IT courses: A+

Top_Banana_2

Thanks for the replies.

I'm too old to do an apprenticeship- I'm 27. At my age, I doubt anyone would take me on as a trainee as well.......?

The A+ is taught at the local uni', so it's not one of these 'con jobs' you hear so much about. If I did it, I'd follow it up with the MCDST and/or the N+ or CCNA.

I'm currently working in a stable job, but I've been applying for IT entry-level jobs, but I've had no luck.

I don't want to pay for the A+ (etc) only to find I'm in the same boat as I am now.

The thing that is bugging me is that I've seen the A+ advertised by other training providers, such as ICS, and they say it takes 6-9 months to complete, yet the uni' can get me through it on 2 weeks? Odd!

Would I be better off with a HNC/D? The local college does the HND and they also incorporate the various certifications in the course.

gaz_jones

I would suggest having a look on measureup. They have some sample exam questions etc on there.... Work your way through their material. If you enjoy learning about it carry on. If you get bored straight away you know IT isn't for you.

MCDST is a good starting level qualification and is taken seriously by employers as it takes a lot of studying to pass. Then maybe you could move on to MCSE etc..... I would maybe not go for the uni 'fast pass' course and be more inclined to go for the 6-9 months courses. You will DEFINITELY learn more in the 6 month course than the 2 week course.


Definitely let us know how it goes

poker_face

Top_Banana wrote: »

I'm currently working in a stable job, but I've been applying for IT entry-level jobs, but I've had no luck.

I don't want to pay for the A+ (etc) only to find I'm in the same boat as I am now.
.

I can imagine that even experienced IT people are applying for entry level jobs at the moment just to get work

piggeh

The A+ also counts slightly towards an MCSE anyway doesnt it? So if your long term plan is to do an mcse then it would have an added advantage.

I'm a programmer, so it's a different part of the sector, but I had a look at their sample exams as was pretty shocked.
Of the 10 questions on the first exam, 5 are utter common sense, 1 was asking about classful networks (which were abandoned in 1993), 1 should be answered "It depends", and 3 were pointless geekiness (I'm geeky enough to know the answers, but that's not actually an advantage in the real world). The test is multiple choice and the pass mark is 60%.
If somebody put that on their CV, I'd bin it.

Comptia course teaches you about ALL network types and all different architectures, including those older types that are generally obselete. It is so you have the knowledge for any system you come across to readily identify what you're dealing with. You have to know how many pins on different CPUs, who made chips for socket 7 etc (or designed them, eg Cyrix ). A lot of it you wouldnt ever use, but I can see why they teach it to a degree.

barnaby-bear

Top_Banana wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

I'm too old to do an apprenticeship- I'm 27. At my age, I doubt anyone would take me on as a trainee as well.......?

The A+ is taught at the local uni', so it's not one of these 'con jobs' you hear so much about. If I did it, I'd follow it up with the MCDST and/or the N+ or CCNA.

I'm currently working in a stable job, but I've been applying for IT entry-level jobs, but I've had no luck.

I don't want to pay for the A+ (etc) only to find I'm in the same boat as I am now.

The thing that is bugging me is that I've seen the A+ advertised by other training providers, such as ICS, and they say it takes 6-9 months to complete, yet the uni' can get me through it on 2 weeks? Odd!

Would I be better off with a HNC/D? The local college does the HND and they also incorporate the various certifications in the course.

http://www3.open.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/computing-and-ict/index.htm#product-where-to-start
I'd take something like this quite seriously as it's a known educational provider.