There are four specialist areas of training in a full CompTIA A+ program; you’re considered A+ competent once you’ve passed your exams for 2 out of 4 subjects. Because of this, most training providers only have two of the courses on their syllabus. In fact to carry out a job effectively, you’ll need the teaching in all areas as many positions will demand an understanding of the entire course. It’s not essential to pass exams in all of them, but we would recommend you study for all four areas.

As well as learning about the ins and outs of building and maintaining computers, trainees on A+ courses will learn how to operate in antistatic conditions, along with remote access, fault finding and diagnostics.

If your ambition is looking after computer networks, you’ll need to add Network+ to your A+ course. Taking this course as well will mean you can apply for more interesting jobs. You may also want to consider the Microsoft networking qualifications (MCP, MCSA and MCSE).

Speak with almost any skilled advisor and you’ll be surprised by their many worrying experiences of students who’ve been conned by dodgy salespeople. Make sure you deal with a skilled professional who asks some in-depth questions to uncover the best thing for you – not for their bank-account! Dig until you find a starting-point that will suit you.

Occasionally, the training inception point for someone experienced in some areas will be vastly different to the student with no experience.

If you’re a new trainee embarking on IT studies as a new venture, it can be useful to start out slowly, beginning with some basic PC skills training first. This can be built into any educational course.

How long has it been since you considered the security of your job? For most of us, we only think of this after something goes wrong. But in today’s marketplace, the reality is that our job security simply doesn’t exist anymore, for nearly everyone now.

We could however find security at market-level, by digging for areas that have high demand, tied with a lack of qualified workers.

The IT skills deficit throughout Great Britain falls in at around twenty six percent, as shown by the most recent e-Skills analysis. Alternatively, you could say, this reveals that the UK only has three qualified staff for each four job positions that exist today.

Properly qualified and commercially accredited new professionals are accordingly at an absolute premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for a long time.

Quite simply, seeking in-depth commercial IT training as you progress through the years to come is likely the finest choice of careers you could make.

One feature offered by some training providers is a programme of Job Placement assistance. The service is put in place to help you get your first commercial position. Often, too much is made of this feature, as it’s really not that difficult for any motivated and trained individual to land work in the IT industry – as there is such a shortage of skilled employees.

Whatever you do, avoid waiting until you have passed your final exams before getting your CV updated. As soon as your training commences, list what you’re working on and get it out there!

Being considered a ‘maybe’ is far better than not even being known about. A surprising amount of junior support roles are offered to students (sometimes when they’ve only just got going.)

Normally you’ll get better performance from a specialist independent regional employment service than you will through a training company’s centralised service, because they’ll know the local area and commercial needs better.

Not inconsiderable numbers of people, so it seems, spend evenings and weekends on their training and studies (for years sometimes), and just give up when it comes to looking for a job. Promote yourself… Work hard to get yourself known. A job isn’t just going to bump into you.

Each programme of learning really needs to work up to a properly recognised qualification as an end-goal – definitely not some ‘in-house’ diploma – fit only for filing away and forgetting.

All the major commercial players like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco all have globally approved proficiency programs. These heavyweights will give some sparkle to your CV.

(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Try APlusCertification4IT.co.uk or CLICK HERE.

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