Choosing CompTIA Training in 2009
March 3, 2009 by Jason Kendall
Filed under Online Colleges
In total, there are 4 A+ examinations and areas of study, but you only need to achieve certification in two to be considered A+ competent. This is why many educational establishments restrict their course to just 2 areas. Yet learning about all 4 will help you to build a more confident perspective of your subject, which you’ll find vital in the commercial world.
Once on the A+ training course you’ll be taught how to work in antistatic conditions and build and fix computers. Fault finding and diagnostic techniques through hands on and remote access are also covered. Should you fancy yourself as the person who works in a multi-faceted environment – supporting, fixing and maintaining networks, you’ll need to add CompTIA Network+, or consider the Microsoft networking route (MCSA – MCSE) to give you a deeper understanding of how networks function.
Arriving at a sensible job option is very difficult – so where should we be looking and what kind of questions should we ask?
If an advisor doesn’t ask many questions – it’s more than likely they’re just a salesperson. If someone pushes specific products before learning about your history and current experience level, then you know it’s true. An important point to note is that, if you have some relevant accreditation or direct-experience, then you will often be able to start at a different point than someone who is new to the field. If you’re a new trainee embarking on IT studies for the first time, it’s often a good idea to avoid jumping in at the deep-end, beginning with some basic PC skills training first. This is often offered with most training packages.
Be careful that the accreditations you’re studying for will be commercially viable and are current. Training companies own certificates are usually worthless. Unless your qualification is issued by a big-hitter like Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe or Cisco, then chances are it will be commercially useless – as it’ll be an unknown commodity.
Trainees looking at this market can be very practical by nature, and won’t enjoy sitting at a desk in class, and slogging through piles of books. If you’re thinking this sounds like you, use multimedia, interactive learning, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Years of research and study has repeatedly demonstrated that an ‘involved’ approach to study, where we utilise all our senses, is far more likely to produce long-lasting memories.
Modern training can now be done at home via interactive discs. Through instructor-led video classes you’ll take everything in through their teaching and demonstrations. Then you test your knowledge by practicing and interacting with the software. It’s imperative to see examples of the study materials provided by any company that you may want to train through. It’s essential they incorporate video, demonstrations and various interactive elements.
It doesn’t make sense to opt for on-line only training. Connection quality and reliability varies hugely across most broadband providers, make sure you get actual CD or DVD ROM’s.
How the program is actually delivered to you isn’t always given the appropriate level of importance. In what way are your training elements sectioned? What is the order and how fast does each element come? Most companies will sell you a program typically taking 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each exam. On the surface this seems reasonable – until you consider the following: How would they react if you didn’t complete each section at the speed they required? Sometimes their preference of study order won’t be as easy as another different route may.
To provide the maximum security and flexibility, many trainees now want to make sure that every element of their training is posted to them in one go, with nothing held back. You can then decide at what speed and in which order you want to go.
We need to make this very clear: You absolutely must have proper 24×7 support from professional instructors. You’ll severely regret it if you don’t adhere to this. some companies only provide email support (slow), and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre which will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, at a time suitable for them. This is no use if you’re lost and confused and can only study at specific times.
The best trainers incorporate three or four individual support centres from around the world. An online system provides an interactive interface to provide a seamless experience, any time of the day or night, help is just seconds away, avoiding all the delays and problems. If you fail to get yourself support round-the-clock, you’ll regret it. You may not need it in the middle of the night, but you’re bound to use weekends, late evenings or early mornings.
One crafty way that course providers make more money is via an ‘exam inclusive’ package and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This looks like a great idea for the student, but is it really:
Clearly it isn’t free – you’re still footing the bill for it – it’s just been included in your package price. If you want to pass in one, then you should pay for each exam as you go, give it the necessary attention and be ready for the task.
Don’t pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you at the time, and save having to find the money early. You also get more choice of where you sit the exam – so you can choose somewhere closer to home. Huge profits are netted by many companies who take the exam money up-front. Many students don’t take them for one reason or another and so the company is quids-in. Astoundingly enough, there are training companies that actually rely on students not sitting all the exams – as that’s very profitable for them. You should fully understand that re-takes via training companies with an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are monitored with tight restrictions. They’ll insist that you take mock exams first till you’ve proven conclusively that you can pass.
With average Prometric and VUE tests in the United Kingdom costing around 112 pounds, by far the best option is to pay for them as you take them. Not to fork out thousands extra in up-front costs. Commitment, effort and practice with quality exam preparation systems are the factors that really get you through.
Let’s face it: There really is pretty much no individual job security available anymore; there’s only industry or business security – as any company can drop any single member of staff when it fits the business’ business needs. Security only exists now through a swiftly rising market, driven by work-skills shortages. This shortage creates the appropriate background for a secure marketplace – a more attractive situation all round.
Recently, a United Kingdom e-Skills survey highlighted that over 26 percent of computing and IT jobs are unfilled mainly due to a huge deficit of appropriately certified professionals. To put it another way, this highlights that Great Britain only has 3 certified professionals for each four job positions in existence today. Properly taught and commercially educated new employees are therefore at a total premium, and it looks like they will be for much longer. Undoubtedly, now really is a critical time to train for the IT industry.