Posted: 11/28/2002 6:20:30 PM EDT
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Does anyone have a recommendation when it comes to A+ certifications? Do companies care where it came from, as long as you have it? Or, restated, are the internet certifications a viable option,or are they more in the realm of a correspondence school diploma? Does anyone have a recommendation for a school in Texas? |
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Quoted: Does anyone have a recommendation when it comes to A+ certifications? Do companies care where it came from, as long as you have it? Or, restated, are the internet certifications a viable option,or are they more in the realm of a correspondence school diploma? Does anyone have a recommendation for a school in Texas? I dont think it matters where you get it. However, the only time it ever helped me was getting a pc repair job for a small computer shop. Its not as big of a deal as it used to be. Thats just my experience. |
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I teach both A+ and Net+ for the University of California Riverside Extension. A+ is equal to six months of experence - not much but it's an entry level position. Our help desk positions require both A+ and Net+ certifications. We often take interns in and help them certify. CCNA, CNA, or MCP would be better. What's going to get you a job is you. What might get you an interview is the certification. |
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When I got mine you only got it from one place. [URL]www.comptia.org[/URL] They do however have numerous testing centers all over the place. If thats what you meant then no it doesnt matter where you get tested, but as far as I know the A+ certification only comes from these guys. I may be wrong since its been about 6 years since I got mine. If I can help you out let me know . Good luck! |
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It does NOT matter where you get the education for the Cert. cause you still have to go to a Sylvan Certified testing center to take the test. The test is standard and everyone gets basically the same test. Same goes for the MCP, CCNA, CNA, etc. like Paul said, they would be more recognized than the A+. Yet, the A+ is a good start. Check out NACSE Certifications, they are known in the UNIX community. If I had it to do over again, this is the cert. path I would take. [url]http://www.nacse.com/pages/whois/whois.htm[/url] |
| BTW - I'm a moderator over at [url=http://www.certtutor.net]CertTutor.net[/url] and we have a forum dedicated to the A+ cert. I'd encourage you to stop in and check it out. We've got over 50,000 members and an incredible amount of experience helping people with their IT Certifications. |
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Tricks of the trade from starving students... If you are doing "Home study" or the classes you are taking does not include the exam [u]vouchers[/u] hunt for them on ebay. The test was 2 parts, not sure how it is currently. each half required a $100 test voucher. - These can be picked up on ebay for about half that. Several of the grant programs supply the students with all the vouchers for the entire program upfront, often months or even years before they will be needed, it is common for the students to sell them off for cash now and get replacements when its finally time to take the test. BTW - the tip about using the Transcender prep tools is the hot trick. A+ is not a killer, Becoming a master of "Active Directory" will stretch your migraines. |
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i evaluated several different courses a few years ago for my company. All of them were over priced and frankly lacking in pertanant information regarding the test. In fact most of the instructors were not technicians. Buy the course study material and STUDY it. it will be cheaper and you will be better prepared for the test. You have WEALTH of experience and information here if you have questions. A+ is easy if you understand the basics of PC service. I actually feel like the certification is utterly useless but it is and industry requirment. DO NOT expect a job of just a+ certification. It will get you in the door because a bean counter says it is required. Most A+ only graduates can't get the cover of a PC let alone fix one. mike |
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yes DIY is my recommendation. All of the courses i evaluated spent 2 of 5 days at least on fluff that has no bearing on the test at all. of 8 different classes from different sources only one "instructor" was a tech. All the rest were paid teachers that took A+ so they could teach the course. No practicle experience. As a result very few of the instructors could correctly answer the easiest of PC service related questions. Only one course even offered any "Bench" time for hardware familiarity and practice. You will get much more out of the books. Take the practice tests and get a feel for the test. Study hardware and be compfortable with the software. I took the test on the first generation of "intuitive" tests. I aced both parts of the test in under 15 min. Not bragging just trying to give you a feel that the test is not that in depth. Feel free to email or im me if you need any help. mike |
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A+ is a starter cert. CCNA MCSE are multiple test certs. You can get your MCP by taking one exam though. If you get some decent self study stuff, and practice exams, you will do OK for most CompTIA certs. Things like the MCSE andothers its often best to go to classes I have found. Aviator |
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Mcse, cna and the like are OS based certification. If your staying on the PC side microsoft certification will not hurt you. 90% of the pc's out there are some windows based systems. I started on PC's and if you enjoy it it can be fun. Do not expect to be paid well. There are few PC Tech jobs that will make you a good living. Find a niche and go for that. With IBM i specialized in RISC and am moving up into large systems. ON the service end that is where the money is. Keep this in mind. Everytime the PC prices take a dive that is one step closer to PC techs being out of work. It won't be many more years before PC's will be disposable like calcualtors are now. Find out what you employer NEEDS and work toward that. Be it Networking, Large systems, whatever. DO NOT STOP with PC's! mike |
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Quoted: More good advice, thanks guys. Anyone have any insight on a free skills assessment or aptitude test? That's why I pointed you towards Transcender above. Download and take that demo exam. It will do a pretty darn good job of letting you know where you stand along with giving you a feel for the exam format. Good luck! |
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I agree that an A+ is pretty useless overall, but there are many employers which expect it as a basic starting point. It show initiative and motivation. Not having it is like going to a truck driving school for a CDL, but not having a license to drive a regular passenger car yet... |
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The Transcender site is pretty cool. I'm not sure about the ElementK stuff, The format of the info is a little dry, but maybe it's just me. I'll have to take another look. How long is an average A+ course? 5 days? 6 months? I'm torn between wanting to work for a larger company and learning the networking, or do I want to do work with individual clients and home PC's? I'm doing this with an eye toward my own business, and/or some moonlighting. So I guess I'll start with A+ and see where it goes from there. I'm in San Antonio- I going to finish checking out the CertTutor site- looks good so far. |
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Quoted: The Transcender site is pretty cool. I'm not sure about the ElementK stuff, The format of the info is a little dry, but maybe it's just me. I'll have to take another look. How long is an average A+ course? 5 days? 6 months? I'm torn between wanting to work for a larger company and learning the networking, or do I want to do work with individual clients and home PC's? I'm doing this with an eye toward my own business, and/or some moonlighting. So I guess I'll start with A+ and see where it goes from there. I'm in San Antonio- I going to finish checking out the CertTutor site- looks good so far. Hi Only_hits_Count, I'm MCSE and A+. I'd say if you're looking for a lower end bench tech job (working on pc's, not necessarilly server) the A+ is a good cert. But the A+ cert really doesn't teach you any networking skills. It's an entry level cert as others have said. If you're setting your sights a bit higher definetly go MCSE, CNA, or CCNA, etc. It's been my experience that most employers will automatically assume you have aquired the skills the A+ teaches, if you have a higher level cert such as MCSE. The good thing about going MCSE is you can get MCP by passing one major MCSE test. Then you have something! Also, the CCNA is fairly easy, and only one test! Do look into what most companies are using in your area. Of course if you live in a pretty small town there probably won't be an abundance of Cisco hardware out there. Hence jobs will be more difficult to come by for CCNA's. In that case MCP/MCSE is nice because we all know no matter how small or large the company is they're most likely using windows on the desktop, and propbably the server(s) too. If you want to work with individual clients, and home users Cisco isn't the best way to go. A+ would be helpfull. MCSE would be usefull for a networking related job in a medium to large business. You probably won't use an MCSE in that setting. I took the old A+ exam that was being given some time ago. It had Win3.1, DOS, and Win95. I found it to be very easy. I did attend a one month class. It's just a lot of memorizing things such as IRQ's, COM ports, Windows components, Windows settings, etc. If you're memorized the material, you're set. The higher level certs are much more difficult. If your primary aim is to learn as much as you can on the job. You will aquire a much larger knowledgebase working in a larger company than you will working with individuals. Hope this helps.... ~rssc |
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don't count on Going into business with an A+ cert and no experience you WILL be in way over your head. I have done the private thing. You need Massive Networking and Windows skills to even think about getting in the game seriously. Also some experience with linux/unix will be a plus. Let me say this THE HOME MARKET IS TOUGH! every swinging dick that can spell PC has tried to open their own shop. Work toward getting on with a major service provider when the economy turns good. People in the home enviornment want something for nothing and will not spend money to have things done rigt. The corporate side is far easier to deal with and the learning curve will go faster for you. I will happily im you my number if you have any questions. mike |
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I've been doing a litle more research, and I think that A+ and Network+ would be good starting points for me. I don't plan on getting rich, but with an hourly rate and then a little something on the side, I could prolly eat and afford ammo. My learning curve is steep on this, but I'll probably be emailing a couple of you. I just want to avoid too many newbie questions in the beginning. Thanks everyone! [:D] |
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just keep in mind A+ will teach to you swap parts. It won't make you a technician. Get your a+ work on your n+ and go to work for a company where you can get some experience. My group won't even talk to you if you come in with a+ and less than a year on a bench. just fyi mike |
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Yep, good advice there. Get your A+, the course is ususally 5 days and it is actually easily self-studied. Get yourself an old pentium from a local used PC dealer or at [url=http://www.retrobox.com]Retrobox[/url] for $50 or so, download some open source and/or trial OS software ([url]http://www.certtutor.com/freestuff[/url]), and dive in. If you can find an old laser printer somewhere that you can tear apart, it will help you with that portion as well. Once you've got your A+, start hitting the tech shops in your area. CompUSA, Best Buy, Micro Center, etc. are all good places to get solid tech experience. Once you've got a bit of experience with the tech work, start studying for your N+. Again, it's another that can be self studied. I took my N+ exam well after I got my MCSE because the exam was in Beta and I figured it would be a good way to brush up on some things I hadn't worked with much (primarily Linux). Best of luck in your IT quest! Darren |
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Beerslayer, Wouldn't you say that the difficulty of bench tech jobs can very greatly? It's all relative. For example it's not that difficult to get a bench tech job at a Best Buy, or Circuit City. Now on the other hand it usually does take more than an A+ to get into a job where you'll be doing some server related work on the bench. For example a lot of the firms which do consulting require a pretty experienced bench tech. No doubt he'll have a slightly more difficult time with no experience but the A+ will definetly make him more marketable. If he has a year or two of tinkering with his computer at home and the A+ he should have no problem with low end bench tech job. Also, I second Red-Leg's idea of doing it on your own. If it were me I'd go to Brain Buzz and find out what text most people say is the best for studying the A+. Get the text, a PC to tear apart, the appropriate software, and you're set. ~rssc ~rssc |
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My point was that low end bench work will starve your family. It's fine for getting experience but that is about it. Most MOM and POP shops in this area start off around 7.00hr and don't go up much from there. Help desk work will put you in the low - mid 20's but from there you have some expansion room normally. My recommendation was get the cert, get a year of bench time, get your employer to pay for n+ if possible and move to a high end hardware area. You can not feed you family swapping hard drives and doing monkey work. For the record i fully beleive the "PC" as we know it will not be around in 10 years or less. They are getting smaller and cheaper. Like pagers they will not be serviced but will be disposable electronics. The only place a tech is going to have a career is one maintaining the Servers that drive them. JMHO mike |
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$7.00 an hour??? I make that much off unemployment!!!!(part of my IT training[:I] ) I'll still get all the babes though- right?? Seriously though, I can qualify for additional finacial aid if I stay unemployed. Go figure- who am I to argue with their genius? The A+ and Network+ would be good starting points. Maybe I can support myself giving in-home internet lessons. "This is a b r o w s e r " "this is a s e a r c h e n g i n e" [:D] |
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Timing is everything! And IT is not the place to be right now, especially if you're not already in the industry or have hands on experience. Generally speaking, any large corporation will NOT down size their IT staff (techs only! Managers and can always be canned)unless: 1. The tech is useless, brain dead, or labeled as a troubled maker. 2. You work for a dot com with lousy business model and is not profitable, or your company is about to go under – e.g. WorldCom, Enron, and etc. The fact is most company will be quicker to cut sales staff before they start chopping IT dept. So where are all the great IT jobs? The problem is there are NO NEW JOBS being created in IT. A few years back tech can always obtain a higher salary position by switching jobs. Back then it was chicto change job twice a year to get an instant 10 to 30% increase in salary. By doing so, they are also creating a job opening. Well, those days are gone! Those techs that still have a job are staying put and no moving, because there are very few IT openings at the moment. What’s more, the competition is fierce since you have tons of laid off IT workers all competing for what little that is out there , coupled with the fact the salaries are being driven down more and more due to the influx of prospective candidates. Moreover, if you’re trying to break into the field without work experience, you are face with barrier of entry. Long ago, A+ was the way to start because it prepares techs with basic hardware fundamental that is crucial in later stage of their career. Now days the market is filled with paper CNA, CNE, MCSP, MCSE, CCNE, CCNA, and etc., and etc. Try asking some CCNE or MCSE to replace a fuser in a laser printer and most wouldn't where to begin. Look! Certifications are great vehicle for commanding higher salary only if you are already in the field. Certs are a plus if your company is paying for the training and exam cost. Otherwise, it is a complete waste of your own money. Think about it...how much can one possibly absorb in those one-week, two-week or even month long courses that prepare you for a cert? One important fact to consider is that those certifications will ultimately expire if you do NOT keep current. That translate to mean more spending more money on study material and exam cost. Certs expeire just like your driver license expires so that someone could make money on your renewal. And here’s the good part: If you do not re-certify, you risk losing your credentials, gone! Ask yourself this: when was the last time you heard of your college degree expiring? Never! What’s more, most training classes I’ve sat in are a joke. The only people making money are the people running the schools, and the guys or gals teaching the courses. Try asking one of those lovely and talented instructors a real life technical question and see if you can get an answer out of them without them saying “let me check on this and get back to you next class”. I’m not trying to discouraging you from your pursuit or goal. Just try to get much information as possible and know what you getting yourself involve with before you make a commitment. Good luck |
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that is my biggest beef with A+. It is a lifetime cert. When i tested 2 years ago Figure that and the fact that PC hardware drasticly changes every 2 years or so. A+ is worthless for anything other than making Mangers and bean counters happy. |
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Yeah-I realize the shortcomings of the A+,butya gotta start somewhere,and I'll want/need it for my Network+. New question: I may have to do some 'creative scheduling'to qualify for some of the financial aid. Would an Associate degree in compsuter science be worth anything careerwise? On financialaid;I'mlooking foraddition resources. So far I've found: Sallie Mae Fastweb FinAid Texas Public Education Grants H-1B Technical Skills Training Program C-TRAIN Grant Program. I'm also working with the comunity colleges here onthe aid aspect.Does anyone have any additional info on these or any other financial aid programs?? |
| A degree is never a bad thing for the long term. For the record i don't have one. I make more than most of my guys that do. Paper isn't everything but it always helps. If nothing else it will get you more initialy walking in the door. Also it will give you some good background skills that your employer can build on. |
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Quoted: A degree is never a bad thing for the long term. For the record i don't have one. I make more than most of my guys that do. Paper isn't everything but it always helps. If nothing else it will get you more initialy walking in the door. Also it will give you some good background skills that your employer can build on. "Paper" helps most when you don't have a job. MCNE, MCP |
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If you are intent on getting a job working on PCs, and eventually servers, A+ will help crack the door open. No certification alone will get you a job, those days are long gone. If you want to stay on the hardware service side, the real money is in specialization. You won't make anything working on PCs, and not much further working on Wintel servers. If you have the opportunity to specialize on some rare and expensive hardware, grab hold with both hands. If you are going to head the software route, my honest advice is to not even waste your time pursuing the CNA / MCP / MSCE / CCNA. Everybody has already done this and IT departments are awash in a sea of resumes featuring these largely useless letters. Even if you manage to land a position, you are always at risk of someone undercutting you for less money. The Microsoft certs especially have become very devalued. I'm not even going to bother updating my MCSE. If you are dead set on going this route, learn the newest stuff and learn it well. IT departments are very gun shy when it comes to adopting new MS software, and by the time they finally get there, you are already an expert. I would heartily suggest learning a database platform such as Oracle, SQL, or even Informix, and learning it well. DBAs are highly paid and in short supply around here. Don't diversify unless you plan to open a consulting business. Ken - MCSE, CNE, CCNP, CCDP, PSE, and CCIE candidate. |
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OK, I guess I'll throw in My .02. I too, took the DIY approach for My A+, and Net+. Grabbed a copy of Mike Myers books, studied for about 2 weeks, along with some free practice exams. Now, I'm just about ready for My Linux+, then goin' the MCSE route. Of course, I'm a geek, and love workin' on computers. I also agree that, in the not too distant future, computers will be greatly different. The real money will be made by people with networking ability, and so forth. Will A+ help get You a job ?? It didn't with Me. Can it hurt ?? NOt really, except the time studying could be better spent on, say.....shootin'! [8D] |
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My boss gave the A+ study books one day, and said, "you're scheduled for the exams 2 weeks from now." Alot of it was review, but most of it was learning their approach toward terminology, which lead to how they write their questions. A+ shows that you know a little about everything. If you've ever seen people make scared, confused faces when you start talking, think of what others perceive when they see you make the same faces during a job briefing or interview! A little bit of everything helps at that point. If you worked for vendor that serviced Dell, IBM, or Compaq systems, it was a requirement a few years ago. |
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