Training for your CompTIA A+ has four specialist sections – you’ll have to qualify in just two sectors to be competent in A+. This is why, most colleges restrict their A+ to just two of the 4 sectors. We think this is too much of a compromise – certainly you’ll have the qualification, but training on all 4 will give you greater confidence in your working life, where gaps in your knowledge will expose weaknesses. That’s the reason why you deserve training in everything.

Alongside being taught how to build and fix computers, trainees involved in this training will have instruction on how to work in antistatic conditions, along with remote access, fault finding and diagnostics.

You may also want to think about doing Network+ as it will enable you to work with networks, which means greater employment benefits.

Be on the lookout that any qualifications you’re considering doing are recognised by industry and are bang up to date. ‘In-house’ exams and the certificates they come with are generally useless.

To an employer, only the top companies such as Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco (for instance) will get you short-listed. Nothing else will cut the mustard.

Talk to a professional consultant and we’d be amazed if they couldn’t provide you with many horror stories of students who’ve been conned by dodgy salespeople. Make sure you deal with a skilled professional who asks lots of questions to uncover the best thing for you – not for their paycheque! You need to find the very best place to start for you.

With some live experience or some accreditation, your starting-point of learning is different from a beginner.

If this is going to be your first effort at studying for an IT examination then you may want to begin with some basic Microsoft package and Windows skills first.

Starting from the viewpoint that it makes sense to find the job we want to do first and foremost, before we can consider which training program meets that requirement, how do we know the correct route?

Consequently, without any know-how of the IT market, how are you equipped to know what some particular IT person spends their day doing? How can you possibly choose what training route would be most appropriate for your success.

Generally, the way to deal with this quandary properly lies in a deep talk over some important points:

* Personality factors as well as your interests – what work-oriented areas please or frustrate you.

* What sort of time-frame do you want for the training process?

* What salary and timescale requirements that are important to you?

* Because there are so many ways to train in computing – you’ll need to get a solid grounding on what differentiates them.

* The time and energy you will spend on getting qualified.

The bottom line is, the best way of understanding everything necessary is by means of a meeting with someone that knows the industry well enough to give you the information required.

Including exams upfront and offering an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is common for a good many training companies. Consider the facts:

Everyone knows they’re still paying for it – it’s quite obvious to see that it’s already in the full cost of the package supplied by the training company. It’s definitely not free – and it’s insulting that we’re supposed to think it is!

We all want to pass first time. Entering examinations in order and paying as you go puts you in a much stronger position to qualify at the first attempt – you revise thoroughly and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.

Why should you pay your training course provider at the start of the course for exam fees? Find the best deal you can at the time, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance – and do it in a local testing centre – rather than possibly hours away from your area.

Buying a course that includes payments for examination fees (plus interest – if you’re financing your study) is bad financial management. Why fill a company’s coffers with your money just to give them a good cash-flow! Some will be pinning their hopes on the fact that you will never make it to exams – then they’ll keep the extra money.

You should fully understand that re-takes through organisations who offer an ‘Exam Guarantee’ inevitably are heavily regulated. They will insist that you take pre-tests first so you can prove to them you have a good chance of passing.

With the average price of Pro-metric and VUE tests in the United Kingdom costing around 112 pounds, it makes sense to pay as you go. There’s no sense in throwing away maybe a thousand pounds extra at the start of your studies. Consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Pop over to A+ Course or learninglolly.com/IT_Certification.html.