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I am not saying it is obsolete as a subject,but it's value is dropping rapidly with fast learning processes.

I should also say, just to do the hands on exercises for the A+ more than 20 hours is set aside for students to handle pc equipment,install stuff, build a pc,configure cards and settings.

You won't get any of that with a £50 course,which is another reason these people are going to be poor at what they are doing.
They could actually pass the A+ never having handled a pc or touched any hardware.

 

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Your probably right that you wont get proper learning with a £50 course but not every course is the same and not every student is the same.

Someone may do the course the go home and practice stuff. You dont really need to be an expert for the A+ as its a beginners cert, it teaches you the basics. If you can do stuff like configure cards then your past A+ level already.

or you may get someone who just attends the course then does nothing when they go home thats upto them and has nothing to do with the value of the cert itself.

I actually don't think it's possible to pass the A+ with atleast a little experience wether this is at home or in a class or in a job unless the student had some other prior experience.

 

Nobody says that certifications automagically make someone capable of being a good tech. However, I'd rather hire someone with certifications than without, as their knowledge has been SOMEWHAT tested.

Besides... if they can learn it in 24 hours, more power to them. Again, I'm not validating the methods used by training providers... I'm simply dismissing as false your allegation that inexpensive and short training courses make a certification "useless". A certification won't become useless unless and until employers stop believing they're useful. And that's not likely to happen in the case of an entry-level cert like the A+.

Okay... but a training course doesn't invalidate the cert! Who can say whether or not the training course folks don't put extra time in studying? We cannot.

Again, where is your proof that no real effort is being made just because someone takes a course?

No, it doesn't, but only you are saying that that's what people are doing.

Okay... none of that makes the A+ "worthless"... these are not qualifications that automagically qualify you to do a job! These are simply certifications, which state that you possess a baseline level of knowledge (not experience) that enables you to answer questions correctly.

 

Again, false. 5-day Microsoft and Cisco courses have been around for YEARS and their value isn't dropping rapidly because of them. Sure, braindumps cause a drop in value... but that's an entirely different issue.

Just because someone takes a 24-hour course doesn't mean those students don't do hands on stuff. Consider, I **could** read the A+ book from cover to cover in LESS than 24 hours... but still not know how to do anything OR to pass the exam. So length is irrelevant.

You also can't say that EVERYONE coming out of these training courses are poor at what they're doing... that's illogical - it generalizes all TP students into the same bucket. And while SOME are poor, SOME are good... just like people who study using self-study methods.

You COULD do the same just by reading Meyers book, if your memory was good enough and if you are good at taking tests. So? What does that prove? How would YOU make it harder? Dude... it's an ENTRY-LEVEL exam.

 

I have become aware that there r many different A+ parts that can be undertaken. e.g 602/603/604.....

the A+ course i am doing includes these contents below then i will obtain the Comptia A0, Do u think that the modules chosen will provide a sufficient A qualification?

Essentials-part A
Essentials-Part B
220-602-Part A
220-602 -Part B

 

Yes is the easy answer.

exam 602/603 and 604 are just extensions of the first.
From what i have seen they are a bit too easy really compared to the main exam, the 601.

604 was simple,i actually got annoyed with myself that i didn't get every single question correct as they were so simple.

I'm really not sure they should make this a 2 exam subject,one difficult exam, covering every subject in detail,might have been better.

 

It's been a two-exam certification for as long as I can remember... back in the dark ages, the A+ used to be split into the A+ Hardware and A+ OS exams. Nowadays, there's a ton of overlap between the four exams... doesn't really make much sense to study for them individually anymore.

 

I really don't think anyone is capable of going from zero to hero in only 24 hours so the claim that this course could churn out a ton of people who don't know what they are doing is a bit spurious.

I reckon Meyer's AIO is a 24 hours course too, I could go through everything once in around 24 hours, but it doesn't mean I'd retain any/all of the knowledge. You know yourself how much lists of things you have to have memorised, unless someone already knows most of these it'll take a fair bit of effort.
Anyone who knows/learns enough, through legitimate means, to pass deserves their cert and I don't feel it devalues mine at all.

Passing the A+ does not create an all-round repair person, it merely shows that that person has some knowledge that can be built on.
To stretch your analogy, since A+ is aimed at certifying people with 6 (or is it 9?) months experience it's the decorators equivalent of knowing how to mix paint, clean brushes, keep the kettle (both varieties) filled and one end of a dust-sheet from another. No one is going to ask you to repaint the town hall at this point, no matter how cheap you are. That's why there's not a glut of inexperienced apprentice P&Ds striking out on their own and why experienced P&Ds can charge professional rates.
Same in IT.

 

This 24hr arguement I think anyone knows that certs alone aren't enough to do this job and experience is essential as well. I don't think anyone in their right mind could think that in 24hrs they are a qualified IT professional but I don't think these courses actually set out to say this.

IMHO the A+ is good as a starting point for anyone wanting to gain knowledge in the industry and to use it as a stepping stone to more regarded certs like MCSA/MCSE & CCNA etc. but as for it being a well regarded cert I don't think it holds much if any recognition with employers. I certainly wouldn't throw money at a training provider for it unless you are a total beginner. I would look at colleges or self study as a much cheaper alternative.