CompTIA IT Career Courses UK – Thoughts

Network and PC support staff are more and more in demand in this country, as companies are becoming more reliant on their technical advice and capacity to solve problems. Due to the progressively complex nature of technology, more and more qualified workers are being looked for to run the various different areas we’ve become dependent on.

We’re regularly asked to explain why traditional academic studies are being overtaken by more commercial certificates? Corporate based study (to use industry-speak) is far more effective and specialised. Industry has acknowledged that this level of specialised understanding is essential to cope with an acceleratingly technical workplace. Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA dominate in this arena. Obviously, an appropriate degree of background detail must be taught, but focused specialisation in the areas needed gives a vendor educated person a massive advantage.

Just as the old advertisement said: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. All an employer has to do is know what they’re looking for, and then advertise for someone with the specific certification. They’ll know then that all applicants can do what they need.

A fatal Faux-Pas that potential students often succumb to is to concentrate on the course itself, and take their eye off the end result they want to achieve. Universities have thousands of students that chose a program because it looked interesting – in place of something that could gain them the career they desired. It’s quite usual, in many cases, to get a great deal of enjoyment from a year of study only to end up putting 20 long years into a tiresome job role, as a consequence of not performing the correct research when it was needed – at the start.

Stay tuned-in to what it is you’re trying to achieve, and formulate your training based on that – avoid getting them back-to-front. Stay on target and begin studying for something that’ll reward you for many long and fruitful years. Always seek guidance and advice from an experienced professional, even if there’s a fee involved – as it’s a lot cheaper and safer to find out at the beginning if you’ve chosen correctly, rather than find out after 2 years that the job you’ve chosen is not for you and have wasted years of effort.

Usually, your average trainee doesn’t know in what direction to head in the IT industry, or even which area they should be considering getting trained in. Working through a list of odd-sounding and meaningless job titles is no use whatsoever. Most of us have no concept what our next-door neighbours do at work each day – let alone understand the intricacies of a new IT role. To work through this, we need to discuss a variety of core topics:

* Our personalities play an important part – what gets you ‘up and running’, and what are the areas that get you down.

* Is it your desire to realise an important aim – for instance, being your own boss someday?

* What scale of importance is the salary – is it of prime importance, or is day-to-day enjoyment a lot higher on the priority-scale?

* Often, trainees don’t consider the work required to achieve their goals.

* You will need to appreciate the differences between each area of training.

To be honest, the only way to research these matters will be via a meeting with an experienced advisor that has years of experience in the IT industry (and more importantly the commercial needs and requirements.)

It’s not uncommon for companies to offer inclusive exam guarantees – inevitably that means paying for the exams when you pay for the rest of your course. Before you jump at the chance of a guarantee, look at the following:

Of course it’s not free – you’re still paying for it – it’s just been wrapped up in the price of the package. Should you seriously need to pass first time, you must pay for one exam at a time, give it the necessary attention and apply yourself as required.

Go for the best offer you can find when you take the exam, and keep hold of your own money. You’ll then be able to select where you take your exam – meaning you can choose a local testing centre. Considerable numbers of current training providers secure a great deal of profit through charging for exam fees early then banking on the fact that many won’t be taken. It’s also worth noting that many exam guarantees are worthless. The majority of organisations won’t pay again for an exam until you can prove to them you’re ready to pass.

VUE and Prometric examinations are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in Britain at the time of writing. Students should be very wary of forking out hundreds of pounds extra in fees for ‘exam guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when good quality study materials, the proper support and consistent and systematic learning, coupled with quality exam simulation software is what will really see you through.

(C) Jason Kendall. Pop to LearningLolly.com for quality career advice on Comptia Networking Courses and IT Course.