There are four A+ exams and specialised sectors, but you’re just expected to achieve certification in two to be thought of as qualified. Because of this, a great number of colleges restrict their course to just 2 areas. But giving you all four options will provide you with a far greater perspective of the subject, which you’ll come to realise is essential in professional employment.

Qualifying in CompTIA A+ without additional courses will mean that you’re able to repair and fix stand-alone PC’s and MAC’s; ones that are generally not connected to a network – which means the home or small business market.

If you add Network+ training to your A+, you’ll also learn how to take care of networks, giving you the facility to expect a better remuneration package.

One crafty way that course providers make a big mark-up is by charging for exams up-front and presenting it as a guarantee for your exams. This looks like a great idea for the student, until you think it through:

Everybody’s aware that they’re ultimately paying for it – obviously it has already in the overall price charged by the college. It’s certainly not free – and it’s insulting that we’re supposed to think it is!

Students who go in for their examinations when it’s appropriate, funding them as they go are much more likely to pass. They are aware of what they’ve paid and revise more thoroughly to make sure they’re ready.

Do your exams as locally as possible and don’t pay up-front, but seek out the best deal for you when you’re ready.

A lot of current training course providers make huge amounts of money through getting in the money for exam fees early then hoping you won’t see them all through.

Don’t forget, with ‘Exam Guarantees’ from most places – they control when and how often you can re-take the exam. Subsequent exam attempts are only authorised at the company’s say so.

VUE and Prometric examinations are in the region of 112 pounds in Great Britain. Why spend so much more on fees for ‘exam guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when good quality study materials, the proper support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

The somewhat scary thought of finding your first job is often eased by some training providers because they offer a Job Placement Assistance service. With the huge skills shortage in the UK right now, it’s not too important to get too caught up in this feature though. It isn’t so complicated as you might think to secure your first job as long as you’re correctly trained and certified.

You would ideally have advice and support about your CV and interviews though; and we’d recommend everyone to work on polishing up their CV the day they start training – don’t procrastinate and leave it until you’ve graduated or passed any exams.

Getting your CV considered is more than not being known. A surprising amount of junior jobs are got by trainees (sometimes when they’ve only just got going.)

You can usually expect quicker service from a local IT focused recruitment consultant or service than any training course provider’s national service, as they’ll know the area better.

In a nutshell, if you put as much hard work into securing your first job as into studying, you’re not likely to experience problems. Some people strangely put hundreds of hours into their learning program and just give up once qualified and seem to expect employers to find them.

Student support is absolutely essential – locate a good company offering 24×7 direct access to instructors, as anything less will not satisfy and will also hamper your progress.

Don’t accept certification programs which can only support students with a call-centre messaging system when it’s outside of usual working hours. Companies will defend this with all kinds of excuses. Essentially – you need support when you need support – not when it’s convenient for them.

Keep your eyes open for colleges that utilise many support facilities across multiple time-zones. Each one should be integrated to enable simple one-stop access together with 24 hours-a-day access, when it’s convenient for you, with no fuss.

Find an educator that cares. Because only live 24×7 support truly delivers for technical programs.

We’re regularly asked to explain why traditional academic studies are now falling behind more commercial certificates?

Industry now recognises that to learn the appropriate commercial skills, official accreditation supplied for example by CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA often is more effective in the commercial field – for considerably less.

In essence, students are simply taught the necessary specifics in depth. Actually, it’s not quite as pared down as that, but the principle objective is to concentrate on the fundamentally important skill-sets (with some necessary background) – without trying to cram in every other area (as academia often does).

The bottom line is: Authorised IT qualifications tell an employer precisely what skills you have – everything they need to know is in the title: for example, I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Managing and Maintaining Windows Server 2003′. Consequently companies can look at their needs and what certifications are needed for the job.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Browse around HTML Programming or Website Design Course.