CompTIA A+ consists of 4 training sections; you’re considered an achiever in A+ when you’ve gained exams for half of them. For this reason, most colleges only have two of the courses on their syllabus. The truth is you’re advised to have the training for all four areas as a lot of employment will be looking for the skills and knowledge of the entire course. It’s not essential to take all four exams, but we would recommend you study for all four areas.

Qualifying in CompTIA A+ without additional courses will allow you to fix and maintain stand-alone PC’s and MAC’s; principally ones that aren’t joined to a network – essentially the domestic or small business sector.

It could be a good idea to think about supplementing the A+ with Network + as it will enable you to look after networks of computers, which means greater employment benefits.

Many training companies will provide a useful Job Placement Assistance program, to assist your search for your first position. With the growing demand for appropriately skilled people in Great Britain right now, it’s not too important to make too much of this option though. It’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to find the right work once you’re properly qualified.

Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews should be offered (alternatively, check out one of our sites for help). Make sure you bring your CV right up to date straight away – not when you’re ready to start work!

It’s not uncommon to find that junior support jobs have been bagged by students who’re still on their course and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. This will at least get you on your way.

Generally, a local IT focused recruitment consultancy (who will get paid commission to place you) will perform better than any sector of a centralised training facility. They should, of course, also be familiar with the area and local employers better.

Do ensure you don’t invest a great deal of time on your training course, just to give up and expect somebody else to find you a job. Stand up for yourself and get on with the job. Channel the same focus into securing your new role as it took to get qualified.

A question; why is it better to gain commercially accredited qualifications rather than the usual academic qualifications taught at the state educational establishments?

With university education costs spiralling out of control, alongside the IT sector’s recognition that corporate based study most often has much more commercial relevance, we’ve seen a big surge in CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA accredited training courses that create knowledgeable employees at a fraction of the cost and time involved.

In essence, only that which is required is learned. It’s slightly more broad than that, but the most important function is always to focus on the exact skills required (including a degree of required background) – without going into too much detail in everything else – in the way that academic establishments often do.

Just as the old advertisement said: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. Companies need only to know where they have gaps, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. Then they’re assured that a potential employee can do exactly what’s required.

For the most part, a everyday trainee doesn’t have a clue how they should get into a computing career, let alone which market they should look at getting trained in.

How likely is it for us to understand the tasks faced daily in an IT career when we’ve never done it? Maybe we don’t know someone who is in that area at all.

Arriving at any kind of right answer only comes via a methodical examination of several changing areas:

* Personalities play a starring part – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the areas that put a frown on your face.

* For what reasons you’re moving into IT – maybe you want to triumph over a long-held goal such as working for yourself maybe.

* Any personal or home requirements you have?

* Because there are so many markets to choose from in computing – you will have to achieve some background information on what separates them.

* How much effort you’ll have available to put into the training program.

To be honest, your only option to investigate these matters is through a chat with an advisor or professional that understands Information Technology (as well as it’s commercial needs.)

It’s so important to understand this key point: You have to get round-the-clock 24×7 support from professional instructors. You’ll severely regret it if you don’t.

Don’t accept training courses that only support you with an out-sourced call-centre message system after 6-9pm in the evening and during weekends. Companies will defend this with all kinds of excuses. Essentially – you want to be supported when you need the help – not when it’s convenient for them.

Top training providers opt for an internet-based 24×7 service utilising a variety of support centres over many time-zones. You’ll have a single, easy-to-use interface which seamlessly selects the best facility available any time of the day or night: Support available as-and-when you want it.

Always choose a trainer that offers this level of study support. Only true round-the-clock 24×7 support gives you the confidence to make it.

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