CompTIA A+ computer training covers four specialised areas – you need to pass exams in 2 different areas to be considered competent in A+. This is why, most training providers only offer two of the four in the syllabus. To us, this is selling you short – of course you can gain accreditation, but knowing about the others will give you greater confidence in your working life, where you’ll need a more comprehensive understanding. That’s the reason why you should train in all 4 specialities.

Passing the A+ exam by itself will give you the ability to fix and maintain stand alone Macs, computers and laptops; ones that are most often not part of a network – this generally applies to home use and small companies.

If your ambition is taking care of computer networks, add the very comprehensive Network+ to your A+ course. This qualification will prepare you to get a higher paid position. You may also want to consider the networking qualifications from Microsoft, i.e. MCP, MCSA MCSE.

At the top of your shopping list for a training program should be full 24×7 support with trained professional instructors and mentors. Too many companies only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually).

Locate training schools where you can receive help at any time of day or night (no matter if it’s in the middle of the night on a weekend!) You’ll need direct-access to qualified mentors and tutors, and not a call-centre that will take messages so you’re constantly waiting for a call-back during office hours.

Keep looking and you’ll come across professional companies who give students direct-access online support all the time – including evenings, nights and weekends.

Never settle for less than you need and deserve. 24×7 support is the only viable option with IT training. Maybe burning the midnight-oil is not your thing; but for the majority of us however, we’re out at work while the support is live.

A so-called advisor who doesn’t ask you a lot of questions – it’s likely they’re actually nothing more than a salesman. If they’re pushing towards a particular product before understanding your background and experience, then it’s very likely to be the case.

Often, the starting point of study for a student with a little experience is vastly dissimilar to the student with no experience.

If you’re a student beginning IT exams and training anew, you might like to avoid jumping in at the deep-end, kicking off with a user-skills course first. Usually this is packaged with any educational course.

There are a glut of professional positions up for grabs in IT. Deciding which one could be right out of this complexity is generally problematic.

How likely is it for us to understand the many facets of a particular career when we’ve never done it? We normally don’t know someone who works in that sector anyway.

Ultimately, the right conclusion can only grow via a systematic analysis across many unique factors:

* The kind of person you reckon you are – what kind of jobs you really enjoy, and on the other side of the coin – what makes you unhappy.

* Are you driven to get qualified due to a specific motive – for example, is it your goal to work based from home (working for yourself?)?

* How highly do you rate salary – is it very important, or is enjoying your job a lot higher on the priority-scale?

* Learning what the main work types and sectors are – including what sets them apart.

* The level of commitment and effort you’re prepared to set aside for your training.

The bottom line is, the most intelligent way of checking this all out is via a good talk with an advisor or professional who has enough background to provide solid advice.

Be careful that the certifications that you’re considering are recognised by industry and are bang up to date. Training companies own certificates are often meaningless.

Only nationally recognised qualifications from the likes of Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe and Cisco will be useful to a future employer.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Try CLICK HERE or Career Qualifications.