The CompTIA A+ course covers 4 different sectors - you'll have to qualify in 2 different areas to be considered A+ competent. This is why, many training establishments restrict their A+ to just two of the 4 sectors. We consider that this is selling you short - sure, you can pass an exam, but knowing about the others will give you greater confidence in industry, where knowledge of all four will be necessary. This is why you need education in the whole course.

As well as learning how to build PC's and fix them, students on an A+ training course will learn how to work in antistatic conditions, along with remote access, fault finding and diagnostics.

You might also choose to think about adding the CompTIA Network+ training as you can then also take care of computer networks, which means greater employment benefits.

We need to make this very clear: You have to get round-the-clock 24x7 instructor and mentor support. We can tell you that you'll strongly regret it if you don't follow this rule rigidly.

Find a good quality service with proper support available at any time you choose (even if it's early hours on Sunday morning!) Ensure you get direct access to tutors, and not access to a call-in service which takes messages - so you're constantly waiting for a call-back at a convenient time for them.

Top training companies use multiple support centres around the globe in several time-zones. By utilising an interactive interface to link them all seamlessly, any time of the day or night, help is just a click away, without any problems or delays.

If you opt for less than online 24x7 support, you'll quickly find yourself regretting it. You may not need it in the middle of the night, but consider weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.

So many training providers only look at the plaque to hang on your wall, and completely avoid what it's all actually about - which will always be getting the job or career you want. Always start with the end goal - don't get hung-up on the training vehicle.

You could be training for only a year and end up doing a job for a lifetime. Avoid the mistake of taking what may be an 'interesting' course and then spend decades in a job you don't like!

You need to keep your eye on where you want to go, and formulate your training based on that - avoid getting them back-to-front. Keep on track - making sure you're training for something you'll still be enjoying many years from now.

Have a conversation with someone that has a commercial understanding of the realities faced in the industry, and who can give you a detailed description of what you actually do in that role. Getting all these things right long before commencement of any training programme will prevent a lot of wasted time and effort.

Some training providers will provide a useful Job Placement Assistance program, to assist your search for your first position. Because of the great demand for appropriately skilled people in Britain even when times are hard, there isn't a great need to place too much emphasis on this feature however. It really won't be that difficult to secure a job as long as you've got the necessary skills and qualifications.

Update your CV at the beginning of your training though - you should get plenty of help from your training provider on this. Don't wait until you've qualified.

Quite often, you'll land your initial role while you're still a student (even when you've just left first base). If you haven't updated your CV to say what you're studying (and it isn't in the hands of someone with jobs to offer) then you aren't even in the running!

The most reliable organisations to help you find a job are normally local IT focused employment agencies. Because they make their money when they've found you a job, they'll work that much harder to get a result.

To bottom line it, as long as you focus the same level of energy into landing a job as into training, you're not going to hit many challenges. A number of people bizarrely put hundreds of hours into their training course and then call a halt once qualified and seem to suppose that interviewers know they're there.

Have a conversation with a skilled consultant and they'll entertain you with many awful tales of how students have been duped by salespeople. Make sure you deal with a skilled professional that asks lots of questions to find out what's right for you - not for their bank-account! Dig until you find an ideal starting-point that fits you.

Occasionally, the starting point of study for someone with some experience will be substantially different to the student with none.

Always consider starting with some basic PC skills training first. Starting there can make the transition to higher-level learning a much more gentle.