Looking At CompTIA Certification Training

We need to make this very clear: It's essential to obtain proper 24x7 round-the-clock instructor and mentor support. You'll severely regret it if you don't. Many only provide email support (too slow), and so-called telephone support is normally just routed to a call-centre which will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team - who'll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, at a time suitable for them. This is no use if you're sitting there confused over an issue and only have certain times available in which to do your studies.

Keep your eyes open for IT training programs that have multiple support offices from around the world. Every one of them needs to be seamlessly combined to provide a single interface and round-the-clock access, when it suits you, without any problems. If you accept anything less than 24x7 support, you'll quickly find yourself regretting it. It may be that you don't use it during late nights, but you're bound to use weekends, evenings and early mornings at some point.

Consider the points below and pay great regard to them if you're inclined to think that old marketing ploy of an 'Exam Guarantee' sounds great value:

In this day and age, we're a little bit more aware of sales ploys - and most of us realise that of course it is actually an additional cost to us (it isn't free or out of the goodness of their hearts!) Qualifying on the first 'go' is what everyone wants to do. Going for exams one at a time and funding them as you go has a marked effect on pass-rates - you put the effort in and are conscious of what you've spent.

Why should you pay a training company in advance for exam fees? Find the best deal you can when you take the exam, rather than coughing up months or even a year or two in advance - and take it closer to home - not at somewhere of their bidding. A lot of extra profit is made by many companies that get money for exam fees in advance. For various reasons, many students don't take their exams but the company keeps the money. Surprising as it sounds, there are companies around that rely on that fact - as that's how they make a lot of their profit. It's worth noting, with most 'Exam Guarantees' - they control when and how often you are allowed to do a re-take. They'll only allow a re-take once completely satisfied.

Exams taken at local centres are approximately 112 pounds in Britain at the time of writing. Students should be very wary of forking out hundreds of pounds extra in 'Exam Guarantee' fees (most often hidden in the package) - when the best course materials, the right level of support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.

It's usual for students to get confused with one area of their training which doesn't even occur to them: The method used to 'segment' the courseware before being couriered to your address. You may think that it makes sense (with training often lasting 2 or 3 years to achieve full certification,) for a training company to release one section at a time, until you've passed all the exams. But: What if for some reason you don't get to the end of every single section? What if you don't find their order of learning is ideal for you? Due to no fault of yours, you might take a little longer and consequently not get all your materials.

To be honest, the perfect answer is to get an idea of what they recommend as an ideal study order, but get all the study materials at the start. Everything is then in your possession in case you don't finish as fast as they'd like.

The sometimes daunting task of landing your first IT job is often eased by some training providers because they offer a Job Placement Assistance facility. In reality it's not as hard as some people make out to get the right work - as long as you've got the necessary skills and qualifications; the shortage of IT personnel in Britain looks after that.

Help and assistance with preparing a CV and getting interviews should be offered (if not, see one of our sites for help). Ensure you polish up your CV immediately - don't leave it till you pass the exams! Various junior support roles have been bagged by trainees who're still on their course and have still to get qualified. At the very least this will get your CV into the 'possible' pile and not the 'no' pile.

If you'd like to get employment in your home town, then you'll probably find that an independent and specialised local employment service could be more appropriate than the trainer's recruitment division, as they're going to have insider knowledge of what's available near you.

A good number of men and women, so it seems, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and just give up when it comes to finding a job.

Sell yourself... Do your best to get in front of employers. A job isn't just going to bump into you.

See Our Other Squidoo Lens CompTIA Networking Courses