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Anyone have A+ Certification?
Is it good enough to get a job with that alone?
Im looking for a career field that i dont need years of College.
Im 32 with not enough time or money for full time school.
Some places won't bother looking at you if you don't have A+ certification for whatever ridiculous reason. The way I think about it is if they don't even want to consider my past work history because I don't have A+ then I would probably hate the red tape and work atmosphere there anyways.
One day I was talking to a girl at my old job who already had some sort of associates degree in networking and was immersed in some book. She asked me what I thought about A+ cert and I told her it was a joke and if a person already didn't know 90% of what A+ is meant to confirm then they shouldn't be in the computer field anyways.
I felt bad when she got up and left and I saw the cover of the huge A+ book she was lugging around.
Would I get a perfect score on a A+ test without studying? I seriously doubt it, there is always something a person doesn't know, but I bet I would pass.
I was rambling but yes I bet there are a ton of companies out there that would hire you on A+ alone. If I were to go for a certification I would go for one of the fancier certs like CCNA or anything security related.
Last edited by J Arp; 08-13-2008 at 01:45 PM..
Reason: more
I am looking to change careers from banking and into something that is more stable.
Last October started my A+ Essentials, and finished the A+ Technician course. The school was pushing me to continue taking networking, and security courses.
After finishing my two classes, in May started looking around and noticed that there were only a few computer positions available. I also felt the school was pushing to get more money out of me, by me taking more classes.
I later found a website that offered the same in-class videos, at one/10th less then what the school was charging me.
The computers more and more people are using have newer operating systems (Vista). I was trained on Windows 98, 2000, and XP. Next year Microsoft will be phasing out Vista with a new operating system called Windows 7.
Trying to make a living in computers is becoming tougher these days.
I found an online school (Empire College), looking to finish my Business degree. Its $181 per credit. Going to pursue an accounting degree, possibly becoming a CPA.
from what i understand, you should google, or whatever search engine you prefer, look for "Occupational Outlook Handbook" or "Guide to Occupational Exploration" .
I personally would not hire you on that particular cert alone. The same goes for MCSE, CCNA, or many of the vendor based certs. All of these, along with a good resume of quality job experiences will put you above your competition. But just the cert? No way. There have been too many cases where a motivated individual have proven that actual experience is not necessary to attain these certs. The quality management or credential validation is simply not there.
Meaning that as long as you pass the test, you are certified.
You may get your foot in the door... but it'll take the hiring manager 2 minutes to realize that you have no skills (if that is the case). I have countless stories of interviewing people with all kinds of certs who obviously had no clue.... A CCNA that couldn't tell me the difference between a router and a bridge, or a RHCT that couldn't fully explain how to get single-user mode etc.
Just my .02 of course.
However, there is definitely no harm in learning the material to increase your knowledge....Just keep in mind that in this day and age - certs are really icing on the cake. You want to work on the "baking a good cake" part....
I took the course for it, but never took the test. I doubt it couldn't be bad. I think it would open the door for work in the IT field. I was lucky and got my training in the military where you don't need certs for a job. Now remember thou that a A+ will just be able to verify basic skills, and I doubt you can move beyond geek squad or any other type of PC technician work. You have to get your MCSE(soon to be MCITP) or CCNA to start doing some heavy lifting. Then from there you can even move further into the big money jobs.
Just check the employers in your area. Find out what they are looking for. All of the big job hunting sites should give you an idea of who is hiring and what they want. Obviously A+ is very entry level. That cert got me started though. I then went on to Net+, MCP, and an associates in networking. Experience is the biggie.
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