CompTIA A Plus Networking Training Examined

There are a total of 4 specialist training sectors in the A+ syllabus, of which 2 passes are needed for your A+ qualification. Be aware though that limiting yourself to 2 of the specialised areas could expose flaws in your knowledge when applying for a job. Choose a course with all 4 subjects – employers will notice the difference.

CompTIA A+ without additional courses will set you up to fix and maintain computers and Macs; ones which are usually not part of a network – this generally applies to home use and small companies.

Should you want to work towards looking after computer networks, you should add Network+ to the CompTIA A+ training you’re doing. Including Network+ will put you in a position to get a higher paid position. Alternatively, you may prefer the Microsoft networking qualifications (MCP, MCSA and MCSE).

The age-old way of teaching, involving piles of reference textbooks, is usually pretty hard going. If all this is ringing some familiar bells, look for learning programmes that are on-screen and interactive.

If we’re able to get all of our senses involved in our learning, then the results are usually dramatically better.

You can now study via interactive discs. Through instructor-led video classes you’ll learn your subject through the demonstrations and explanations. Then you test your knowledge by interacting with the software and practicing yourself.

You really need to look at courseware examples from any company that you may want to train through. It’s essential they incorporate video demo’s and interactive elements such as practice lab’s.

Plump for actual CD or DVD ROM’s if possible. You can then avoid all the difficulties of broadband outages, failure and signal quality issues etc.

Validated exam preparation and simulation materials are vital – and really must be obtained from your course provider.

As the majority of examining boards for IT tend to be American, you’ll need to be used to the correct phraseology. It isn’t good enough just understanding random questions – they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing.

Ensure that you verify your knowledge through tests and simulated exams prior to taking the real thing.

An important area that is sometimes not even considered by trainees considering a training program is ‘training segmentation’. This is essentially how the program is broken down into parts to be delivered to you, which can make a dramatic difference to what you end up with.

Many companies enrol you into some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following:

What if you don’t finish each and every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Without any fault on your part, you may go a little slower and consequently not get all your materials.

Ideally, you’d get ALL the training materials right at the beginning – giving you them all for the future to come back to – at any time you choose. This also allows you to vary the order in which you move through the program if you find another route more intuitive.

Locating job security nowadays is problematic. Businesses will drop us from the workplace at the drop of a hat – whenever it suits.

Whereas a marketplace with high growth, with a constant demand for staff (as there is a massive shortfall of commercially certified workers), opens the possibility of true job security.

A recent national e-Skills survey showed that over 26 percent of all available IT positions cannot be filled due to a chronic shortage of appropriately certified professionals. Basically, we can’t properly place more than 3 out of each four job positions in IT.

Properly trained and commercially educated new employees are consequently at a total premium, and it seems it will continue to be so for a long time to come.

Actually, retraining in Information Technology throughout the next year or two is very likely the best choice of careers you could make.

(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Browse around Click HERE or Comptia Certification.