Need some advice from people who actually took the 801/802 exam

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I have read through few pages from this forum but have yet to find an answer, so I decided to ask the questions more specifically.

let me start with a brief background of mine: I have been building/fixing computer since I was 12. I graduated with an A.S. degree in IT recently. I have been looking for an entry level job for two months but I'm not having any luck due to my lack of work experience (however, I did go to a few interviews.) I have talked to a few IT staffing agency and most of them urge me to get a A+ to prove my competence in troubleshooting. I went ahead and watched all the videos from Professer Messer and felt confident in passing the exam. As a final step, I Downloaded a few sims to see if I'm really ready (note that I'm a poor student so I don't have the money to retake the real exam). The simulated exam really stressed me out with all the numbers that I need to memorize and I'm not sure if I can ace the exam now.

Here is my question for those who actually took the 801802 exam:

1) How detail oriented is the exam? The questions that trip me the most are something like "what is the maximum length of a USB 2.0 cable?", "name the color/voltage of pin xx on the PSU", "What is the size of the data bus and the L1 cache on a Core 2 Duo CPU?", "What is the range of Bluetooth transmitter/receivers? " I have a very good grasp on the concept and how everything works(as I mentioned I build and fix countless computer since I was 12). But I find it very hard to memorize all the number that is not all that important.

2) If the answer for above question is "yes, it is very detailed". what method did you use to memorize all the numbers? all the cable length, OS requirement, pin numbers... they are just too overwhelming. I am considering to make a cheat sheet and rely on the flash memory of my brain 15 minutes before the exam (I heard that they provide a white board so i can brain dump everything on it).

thank you for answer my questions. Job hunting and Studying at the same time is really stressful.

 

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I took the 701/2 series and therefore I cannot answer a question directly related to the 801/2 exam. The exam I took was all multiple choice, but also for those that are A+ certified in any exam series, you will find that we cannot directly answer any part of the questions you have asked due to the non-disclosure agreement.

At the same time, you are never going to be able to remember everything and as you know there will be 100 questions with 90 minutes to cover these. I printed out a cheat sheet and before the exam I read through it for an hour, just to refresh myself on anything but again I would never have remembered it all, and there may be points on the cheat sheet that come up in the exam, as well as some questions in the exam that you never studied for in detail. The best advice I can give you is don't panic, you can only do your best and i'm sure you'll be fine.

Good luck

 

I am in the exact same shoes as you! Been looking for entry level job for two months straight out of uni and lack the money to sit a A+

 

Repetition repetition repetition I remember constantly re-reading the same stuff over and over and I passed both exams by just a few points it's not easy at all due to the wide range of topics included. Once you have passed the A+ and you will, all other courses will feel easier as they are focussed more on one select system. Good luck and keep at it. I passed in 2004 and I am a Network Manager now. I push my technicians to do the A+ as it is such a valuable course and I use and remember what I learnt so much even now.