Training for your CompTIA A+ covers four specialised areas – you’ll need exam certification in just two sectors to reach the level of A+ competent. For this reason, most training providers simply provide 2 of the training options. Our opinion is this is selling you short – of course you can gain accreditation, but knowing about the others will set you apart in the workplace, where you’ll need to know about all of them. So that’s why you require information in all four areas.

CompTIA A+ training programs cover fault-finding and diagnostics – via hands on and remote access, as well as learning to build, repair and fix and having knowledge of antistatic conditions.

If your ambition is being responsible for networks of computers, add the very comprehensive CompTIA Network+ to your A+ course. This qualification will mean you can apply for more interesting jobs. Other ones that might be interesting to you are the route to networking via Microsoft, in the form of MCP’s, MCSA or the full MCSE.

You’ll come across courses which guarantee examination passes – this always means exams have to be paid for upfront, at the start of your training. However, prior to embracing this so-called guarantee, look at the following:

You’ll pay for it by some means. You can be assured it’s not a freebie – it’s simply been shoe-horned into the price as a whole.

We all want to pass first time. Progressively working through your exams one at a time and paying for them just before taking them makes it far more likely you’ll pass first time – you take it seriously and are mindful of the investment you’ve made.

Does it really add up to pay the training college early for exam fees? Find the best deal you can when you take the exam, rather than pay marked up fees – and sit exams more locally – rather than in some remote place.

Paying in advance for examination fees (plus interest – if you’re financing your study) is a false economy. Resist being talked into filling the training company’s account with your money simply to help their cash-flow! Many will hope you won’t get to do them all – so they don’t need to pay for them.

Re-takes of any failed exams through training course providers who offer an ‘Exam Guarantee’ are monitored with tight restrictions. You’ll be required to sit pre-tests to make sure they think you’re going to pass.

Spending hundreds or even thousands extra on an ‘Exam Guarantee’ is foolish – when consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.

Commercially accredited qualifications are now, very visibly, already replacing the traditional routes into IT – but why has this come about?

Industry now recognises that to cover the necessary commercial skill-sets, official accreditation from the likes of Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe is far more effective and specialised – for much less time and money.

Essentially, only required knowledge is taught. It isn’t quite as lean as that might sound, but the most important function is always to focus on the exact skills required (along with a certain amount of crucial background) – without overdoing the detail in everything else (as degree courses are known to do).

What if you were an employer – and you required somebody who had very specific skills. What is easier: Pore through a mass of different academic qualifications from graduate applicants, asking for course details and which workplace skills they have, or choose a specific set of accreditations that precisely match your needs, and draw up from that who you want to speak to. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – rather than on the depth of their technical knowledge.

One feature that several companies offer is a Job Placement Assistance program. It’s intention is to help you find your first job in the industry. At the end of the day it’s not as hard as some people make out to land a job – assuming you’re well trained and qualified; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however (advice and support for this should come from your course provider). Don’t put it off until you’ve graduated or passed any exams.

You might not even have taken your exams when you will be offered your first junior support job; yet this isn’t going to happen unless your CV is with employers.

The top companies to help you find a job are normally local IT focused employment agencies. As they’re keen to place you to receive their commission, they’ll work that much harder to get a result.

Just be sure that you don’t spend hundreds of hours on your training and studies, only to stop and expect somebody else to secure your first position. Get off your backside and get out there. Invest as much resource into securing your first job as it took to pass the exams.

Massive developments are coming via technology over the next generation – and the industry becomes more ground-breaking every year.

Computing technology and dialogue through the internet will noticeably change our lives in the future; remarkably so.

And it’s worth remembering that income in the IT sector across the UK is significantly more than average salaries nationally, so in general you’ll more than likely gain considerably more as an IT specialist, than you could reasonably hope to achieve elsewhere.

The requirement for appropriately qualified IT professionals is a fact of life for many years to come, due to the continuous development in IT dependency in commerce and the massive skills gap that remains.

(C) S. Edwards 2009. Pop to CLICK HERE or acertification.co.uk.

Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction

Widely considered one of the best practical guides to programming, Steve McConnell’s original CODE COMPLETE has been helping developers write better software for more than a decade. Now this classic book has been fully updated and revised with leading-edge practices—and hundreds of new code samples—illustrating the art and science of software construction. Capturing the body of knowledge available from research, academia, and everyday commercial practice, McConnell synthesizes the most effective techniques and must-know principles into clear, pragmatic guidance. No matter what your experience level, development environment, or project size, this book will inform and stimulate your thinking—and help you build the highest quality code.

Discover the timeless techniques and strategies that help you:

• Design for minimum complexity and maximum creativity
• Reap the benefits of collaborative development
• Apply defensive programming techniques to reduce and flush out errors
• Exploit opportunities to refactor—or evolve—code, and do it safely
• Use construction practices that are right-weight for your project
• Debug problems quickly and effectively
• Resolve critical construction issues early and correctly
• Build quality into the beginning, middle, and end of your project

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