Wedding Review Blog

There are four specialised areas of training in the full CompTIA A+ syllabus, of which 2 passes are needed for your A+ qualification. However restricting yourself to two of the four specialities is likely to leave your knowledge base somewhat light. At least learn about all four – employers will notice the difference.

As well as learning how to build PC’s and fix them, students of A+ will learn how to operate in antistatic conditions, how to fault find, to diagnose and to remotely access problems.

If you would like to be the person who works in a multi-faceted environment – fixing and supporting networks, build on A+ with Network+, or consider the Microsoft networking route (MCSA – MCSE) as you’ll need a deeper understanding of how networks work.

Many trainers have a handy Job Placement Assistance program, designed to steer you into your first job. Often, too much is made of this feature, because it is actually not that hard for well qualified and focused men and women to find a job in the IT industry – as employers are keen to find appropriately trained staff.

Help with your CV and interview techniques is sometimes offered (if not, see one of our sites for help). Make sure you bring your CV right up to date right away – don’t leave it till you pass the exams!

It’s not unusual to find that you will be offered your first role whilst still on the course (occasionally right at the beginning). If your CV doesn’t show your latest training profile (and it’s not being looked at by employers) then you won’t even be considered!

Generally, you’ll receive quicker service from a specialised and independent local recruitment service than you’ll experience from any course provider’s employment division, as they will understand the local industry and employment needs.

Many trainees, it seems, put a great deal of effort into their studies (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of looking for a job. Sell yourself… Do your best to let employers know about you. Don’t expect a job to just fall into your lap.

A typical blunder that potential students often succumb to is to focus entirely on getting a qualification, and take their eye off the desired end-result. Schools are brimming over with students that chose an ‘interesting’ course – instead of what would yield an enjoyable career or job.

You may train for one year and then end up doing the job for 20 years. Avoid the mistake of finding what seems like a very ‘interesting’ program only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!

Make sure you investigate what your attitude is towards career progression and earning potential, and if you’re ambitious or not. It’s vital to know what will be expected of you, what particular qualifications are required and in what way you can develop commercial experience.

Before you embark on a study course, trainees are advised to chat over the specific job requirements with an experienced industry advisor, in order to be sure the retraining programme covers all that is required.

Considering how a program is ‘delivered’ to you is often missed by many students. How many stages do they break the program into? What is the order and at what speed is it delivered?

Usually, you’ll join a programme staged over 2 or 3 years and receive a module at a time. This sounds logical on one level, until you consider this:

What if for some reason you don’t get to the end of every exam? And what if you find the order of the modules counter-intuitive? Through no fault of your own, you might take a little longer and not receive all the modules you’ve paid for.

To be in the best situation you would have all the learning modules packed off to your address right at the beginning; the whole caboodle! Thus avoiding any future problems that could impede the reaching of your goals.

Traditional teaching in classrooms, involving piles of reference textbooks, is often a huge slog for most of us. If this describes you, look for learning programmes that are multimedia based.

We see a huge improvement in memory retention when all our senses are brought into the mix – educational experts have expounded on this for decades now.

Interactive full motion video involving demonstration and virtual lab’s will beat books every time. And you’ll find them fun and interesting.

You must ensure that you see examples of the study materials provided by your chosen company. Be sure that they contain video demo’s and interactive elements such as practice lab’s.

Pick CD and DVD ROM based physical training media every time. This then avoids all the potential pitfalls with broadband ‘downtime’ or slow-speeds.

Copyright Scott Edwards 2009. Navigate to Flash Courses or CLICK HERE.

Both if you’re a beginner, or an experienced technician looking to gain acknowledged certifications, there are interactive MCSA (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) courses to cater for both student levels.

To become certified at the level of MCSA it’s necessary to achieve pass marks in four MCP’s (Microsoft Certified Professional exams). For a newcomer to the industry, it’s likely you’ll be required to improve your skill-set prior to doing the first of the four MCP’s. Find a company that has industry experts who can identify the ideal program for you and will take care to start you at the right entry level.

OK, why ought we to be looking at qualifications from the commercial sector instead of more traditional academic qualifications gained through schools and Further Education colleges?

Key company training (to use industry-speak) is far more specialised and product-specific. The IT sector has acknowledged that specialisation is essential to cope with a technologically complex world. CISCO, Adobe, Microsoft and CompTIA are the dominant players.

Many degrees, as a example, become confusing because of a great deal of background study – and a syllabus that’s too generalised. This prevents a student from getting enough specific knowledge about the core essentials.

In simple terms: Authorised IT qualifications provide exactly what an employer needs – the title is a complete giveaway: as an example – I am a ‘Microsoft Certified Professional’ in ‘Windows XP Administration and Configuration’. So companies can identify exactly what they need and what certifications are required to perform the job.

The market provides a myriad of employment in IT. Finding the particular one out of this complexity often proves challenging.

As in the absence of any previous experience in IT, in what way could we be expected to understand what a particular job actually consists of?

To come through this, we need to discuss a variety of definitive areas:

* Personality factors and interests – what work-centred jobs you love or hate.

* Why you want to consider moving into the IT industry – it could be you’re looking to overcome a long-held goal like working for yourself for instance.

* The income needs that are important to you?

* Considering all that computing encompasses, it’s a requirement that you can understand the differences.

* Having a good look at what commitment and time you’ll make available.

In all honesty, you’ll find the only real way to seek advice on these issues is via a conversation with an advisor or professional that has experience of computing (and more importantly the commercial needs and requirements.)

Some training providers will only provide office hours or extended office hours support; not many go late into the evening (after 8-9pm) or cover weekends properly.

Look for training where you can receive help at any time of day or night (even 1am on Sunday morning!) You’ll need direct-access to qualified mentors and tutors, and not a message system as this will slow you down – consistently being held in a queue for a call-back at a convenient time for them.

The very best training providers use multiple support centres active in different time-zones. They use an online interactive interface to join them all seamlessly, at any time you choose, help is just seconds away, without any problems or delays.

Never make do with less than you need and deserve. Direct-access 24×7 support is the only viable option when it comes to IT training. It’s possible you don’t intend to study late evenings; often though, we’re out at work at the time when most support is available.

It’s essential to have an accredited exam preparation programme included in your course.

Steer clear of depending on non-accredited exam preparation questions. Their phraseology can be completely unlike authorised versions – and this leads to huge confusion when the proper exam time arrives.

Ensure that you analyse whether you’re learning enough by doing tests and practice exams prior to taking the real thing.

(C) 2009 Scott Edwards. Try InDesign Courses or CLICK HERE.

The salaries of Plumbers are often highlighted in the national press. It is this need for trained Plumbers that has led to salaries of 30-70k p.a. being advertised. The question now is – are we being lied to, or is this the truth? Without a doubt, a fully experienced Plumber can command salaries of such levels. So whilst those working in the self-employed role can get incomes of 70-100k p.a., those working in more conventional employment routes often find it hard to achieve this salary.

The normal working week is pretty standard for those who join an established company. Approximately wages of 15k and 30k p.a. are reasonable within the UK, along with standard benefits such as holiday pay and sickness allowance. 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.

Then there is the matter of working for yourself, which agrees with some people more than others. By using ‘good business sense’, including getting your own cost per hour correct, items such as advertising and marketing can also be worked out. To be fair most self-employed people will have to prepare for additional costs including those relating to legal and accountancy fees as well as those of transport and material usage. Although it is expected that these can be relatively small in relation to the earnings overall they can mount up, but then so can the benefits. And the positives virtually always beat the downsides!

Initially, by searching for standard work a Student Entrant can get the majority of training especially with working knowledge and experience. The need to increase their certifications and accreditations regularly affect the Self Employed Entrant. Having said that, we should bear in mind that the majority of self-employed workers tend to migrate towards the narrower ‘domestic’ market, rather than the commercial sector. (Whilst not everyone does the majority do!)

There does appear to be some union between certification relating to each path of Plumbing education and hence the industry. The issue of NVQ’s (or SVQ’s in Scotland) nevertheless appears to cause some difference.

To begin with, the Student Entrant appears to rely more heavily on the NVQ structure than the Self Employed Entrant. In order to meet their client’s expectations the Self Employed Entrant will often need to use a greater range of certifications. Certainly, the self-employed person needs to rapidly gain the key domestic-centred qualifications that will satisfy their typical household-based clients. The Student Entrant, once they have covered the key fundamentals, will carry on their study in a way similar to an apprenticeship (within the workplace – where the NVQ element can be assessed.) Considerable savings potential exists to the Student Entrant by taking on this cheaper form of study. It is fair to say that long before the Student Entrant the Self Employed Entrant can gain financial benefits through establishing certifications faster and by being more commercially motivated.

This clearly demonstrates the need for talk about careers, covering the certification and study required along with the expected financial rewards. It is often the issue of 3 years in low-paid apprenticeship work, alongside going back to college that many adults having to look after their family and with say 20kp.a requirements find difficult. Normally, self-employed students to pay for their courses themselves whereas the younger Student Entrants have the majority of their courses paid for them as part of their apprenticeships. The level of certification sought by the student drives the course structure and can result in costs of between 3k through to 10k+.

Whilst the Self Employed Entrant can consider a wider range of education forms including private colleges the Student Entrant is limited to known further-education colleges. It is through well known educational paths that many commercial training companies can offer routes into correct qualifications and skill-set requirements. 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. Using the range of sources, it makes sense to gather as much detail as possible and through this be able to work out the training college that suits you best. 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).

Many plumbing students will increase their ‘marketability’ through the use of further courses. It is by training in areas such as Gas, Green Energy and Electrical that Plumbers can gain extra certifications. As part of the commercial and domestic heating procedures, Gas training continues to be popular with Plumbers.

With core subjects followed by NVQ’s, Gas Training is a thorough and exact training program. For those who trained as a plumber first and are now looking at extra skills this also offers many options for their on-going development. In review it is often felt that the mature student responds well to the blend of Gas/Plumbing training. The path of focussing on the core subjects and at the same time dropping the NVQ’s seems to favour the Mature Student.

The self-employed professional appears to benefit from this distinct training mixture. The opportunity to learn a wider range of perceived skill-sets (whilst earning money from them) becomes the attraction. The removal of any reliance of sub-contracting key skills of third parties definitely enhances the commercial package. Of concern is the reduction in customer’s value as they have to wait for jobs to be completed by others that in turn can lead to a reduction of the earning potential of a job. The higher the skill level of a Plumber the more that they can offer their client base.

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: This information deals with industry requirements and policies for the UK market alone.

Copyright Scott Edwards. Try Part Time Plumbing Courses or Plumbing Courses.

To begin with newspapers appear to love discussing what can be earned in Plumbing. Salaries of 30-70k p.a. are often discussed, along with the lack of plumbers within the UK. So, is this really the position or is this basically untrue? To be fair, this wage level is reasonable for the correctly qualified and experienced Plumber. To be fair, the higher earnings of 70-100k p.a. are generally for those working within the self-employed field.

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.

Around which is the question of self employment which appears to fit some people. The inclusion of key elements such as utilising good ‘business sense’, covering areas such as advertising and marketing and getting your own cost-per-hour correct is integral to the picture. Furthermore, additional costs such as materials and transport, along with legal and accountancy fees will need to be paid. Although it is expected that these can be relatively small in relation to the earnings overall they can mount up, but then so can the benefits. And the positives virtually always beat the downsides!

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!)

There does appear to be some union between certification relating to each path of Plumbing education and hence the industry. A key debate however comes into play when considering the issue of NVQ’s (SVQ’s in Scotland.)

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 shows the necessity of a clear careers discussion, covering the overall study and certification requirements alongside the required financial return. It is often the issue of 3 years in low-paid apprenticeship work, alongside going back to college that many adults having to look after their family and with say 20kp.a requirements find difficult. It should also be borne in mind that many young Student Entrants have their studies paid for them as part of their overall apprenticeships, whereas the self-employed student generally funds the course themselves. The level of certification sought by the student drives the course structure and can result in costs of between 3k through to 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.

With core subjects followed by NVQ’s, Gas Training is a thorough and exact training program. For those who trained as a plumber first and are now looking at extra skills this also offers many options for their on-going development. It could be said that the blend of training covering Plumbing/Gas training is better matched to the mature student. For the Mature Student the emphasis appears to be reducing the NVQ elements and focussing on the core subjects.

It is from this particular training program that the self-employed professional gains ground. The opportunity to learn a wider range of perceived skill-sets (whilst earning money from them) becomes the attraction. This alone can add to their industrial viewpoint, as opposed to relying on sub-contracting core elements to third parties. Sub-contracting can not only reduce the earning potential of a job, but also erode the value in the customer’s eye, as they may have to wait for key stages to be handled by someone else before the final completion of the job. The more skilled a plumber is in their job role – the more that they have to offer their client base.

In retrospect, the Self Employed Entrant has the potential to achieve a much higher and more readily available income stream than Student Entrant, but to do so they need to develop both their business skills and achieve a broader range of certifications. Note: This information relates to the UK market, policies and industry requirements alone.

Copyright 2009 S. Edwards. Hop over to CLICK HERE or Plumbing Apprenticeships.