One of the most important investments you can make in life is that of your Education. Education is an incredibly powerful asset because it can lead to impressive outcomes–success, opportunity, understanding, and even happiness. When you invest in your education, you are ensuring that you have control of your life.

You must invest in yourself. Any certified IT Professional will tell you how grateful they are to have spent the time and energy to create a future for themselves. They are working in an ever expanding industry doing what they love and making a nice living doing it. Yes, they spent hours studying, learning and perhaps struggling—but now they aren’t. They are settled, knowledgeable, employed and certified.

Sometimes, making an investment can be hard. It’s easy to be short sited and only see what we are losing, rather than what we are gaining. What must be remembered is that long term gains are far greater than the short term losses involved with making the proper investments in our future. Do you think Warren Buffett regrets spending $25 to buy a Pinball machine to place in barbershops at the age of 15, only to own several more machines months later? Absolutely not. This investment preceded a long, successful career which placed him in the running as the wealthiest person in the world.

Chances are you have some things in mind already. Ideas you have been toying with. Perhaps you want to start a business or invent something. Maybe you want to build up your certifications to increase your job options. Regardless of what your investment is, don’t be afraid to make it. Get out there and give it all you got, because that is the only way to make big things happen. You have to just go out and do it. Then one day, when you reflect on your life journey, you will remember the sacrifices you made to achieve your goals and become what you always wanted to be.

What goals in life do you need to invest in? Let us know by leaving a comment!

Learn to market yourself. This is a big one. And, today, you have so many places to market yourself for free. Start a blog about the job hunt and the things you’re doing to stay current in the industry and get hired. Leverage all those social networking sites you’re a part of. I’ve seen three people get jobs simply by posting a status message that says, “Hey, I just got my whatever certification and if anyone knows anybody looking, let me know!” I have a former CPA relative that gets Facebook contacts hired to positions at his previous customers’ places of business all the time.

Another thing to keep in mind: you’re now officially “that guy or gal” that your friends go to for basic technical support. In our ever more connected society, that’s networking you just can’t buy. So, sure, go fix Aunt Patty’s printer problem; but make sure you tell her to let her friends and associates know what a great techie you are. Within a month or so of doing pro bono work for your circle of acquaintances, you should have a pretty nice list of contacts you can mine for job search data.

Also, don’t be afraid to join groups, forums, chat rooms, etc. for technicians. Not only will places like that prove to be an invaluable resource on the job—I spend no less than 3 hours daily doing research for my job—but having industry contacts like that can produce jobs and tips on which certifications, moving forward, will be the best investment. Plus, it’ll keep you honest and force you to stay relevant in this constantly changing industry.

Oh—you have to be creative in how you use your certification. You don’t have to be an end-user desktop technician with an A+. There are many ways you can turn your technical expertise into a job, and limiting yourself to the basic definition of what an A+ holder is limits your potential. I spent one summer building custom computers for folks in my neighborhood and eventually took my certification into technical writing. Consider offering a consulting service to area businesses when it comes to purchasing technologies. The point is, you don’t have to be pigeon holed into what CompTIA defines the A+ providing. Truthfully, having an A+ sets you apart from the rest of the general population as uniquely qualified to handle computer equipment.

And the big important point to make: the A+ is not a destination, it’s a stop on the road. As cheesy as that sounds, you can’t rest with just the A+. The best thing to keep you motivated in your job hunt is to always be looking at the next certification, making decisions about how you want to spend your time in the tech world. Biggest #1 mistake I made was that I got my A+ and said, “There, done, I’m a PC tech, let’s go get a job.” Within six months the technologies I studied for were totally outdated. Plus, it shows employers that you’re dedicated to the industry when you can say: “So, I just got my A+ about a month ago, and now I’m knee deep studying for the CCNA—I really want to be a network engineer down the road.” That sort of thing impresses people—like, you’ll be a good investment because you’ll be constantly bringing new ideas and information.

I want to leave you with a couple of thoughts about you’re A+ certification. The guys that have been in the industry for a long time tend to look down on the A+. Like it’s so basic it’s not worth talking about. Don’t get discouraged by that kind of talk. It’s easy to look down on a “noob” in the field when you’ve been in the business for fifteen years and your business card reads like half the alphabet. Everyone starts somewhere and having that A+ really is something to be proud of.

To learn more about CompTIA A+ Certification, visit PrepLogic at www.preplogic.com/vendors/comptia.aspx or call 1-800-418-6789.