.
A top of the range training course package should have accredited exam preparation systems.
Ensure that the exams you practice are not just posing the correct questions in the right areas, but ask them in the way the real exams will ask them. This really messes up trainees if they’re faced with unrecognisable phrases and formats.
Ensure that you test whether you’re learning enough by doing quizzes and practice in simulated exam environments to prepare you for taking the real deal.
Copyright Scott Edwards. Try Career Retraining Courses or Job Qualifications.