A+ Certification

[bengal85]

I am soon going to attempt to sit for my A+. I was wondering if any one had any helpful advice that I could take into my study sessions or even the cert its self.


Thanks for all the help

 

[Turbo10]

I took it about 7-8 months ago and passed, honestly if you just read through the books and revise what you are crap at its easy. It was quite a while ago so i cant remeber what came up and what didnt but i know that 702 is harder than 701, or the second one is harder than the first. However they are both pretty easy and if you study enough youll do fine mate.

Good luck

 

[bengal85]

Ok very nice. Yeah I have a couple books that I am reading through and what not. I sure do hope I can pass it first time through

 

[danthrax]

What have you been using for study materials? I have not yet attempted my A+ certification but plan to within the next 6 months. I know that the practice tests I have been using that came on cd-rom with the book I bought are a good test prep. They say if you are getting 90% correct answers or better consistently that you should be ready to pass the real test.

 

[bengal85]

I have books that I got at school they are both Comptia approved big thick study books

 

[Turbo10]

What have you been using for study materials? I have not yet attempted my A+ certification but plan to within the next 6 months. I know that the practice tests I have been using that came on cd-rom with the book I bought are a good test prep. They say if you are getting 90% correct answers or better consistently that you should be ready to pass the real test.

Not necessarily, the exams change quite a fair bit and you could find that all the stuff that was in the practice tests will not be in the test. But you will still gain the knowledge from the practic tests its just that they might be worded differently in the exam which could put you off.

 

[AE7]

I am A+ Certified. I got it for free, and am happy to have it, but it has no purpose. One line on a resume that says, "A+ Certified - June 2007," is not really impressive. Jobs will not knock at your doorstep, and money will not fall from the heavens.

Best way to study is to go to Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders, or somewhere, and buy a CompTIA A+ Q/A book. Read through that thing a few times; if you don't understand something, force yourself to research. After that, you should be good to go.

 

[bengal85]

I didn't think about the Q&A books.. that is actually a really good idea. I will try that one

 

[Turbo10]

I am A+ Certified. I got it for free, and am happy to have it, but it has no purpose. One line on a resume that says, "A+ Certified - June 2007," is not really impressive. Jobs will not knock at your doorstep, and money will not fall from the heavens.

Best way to study is to go to Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Borders, or somewhere, and buy a CompTIA A+ Q/A book. Read through that thing a few times; if you don't understand something, force yourself to research. After that, you should be good to go.

yeah obviously its not an amazing certification but it still looks alright on your CV and how many certs will make money fall from the sky?

 

[AE7]

yeah obviously its not an amazing certification but it still looks alright on your CV and how many certs will make money fall from the sky?

Becoming a CCIE makes money fall from the sky, so does MCAD.

If you're a project manager, or related, a PMP certification brings money.

 

[danthrax]

Becoming a CCIE makes money fall from the sky, so does MCAD.

If you're a project manager, or related, a PMP certification brings money.

True. A+ Certification is good for somebody just getting into the IT field and can help to get entry level jobs. Obviously it's not designed to get you a high-paying managerial job anywhere, and anyone getting A+ certified that thinks they're gonna be good to go in the IT field is nuts!

You make a good point though, there are other forms of training that an individual should look into to really make themselves viable to companies.

 

[AE7]

True. A+ Certification is good for somebody just getting into the IT field and can help to get entry level jobs. Obviously it's not designed to get you a high-paying managerial job anywhere, and anyone getting A+ certified that thinks they're gonna be good to go in the IT field is nuts!

You make a good point though, there are other forms of training that an individual should look into to really make themselves viable to companies.

Yeah, but I wish I had done things different, even though I am a full-time Computer Engineering student. I should have did a Network+, Security+, and Linux+ when I had my school paying for it, but I was too busy working on a cluster project.

My friend, who is 10 years older, is a CCIE. He took his after he finished a bachelor's degree with some crappy major, like Communications or Business Admin. He was recently offered a $200,000/yr. job in New York without even applying for the position.

The PMP is my next certification.

 

[Turbo10]

Becoming a CCIE makes money fall from the sky, so does MCAD.

If you're a project manager, or related, a PMP certification brings money.

yeah theres well sought afters certs but you still need a job, like CISCO something stupid like 5% of networking is cisco but you get paid like triple figure salary if you get a job cisco related

 

[bengal85]

Hmm all of this is really good info. Now what you you all think if I said I wanted to get my MCDST even though its gone in june

 

[AE7]

yeah theres well sought afters certs but you still need a job, like CISCO something stupid like 5% of networking is cisco but you get paid like triple figure salary if you get a job cisco related

Cisco certifications don't mean you can only work in Cisco infrastructure. It's a plus, but many other companies are quite popular, e.g., Barracuda, Juniper, SonicWall, Foundry, HP, etc.

Any company filling a networking position would consider someone with a Cisco certification. Realistically, probably CCNA or above would be preferred.

Hmm all of this is really good info. Now what you you all think if I said I wanted to get my MCDST even though its gone in june

I would consider an A+ IT Technician certification to be a step above that, mostly because the MCDST is knowing how to click about Windows. The A+ is more of a cross-platform, well-rounded certification.

It might be more worthwhile to stay focused on college degrees or certificates. I know community colleges around my area have had this trend of starting Computer Security associate's degree programs lately. I would check into that.

 

[bengal85]

Cisco certifications don't mean you can only work in Cisco infrastructure. It's a plus, but many other companies are quite popular, e.g., Barracuda, Juniper, SonicWall, Foundry, HP, etc.

Any company filling a networking position would consider someone with a Cisco certification. Realistically, probably CCNA or above would be preferred.



I would consider an A+ IT Technician certification to be a step above that, mostly because the MCDST is knowing how to click about Windows. The A+ is more of a cross-platform, well-rounded certification.

It might be more worthwhile to stay focused on college degrees or certificates. I know community colleges around my area have had this trend of starting Computer Security associate's degree programs lately. I would check into that.

Ok sounds good...my career goal as of right now is to be a DST. Thats why i was thinking about taking my MCDST.

 

[AE7]

Ok sounds good...my career goal as of right now is to be a DST. Thats why i was thinking about taking my MCDST.

Shoot a little higher than DST and try to specialize in an area. Most DSTs only make around $30,000/yr. The best route, with ever growing networks, might be security or networking. Most of those people start out around $40,000/yr. and move up to $50k or $60k within 5-10 years.

I started out as a technician, but realized that I didn't like dealing with Windows and idiot users-the two just aren't a good match. So I went towards servers, which is miserable when you're young, because the 50 year old network engineers and security folks think they know everything. They don't want 'some kid' performing their job role faster and for lower pay. So, I found development to be more for me, and I specialize in web applications. I have requirements delivered to me and I design/code using whatever I feel is appropriate. It works out nicely, I am happy doing it, and the pay is not awful for part-time.

 

[bengal85]

Very nice I have no programming experience though. I like researching and repairing windows machines. I find fixing and supporting users as fun. But every one is different and has different career objectives. I may find out the same thing as you when I get out in the field.

 

[danthrax]

Shoot a little higher than DST and try to specialize in an area. Most DSTs only make around $30,000/yr. The best route, with ever growing networks, might be security or networking. Most of those people start out around $40,000/yr. and move up to $50k or $60k within 5-10 years.

I started out as a technician, but realized that I didn't like dealing with Windows and idiot users-the two just aren't a good match. So I went towards servers, which is miserable when you're young, because the 50 year old network engineers and security folks think they know everything. They don't want 'some kid' performing their job role faster and for lower pay. So, I found development to be more for me, and I specialize in web applications. I have requirements delivered to me and I design/code using whatever I feel is appropriate. It works out nicely, I am happy doing it, and the pay is not awful for part-time.

You make a good point about dealing with idiot-users and Windows. What route did you take to get to where you are today? Doing something in development greatly interests me.

Edit: Not trying to steal the thread from the OP, just curious about AE7's path to where he is today.

 

[bengal85]

You make a good point about dealing with idiot-users and Windows. What route did you take to get to where you are today? Doing something in development greatly interests me.

Edit: Not trying to steal the thread from the OP, just curious about AE7's path to where he is today.

Hey man its all cool I am actually wonder the exact same thing. So I guess thanks for posting