There are four A+ exams and study sections, but you only need to get your exams in 2 of them to be considered A+ competent. As this is the case, a great number of colleges simply offer two. However, training you in all four will help you to build a far greater perspective of it all, something you’ll appreciate as an important asset in industry.

When you embark on the A+ computer training course you will develop an understanding of how to build computers and fix them, and work in antistatic conditions. You’ll also cover fault-finding and diagnostic techniques, both remotely and via direct access.

If you aspire to maintaining networks, add the very comprehensive CompTIA Network+ to your A+ course. Including Network+ will prepare you to apply for more interesting jobs. Other ones that might be interesting to you are the networking qualifications from Microsoft, i.e. MCP, MCSA MCSE.

Students often end up having issues because of one area of their training which is often not even considered: The way the training is divided into chunks and physically delivered to you.

Training companies will normally offer some sort of program spread over 1-3 years, and send out each piece as you complete each section or exam. Sounds reasonable? Well consider these facts:

Maybe the order of study offered by the provider doesn’t suit. What if you find it hard to complete all the elements within the time limits imposed?

Ideally, you want ALL the study materials up-front – so you’ll have them all for the future to come back to – at any time you choose. This allows a variation in the order that you complete your exams if another more intuitive route presents itself.

Doing your bit in progressive developments in new technology really is electrifying. Your actions are instrumental in impacting progress around the world.

It’s a common misapprehension that the technological revolution we have experienced is cooling down. Nothing could be further from the truth. Massive changes are on the horizon, and most especially the internet will be the biggest thing to affect the way we live.

And keep in mind that on average, the income of a person in the IT sector in Great Britain is a lot greater than the national average salary, which means you’ll most likely receive noticeably more as an IT specialist, than you’d expect to earn elsewhere.

Due to the technological sector developing year on year, it’s likely that demand for qualified professionals will continue actively for quite some time to come.

We’d all like to believe that our jobs will always be secure and our work futures are protected, but the growing reality for the majority of jobs around Great Britain currently is that there is no security anymore.

Wherever we find rising skills deficits mixed with increasing demand though, we can hit upon a new kind of market-security; driven by conditions of continuous growth, businesses are struggling to hire the staff required.

The IT skills-gap across the United Kingdom clocks in at just over 26 percent, according to the 2006 e-Skills investigation. Meaning that for every four jobs that are available around computing, there are barely three qualified workers to do them.

This one truth in itself underpins why the UK needs many more new trainees to join the Information Technology market.

It would be hard to imagine if a better time or market settings will exist for getting trained into this quickly expanding and blossoming business.

A service that several companies offer is a programme of Job Placement assistance. The service is put in place to help you get your first commercial position. However sometimes there is more emphasis than is necessary on this service, as it is actually not that hard for well qualified and focused men and women to find work in this industry – as there is such a shortage of trained staff.

Whatever you do, don’t wait till you have qualified before polishing up your CV. As soon as you start a course, mark down what you’re doing and place it on jobsites!

Many junior support jobs are offered to trainees who are still learning and haven’t even passed a single exam yet. At least this will get you into the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s – rather than the ‘No’ pile.

The most reliable organisations to help you find a job are generally specialised and independent recruitment consultants. Because they only get paid when they place you, they have the necessary incentive to try that bit harder.

A big frustration of many training course providers is how hard trainees are prepared to work to get top marks in their exams, but how un-prepared that student is to get the role they’ve studied for. Don’t falter at the last fence.

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These days, many workplaces couldn’t function properly if it weren’t for support workers fixing networks and computers, while advising users on a day to day basis. Because of the multifaceted levels of technology, growing numbers of trained staff are required to specialise in the various different areas we rely on.

A lot of training providers will only provide basic 9am till 6pm support (maybe a little earlier or later on certain days); not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.

You’ll be waiting ages for an answer with email based support, and phone support is often 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, when it suits them. This is not a lot of use if you’re stuck with a particular problem and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.

If you look properly, you’ll find the top providers which provide their students direct-access support 24×7 – even in the middle of the night.

If you accept anything less than support round-the-clock, you’ll end up kicking yourself. It may be that you don’t use it late at night, but you’re bound to use weekends, late evenings or early mornings.

It’s important to understand: the training program or a certification is not what you’re looking for; the particular job you’re training for is. Far too many training organisations put too much weight in the piece of paper.

Avoid becoming part of the group who choose a training program that sounds really ‘interesting’ and ‘fun’ – and end up with a certification for a career they’ll never really get any satisfaction from.

It’s essential to keep your focus on where you want to get to, and create a learning-plan from that – not the other way round. Stay focused on the end-goal – making sure you’re training for something you’ll still be enjoying many years from now.

We’d recommend you seek advice from a professional advisor before making your final decision on some particular study program, so there’s little doubt that the specific package will give the skill-set required for your career choice.

How can job security truly exist anymore? Here in the UK, where industry can change its mind whenever it suits, there doesn’t seem much chance.

In actuality, security now only emerges in a fast rising market, driven by a lack of trained workers. It’s this shortage that creates the right conditions for a secure marketplace – definitely a more pleasing situation.

The IT skills-gap in the United Kingdom is standing at approximately twenty six percent, according to the most recent e-Skills survey. That means for each four job positions existing across computing, we have only 3 certified professionals to fulfil that role.

Accomplishing proper commercial computing certification is consequently a fast-track to achieve a life-long and rewarding living.

In reality, acquiring professional IT skills as you progress through the next year or two is probably the greatest career choice you could ever make.

Sometimes men and women assume that the state educational system is still the most effective. So why are commercially accredited qualifications beginning to overtake it?

With a growing demand for specific technological expertise, industry has moved to the specialised core-skills learning only available through the vendors themselves – in other words companies such as Adobe, Microsoft, CISCO and CompTIA. This usually turns out to involve less time and financial outlay.

Academic courses, for example, become confusing because of a great deal of loosely associated study – with much too broad a syllabus. Students are then held back from understanding the specific essentials in enough depth.

Just as the old advertisement said: ‘It does what it says on the tin’. Employers simply need to know where they have gaps, and then match up the appropriate exam numbers as a requirement. They’ll know then that all applicants can do what they need.

(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Try Flash Training or CLICK HERE.

The salaries of Plumbers are often talked about in the national press. Within the UK, the figures of 30-70k p.a. are typical of Plumbers, mainly down to their low numbers. So, is this the truth of the matter, or are we being lied to? For an experienced Plumber, this amount of salary is both realistic and feasible. Those taking the more conventional ways to work will find it hard to reach the incomes of 70-100k p.a. that are sometimes achieved by the self-employed.

It is fairly usual to expect working hours of 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday with a reputable employer. Salaries of between 15k – 30k p.a. are easily achievable and will include typical benefits such as holiday pay and sickness allowance – what you’d generally expect from any UK employed status. However, if the self employed person is willing to work longer than the normal working hours then more money can be earned. This is especially the case where self-employed plumbers have opted to work in the domestic market, where their clients are at work during the day – requiring evening and weekend visits.

On a personal level remains the issue self-employment, something that does not become everybody. Finally there is good ‘business sense’, such as getting the hourly rate correct, advertising and marketing budgets spot on which are all important. Likewise self-employed people need to consider the implications of costs relating to materials and transport as well as legal and accountancy fees etc. Whilst it is expected that the benefits will be high, the costs can mount up though they should always remain a small part of the income overall. Certainly the downsides are virtually always beaten by the income!

Initially, by searching for standard work a Student Entrant can get the majority of training especially with working knowledge and experience. Alternatively, the Self Employed Entrant needs to quickly establish those certificates that they will rely on in industry. In fairness it is the ‘domestic’ market rather than the commercial sector that attracts the majority of the self-employed workers in the UK. (Whilst not everyone does the majority do!)

Considering the education in Plumbing, each path into the industry needs some match in the certification modules. The issue of NVQ’s (or SVQ’s in Scotland) nevertheless appears to cause some difference.

From the beginning the Student Entrant instead of the Self Employed Entrant is much more reliant upon the NVQ requirements. In order to meet their client’s expectations the Self Employed Entrant will often need to use a greater range of certifications. Certainly, it is the qualifications aimed at meeting the needs of the typical household-based client base that self-employed persons need to focus upon. Having covered off the key elements of training within the college, the Student Entrant usually then enters the apprenticeship stage within the workplace – where the NVQ element can be assessed. By using this cheaper form of study the Student Entrant can make sound financial savings from the outset. It is often by gaining certifications faster, by being motivated by a more commercial standpoint that the Self Employed Entrant will achieve considerable financial benefits before a Student Entrant.

This clearly demonstrates the need for talk about careers, covering the certification and study required along with the expected financial rewards. It would generate serious hardship, for example, for an adult requiring 20k p.a. (to provide for their family,) to go back to college and spend 3 years in low-paid apprenticeship work. Furthermore, many Student Entrants have their studies paid for them whereas the self-employed students fund the variety of course themselves. For self-employed people these costs are set by the course structure and the level of certification sought and can end up between 3k-10k+.

Student Entrants will in the main study at further-education colleges, the Self Employed student however has the option to consider the increased scope of private commercial colleges. Commercially oriented plumbing course companies will provide an established path of training which ultimately leads into recognised skill-sets and qualifications. Of a key opportunity is the ability to train out of hours – evening, part time and self study classes that allows Self Employed Entrants to continue training whilst continuing with their job and maintaining their financial situation. Considering so many options on hand it is clever to gather data from as many sources as one can. We have provided adverts and links from several to allow you to come back and review your options, so why not book mark this page (CTRL-D).

By going on added training programs many plumbing students seek to increase their ‘marketability’. Indeed it is through the added training provided that certification in areas such as Gas, Green Energy and Electrical can be gained. Forming part of the common domestic and commercial heating system, Plumbers have often opted for Gas Training.

Gas training in itself is a specific and rigorous training regime, with core subjects followed by an emphasis on NVQ’s. This considers ongoing development, especially for those who trained first as a plumber and are seeking extra skills. It could be said, from that viewpoint, that a hybrid of Plumbing/Gas training would be more suited to the mature student. By reducing the NVQ parts the Mature Student appears to be able to allow the focus on the core subjects.

From this, the self-employed professional appears to suit the variable training schemes. To earn money whilst at the same time as gaining a wider range of perceived skills becomes a desirable prospect. This further enhances their commercial offering, instead of sub-contracting key skills to a third party. Of equal concern is the lowering of customer value as they have to wait for essentials to be handled by others and the reduction of the overall earning potential that ensues from sub-contraction. To have a higher value within their client base a Plumber needs to consider their relative skill sets that they offer.

Finally, whilst the Student Entrant breaks into the industry more quickly the Self Employed Entrant has the opportunity for higher potential earnings, but to do so they need to develop a broader range of certifications and a higher level of business skill sets. Note: The above information is solely relative to the UK market, industry requirements and policies.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Hop over to Plumbing and Heating Courses or Click HERE.