My Noogee

Four specialist training areas feature in the complete CompTIA A+ course, of which 2 passes are needed to gain A+ competency. We would advise however that restricting yourself to two out of the 4 subjects available might well not equip you for a job. Look for training that covers all the specialist areas – for greater confidence in the world of work.

Once on the CompTIA A+, you will develop an understanding of how to build, fix, repair and work 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 assist with or manage networks of computers, giving you the facility to expect a better remuneration package.

The area most overlooked by new students considering a training program is the concept of ‘training segmentation’. Essentially, this is the breakdown of the materials for timed release to you, which vastly changes how you end up.

Typically, you will purchase a course requiring 1-3 years study and get sent one module each time you pass an exam. It seems to make sense on one level, but consider these issues:

Maybe the order of study insisted on by the company won’t suit you. And what if you don’t finish all the sections inside their defined time-scales?

To be in the best situation you would have all your study materials couriered to your address right at the beginning; the complete package! Thus avoiding any future problems that could impede your capability of finishing.

It only makes sense to consider training courses which will move onto industry recognised certifications. There are way too many small colleges offering unknown ‘in-house’ certificates which will prove unusable in today’s commercial market.

If the accreditation doesn’t feature a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe or CompTIA, then you’ll probably find it will be commercially useless – because it won’t give an employer any directly-useable skills.

The age-old way of teaching, involving piles of reference textbooks, can be pretty hard going sometimes. If you’re nodding as you read this, dig around for more practical courses that are multimedia based.

Memory is vastly improved when we use multiple senses – educational experts have expounded on this for decades now.

Programs are now found in disc format, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Using video-streaming, you can sit back and watch the teachers showing you precisely how to perform the required skill, with some practice time to follow – with interactive lab sessions.

You’ll definitely want a demonstration of the study materials from any training college. You’ll want to see instructor videos, demonstrations, slide-shows and lab’s for you to practice your skills in.

Often, companies will only use training that is purely available online; and although this is okay the majority of the time, think what will happen if internet access is lost or you get slow speeds and down-time etc. It’s much safer to rely on physical CD or DVD discs that will solve that problem.

Wouldn’t it be great to know for sure that our jobs are safe and the future is protected, however, the truth for the majority of jobs throughout Great Britain currently appears to be that there is no security anymore.

Security can now only exist through a fast growing market, pushed forward by a lack of trained workers. It’s this alone that creates the correct setting for market-security – definitely a more pleasing situation.

Reviewing the Information Technology (IT) market, the 2006 e-Skills study highlighted a twenty six percent skills deficit. Therefore, out of each 4 positions in existence in Information Technology (IT), companies can only source enough qualified individuals for 3 of the 4.

Highly taught and commercially grounded new workers are as a result at a resounding premium, and in all likelihood it will stay that way for many years longer.

Surely, this really is such a perfect time to train for IT.

(C) Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to www.comptia-a-training.co.uk or Comptia Certification.