CompTIA + Certification

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Zacron

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Dec 17, 2012
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Hey everyone,

I have been frequenting the site for a few years now, but never had anything meaningful to add or ask. Until today.

I hope this is in the right forum, if not, please direct me to the right one.

I have been the manager of IT at the company I work for since November of 2011, but I am not really happy with the area I live. I have been looking for a new job and I found an opening at a larger Government operated firm. A friend of mine knows a few people there and put my name out there and basically it looks like I could easily get the job.

However, I need to get CompTIA + Certified, and the more certifications I get, the more money I make there. My issue is that I have never needed that certification before, and while I know I can take the tests at my local Community College, I don't really know the best place to train. Would it be best for me to get some books and study at home? Are there online courses I should take? What do you all think?

EDIT: Also, I don't make much money, and they are not going to pay me to take any courses, so if there are any specific free courses or training materials, that would be greatly appreciated.
 
I'm not sure which cert you're talking about, A+, Security+, Networking+, all of the above. I got my A+ right before they moved to the renewal system just so I would have it. I used whatever free online practice tests/resources I could find. I have been working/playing with stuff long enough that I wasn't too concerned. The only thing I wasn't confident about was detail stuff that you don't really memorize unless you use it all the time, like max lengths of cables and BS stuff like that.

I spent 2-3 days just casually going through practice exams and passed easily.
 
At this point, since I am not certified at all, I am going for the Strata IT Fundamentals, then I will be moving on to whatever one they ask me to. Apparently all I need is one certification to start there, and then, as I get more, they will move me up the food chain.

I have taken a few practice tests already, and I fell somewhat comfortable with it, except a few things, like Dot Matrix stuff.
 
A+ isn't worth much....nor is N+

Certificates can get you past HR and look good on your resume....in some circles it shows initiative.

CCNA and MCSE, VMware, hyperV ....those are worth a bit more.

And if you learn along the way...that is the greatest benefit.

There are numerous thread in the forum on this topic. Just use the search function.
 
Go get your VCP from VMWare, the market for VMWare is huge and you'll benefit your company by bringing that experience in house.
 
A+ is easy if you already have good IT background. I passed it from the first try, and I took it just before the new renewal system which sucks( I don't think I'll be taking any more CompTIA that need renewals). IMO, you don't need to buy stuff. Free online materials should be enough. Start with A+, then go with the more valuable certificates like CCNA.
 
Get two or three free online practice tests for the A+. If you can comfortably pass those, you should do fine on the real tests. If not, you should have found the area(s) you need to study. My A+ and Security+ scores were both within a couple points of the practice test scores. Don't trust the results from just one practice test.
Then get hired on the new job. Repeat the process for pay increases. Find out what equipment/systems they use and/or are planing to migrate to. Work on certifications for those. They may even let you use existing equipment to practice on.
 
Mackintire said:
CCNA and MCSE, VMware, hyperV ....those are worth a bit more.

And if you learn along the way...that is the greatest benefit.
Click to expand...

I tend to agree with this. Real certifications like those mentioned above are worthwhile. Garbage like CompTIA's crap aren't.

sram said:
A+ is easy if you already have good IT background.
Click to expand...

A+ is easy if you have a pulse. The fact that government jobs actually attach any form of value to the certification at all angers me, because it suggests that they're not actually doing a good job of selecting employees, and if they're not doing that right, they can't be spending money efficiently. If somebody is being paid with public money (a.k.a. my tax dollars), I want them to be hired because they know what they're doing, not because they have a piece of paper that says they passed the easiest test in the history of the developed world. Poor hiring decisions cost money in the long run.
 
I appreciate all the responses, and while I will at some point venture into VMWare and all that good stuff, where I am going to be working is looking for CompTIA specifically. I don't have the luxury of getting the Certifications that I want right now, so I need to study and learn CompTIA tests and pass them first, then I can go for the other ones.

Also, this company, while looking for a guy like me, is actually a massive company of over 3-5000 employees across 27 locations. They were specific in what they asked for, so I need to deliver.

I will just continue to take practice tests online and study free resources until i get the knowledge to pass the exams.

Thanks everyone.

EDIT: Just as a side note, this is a Government owned business, but it is not a non-profit organization. They are in the healthcare field and don't completely rely on your tax dollars to pay their way.
 
Zacron said:
I will just continue to take practice tests online and study free resources until i get the knowledge to pass the exams.
Click to expand...

I haven't read through the entire thing to judge the quality, but I know there are Wikibooks like this one floating around. It looks like a lot of the content comes from Wikipedia, but I can't imagine it'd be less helpful than nothing at all.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Network_Plus_Certification
 
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