Computer repair and maintenance

[mariosdog]

Hi I have spent the last few years working in a restaurant which I hate so decided to change my careers to something which I love, that being computers.

This is the course I was thinking of taking (I cannot afford to go to college) PC Repair Training UK - UK PC Upgrading Training Distance Learning Course - ICS Learn

I was just wandering if this course seems decent and what else I should be looking at to get into the general "repair and maintenance" field and what the career prospects for this field are.

Cheers

 

[Lexluethar]

Looks decent - i can't tell though as i know some of the educational tools in the UK are a bit different than here in the states.

I know that CompTIA is world wide, so i would suggest actually taking a course that would get you certified with a CompTIA A+ certification. This way you can learn in this class and walk away with a certification that proves you know what you are talking about. If you take the course you suggested, you may walk away knowing some stuff but you won't have a certification that is recognized globally saying you know what you are talking about.

You can also take the exam without going to a class by purchasing a book on the certification then reading it. It's up to you, if you have zero computer experience I would suggest going to a class so that you can learn some of the trick of the trade opposed to just learning socket types and power supply voltages.

 

[mariosdog]

That compTIA looks pretty awesome, how does it work exactly though? Do you study then just take an exam to get the certificate? And are the exams online or class based?

Cheers

Edit: Found the answers for that

Would it be worth doing the course I linked, and then also doing a CompTIA certificate?

 

[Lexluethar]

You study and take the exam. You technically don't have to study, the CompTIA A+ is a stand alone certification. There are classes out there that you can take which will teach you what is covered, then you take the exam. Or you can just take the exam yourself after studying.

The tests are not done online - you have to go to a testing center, pass two exams to become certified. All questions are multiple choice and i think each exam is 150 questions - if memory serves me right.

 

[eonblueapocalypse]

I took a CompTIA A+ computer maintenance course last year in high school, my teacher said that if I pass the final exam with an 80+ score that I would be able to get a certificate that would benefit getting a computer repair job, like Geek Squad. We had a multiple choice test, which was easy and I aced, and a field test, where I had to fully construct a functioning computer. We had 3 days to finish the computer and I finished on the first day and aced that part. I still never got my certificate......

 

[-RockMan-]

You study and take the exam. You technically don't have to study, the CompTIA A+ is a stand alone certification. There are classes out there that you can take which will teach you what is covered, then you take the exam. Or you can just take the exam yourself after studying.

The tests are not done online - you have to go to a testing center, pass two exams to become certified. All questions are multiple choice and i think each exam is 150 questions - if memory serves me right.

Well you were almost there lex, but both test are 200 questions each and under 2 hours if your brave enough to do it on one day.