CompTIA A Plus Retraining Courses - News
Posted by
patrick
Computer training for CompTIA A+ covers four specialised areas - you'll need exam certification in two of these areas to be competent in A+. This is why, the majority of colleges simply provide 2 of the four in the syllabus. Our opinion is this is selling you short - sure, you can pass an exam, but knowing about the others will prepare you more fully for when you're in the workplace, where you'll need a more comprehensive understanding. So that's why you deserve training in everything.
Passing the A+ exam on its own will give you the ability to mend and maintain computers and Macs; ones that are most often not part of a network - essentially the domestic or small business sector. If you would like to be a man or woman who is a member of a large organisation - supporting, fixing and maintaining networks, you'll need to add CompTIA Network+, or consider an MCSA or MCSE with Microsoft to give you a wider knowledge of how networks work.
Every program under consideration has to build towards a widely recognised accreditation at the finale - and not a worthless 'in-house' diploma - fit only for filing away and forgetting. From an employer's viewpoint, only the big-boys such as Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco (for example) will get you short-listed. Anything less just doesn't cut the mustard.
The old fashioned style of teaching, with books and manuals, is an up-hill struggle for the majority of us. If all this is ringing some familiar bells, find training programs which have a majority of interactive, multimedia parts. Many studies have proved that long term memory is improved when we use all our senses, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
Study programs now come in disc format, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Video streaming means you will be able to see the instructor presenting exactly how to do something, and then practice yourself - in an interactive lab. It makes sense to see examples of the courseware provided before you purchase a course. What you want are video tutorials, instructor demo's and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.
It's folly to opt for on-line only training. Because of the variable quality and reliability of the ISP (internet service provider) market, it makes sense to have physical media such as CD or DVD ROM's.
It's important to understand: the course itself or an accreditation isn't what this is about; a job that you want is. Far too many training organisations put too much weight in the piece of paper. Don't let yourself become one of those unfortunate students that choose a course which looks like it could be fun - and get to the final hurdle of an accreditation for a career they'll never really get any satisfaction from.
Take time to understand your leanings around career development, earning potential, and how ambitious you are. It makes sense to understand what will be expected of you, what particular exams are needed and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Have a chat with someone that understands the work you're contemplating, and who'll explain to you detailed descriptions of what you actually do in that role. Contemplating this well before you start on any learning path will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.
A key package of training will undoubtedly also include accredited exam simulation and preparation packages. As a lot of IT examining boards tend to be American, you'll need to be used to the correct phraseology. You can't practice properly by just going through the right questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing. Mock exams can be invaluable as a resource to you - so that when you come to take the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.
Quite often, students have issues with one area of their training very rarely considered: The way the training is divided into chunks and packaged off through the post. Many companies enrol you into some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and courier the materials in pieces as you get to the end of each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: What could you expect if you didn't actually complete every section at the proposed pace? And maybe you'll find their order of completion doesn't work as well as an alternative path could be.
Ideally, you want everything at the start - enabling you to have them all to return to any point - as and when you want. Variations can then be made to the order that you attack each section where a more intuitive path can be found.
Passing the A+ exam on its own will give you the ability to mend and maintain computers and Macs; ones that are most often not part of a network - essentially the domestic or small business sector. If you would like to be a man or woman who is a member of a large organisation - supporting, fixing and maintaining networks, you'll need to add CompTIA Network+, or consider an MCSA or MCSE with Microsoft to give you a wider knowledge of how networks work.
Every program under consideration has to build towards a widely recognised accreditation at the finale - and not a worthless 'in-house' diploma - fit only for filing away and forgetting. From an employer's viewpoint, only the big-boys such as Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco (for example) will get you short-listed. Anything less just doesn't cut the mustard.
The old fashioned style of teaching, with books and manuals, is an up-hill struggle for the majority of us. If all this is ringing some familiar bells, find training programs which have a majority of interactive, multimedia parts. Many studies have proved that long term memory is improved when we use all our senses, and we put into practice what we've been studying.
Study programs now come in disc format, where your computer becomes the centre of your learning. Video streaming means you will be able to see the instructor presenting exactly how to do something, and then practice yourself - in an interactive lab. It makes sense to see examples of the courseware provided before you purchase a course. What you want are video tutorials, instructor demo's and audio-visual elements backed up by interactive lab's.
It's folly to opt for on-line only training. Because of the variable quality and reliability of the ISP (internet service provider) market, it makes sense to have physical media such as CD or DVD ROM's.
It's important to understand: the course itself or an accreditation isn't what this is about; a job that you want is. Far too many training organisations put too much weight in the piece of paper. Don't let yourself become one of those unfortunate students that choose a course which looks like it could be fun - and get to the final hurdle of an accreditation for a career they'll never really get any satisfaction from.
Take time to understand your leanings around career development, earning potential, and how ambitious you are. It makes sense to understand what will be expected of you, what particular exams are needed and in what way you can develop commercial experience. Have a chat with someone that understands the work you're contemplating, and who'll explain to you detailed descriptions of what you actually do in that role. Contemplating this well before you start on any learning path will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.
A key package of training will undoubtedly also include accredited exam simulation and preparation packages. As a lot of IT examining boards tend to be American, you'll need to be used to the correct phraseology. You can't practice properly by just going through the right questions - they must be in an exam format that exactly replicates the real thing. Mock exams can be invaluable as a resource to you - so that when you come to take the real thing, you will be much more relaxed.
Quite often, students have issues with one area of their training very rarely considered: The way the training is divided into chunks and packaged off through the post. Many companies enrol you into some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and courier the materials in pieces as you get to the end of each exam. This sounds reasonable until you consider the following: What could you expect if you didn't actually complete every section at the proposed pace? And maybe you'll find their order of completion doesn't work as well as an alternative path could be.
Ideally, you want everything at the start - enabling you to have them all to return to any point - as and when you want. Variations can then be made to the order that you attack each section where a more intuitive path can be found.
About the Author:
(C) Jason Kendall. Pop over to LearningLolly.com for excellent advice on Comptia Certification and A+ Certification.
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