Four separate areas of study make up a full CompTIA A+; you're thought of as an achiever in A+ once you've passed your exams for just two specialist areas. For this reason, the majority of training establishments only teach 2 specialised areas. You'll find that you will need the teaching in all areas as many positions will demand an understanding of the whole A+ program. It isn't necessary to complete all 4 certifications, however we'd advise that you take tutorials in all 4 subjects.

Passing the A+ exam without additional courses will set you up to fix and repair stand-alone PC's and MAC's; principally ones that aren't joined to a network - essentially the domestic or small business sector. Should you be thinking of being responsible for networks of computers, add the excellent CompTIA Network+ to your training package. Taking this course as well will prepare you to apply for more interesting jobs. Also look at the Microsoft networking qualifications (MCP, MCSA and MCSE).

We need to make this very clear: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 support from professional instructors. Later, you'll kick yourself if you don't follow this rule rigidly. Email support is too slow, and phone support is often to a call-centre that will take the information and email an instructor - who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, at a suitable time to them. This is all next to useless if you're stuck and can't continue and have a one hour time-slot in which to study.

World-class organisations provide an online access round-the-clock service pulling in several support offices across the globe. You'll have an easy to use environment which seamlessly accesses whichever office is appropriate any time of the day or night: Support on demand. Always pick a company that gives this level of learning support. Only true 24x7 round-the-clock live support provides the necessary backup.

Far too many companies focus completely on the certification process, and avoid focusing on what it's all actually about - which is of course employment. Always start with the end in mind - don't make the vehicle more important than the destination. It's unfortunate, but a great many students kick-off study that often sounds spectacular from the sales literature, but which provides a job that doesn't satisfy. Talk to many college students to see what we mean.

You also need to know what your attitude is towards career development, earning potential, and how ambitious you are. It makes sense to understand what industry expects from you, what accreditations are needed and how to develop your experience. We advise all students to speak to an experienced professional before following a particular study program. This is required to ensure it contains the relevant skills for that career path.

We'd hazard a guess that you're quite practically minded - the 'hands-on' person. Typically, the trial of reading reference books and manuals can be just about bared when essential, but you'd hate it. You should use video and multimedia based materials if learning from books is not your thing. Our ability to remember is increased when all our senses are brought into the mix - learning experts have been saying this for years now.

Start a study-program in which you're provided with an array of CD and DVD ROM's - you'll be learning from instructor videos and demo's, and be able to practice your skills in interactive lab's. Every company that you look at must be pushed to demo a few examples of their training materials. You should hope for instructor-led videos and a variety of interactive modules.

It is generally unwise to opt for on-line only training. Because of the variable quality and reliability of all internet service providers, you should always obtain disc based courseware (On CD or DVD).

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