The CompTIA A+ course has four specialist sections – you need to pass exams in 2 different areas to reach the level of competent in A+. For this reason, most training providers simply provide 2 of the training options. We consider that this isn’t enough – certainly you’ll have the qualification, but knowing about the others will give you a distinct advantage in the workplace, where you’ll need to know about all of them. So that’s why you deserve training in all four areas.

When you embark on the A+ computer training course you will develop an understanding of how to build computers and fix them, and work in antistatic conditions. You’ll also cover fault-finding and diagnostic techniques, both remotely and via direct access.

Were you to add Network+ training, you’ll also learn how to look after networks, giving you the facility to apply for more senior positions.

The way in which your courseware is broken down for you is usually ignored by most students. How is the courseware broken down? What is the order and do you have a say in when you’ll get each part?

Training companies will normally offer some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each section or exam. Sounds reasonable? Well consider these facts:

Students often discover that their training company’s usual training route isn’t ideal for them. It’s often the case that varying the order of study will be far more suitable. And what if you don’t get to the end in the allotted time?

Ideally, you want ALL the study materials up-front – so you’ll have them all for the future to come back to – at any time you choose. This allows a variation in the order that you complete your exams if another more intuitive route presents itself.

IT has become amongst the most stimulating and innovative industries that you can get into right now. To be working on the cutting-edge of technology is to be a part of the massive changes affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century.

Technology, computers and connections through the web will dramatically shape the way we live our lives in the near future; overwhelmingly so.

And keep in mind that on average, the income of a person in the IT sector in Great Britain is a lot greater than the national average salary, which means you’ll most likely receive noticeably more as an IT specialist, than you’d expect to earn elsewhere.

There is a substantial national demand for trained and qualified IT technicians. In addition, as growth in the industry shows little sign of contracting, it looks like this will be the case for a good while yet.

We’d all like to believe that our jobs will always be secure and our work futures are protected, but the growing reality for the majority of jobs around Great Britain currently is that there is no security anymore.

Wherever we find rising skills deficits mixed with increasing demand though, we can hit upon a new kind of market-security; driven by conditions of continuous growth, businesses are struggling to hire the staff required.

The IT skills-gap across the United Kingdom clocks in at just over 26 percent, according to the 2006 e-Skills investigation. Meaning that for every four jobs that are available around computing, there are barely three qualified workers to do them.

This one truth in itself underpins why the UK needs many more new trainees to join the Information Technology market.

As the Information Technology market is developing at such a rate, is there any other area of industry worth taking into account for your new career.

The perhaps intimidating chore of finding your first job can be made easier by training colleges, through a Job Placement Assistance programme. The fact of the matter is it isn’t so complicated as you might think to secure your first job – once you’re trained and certified; employers in this country need your skills.

Advice and support about getting interviews and your CV might be provided (if it isn’t, consult one of our sites). Ensure you update that dusty old CV right away – don’t leave it till you pass the exams!

You may not have got to the stage where you’ve qualified when you will get your initial junior support role; but this can’t and won’t happen unless you’ve posted your CV on job sites.

Actually, a local IT focused recruitment consultant or service – who make their money when they’ve found you a job – will be more pro-active than a division of a training company. It also stands to reason that they’ll know the area and local employers better.

Please ensure you don’t spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, and then do nothing more and expect somebody else to sort out your employment. Get off your backside and get out there. Put as much resource into finding your new role as it took to get qualified.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Hop over to Graphic Design Portfolio or Click HERE.