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Greetings!

First time here and I am already enjoying. I look forward to share and acquire new knowledge with you guys! And girls!

As a cliché, my first question is: Where to get money for all those Certifications ?



___
/m3lt

 

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Welcome to CF!

What are you aiming to study? Do you work in IT already?

 

Hi Welcome

I am not sure what you mean by money for certifications, if you mean how do you pay for them you use a credit or debit card to pay for the exams.

 

Hey thanks for the welcome posts!

I do not work in IT at the moment, I am actually very unemployed, sadly.
My experience in IT goes back to the days when computers had a "TURBO" button in the tower, more specifically the 386/486's time. Good old times...
Since then I have gained alot of practical experience as well as some certifications outside the usual IT/Hardware area, mainly Autodesk AutoCAD, Autodesk VIZi and Autodeks 3D Studio Max.

As some people here, I have the knowledge but unfortunately long are the days where you could get a job based on a practical interview/exam, so I am now planning my certification routes to officially show what I do know.
I was advised to start with A+/N+ followed by MCDST and posteriorly MCSE and MCSA (I'm not totally sure if its viable both or just one).

Regarding the funds, I got some money set aside solely for the exams, since I am doing the study part on my own. I already have the books and I have access to all the study material available, including practice exams and DVD's. (long live the usenet)
But my question was not that specific I know, what I meant was: Is there some goverment help to aid my studies, financially speaking ?

Thanks for all the replies!

___
/m3lt

 

I like to use other people's money to pay for my certifications. Since robbing a bank is a crime, I tend to just ask my employer to pay for them. In 10 years of being in IT, I haven't had one employer refuse to buy books or pay for exams.

Now, if you're not already in IT, it becomes a bit more complicated, but not overly so... you just save up enough money for books and the exam, buy the books, study the books, pay for the exam, and take the exam.

...how you get that money is entirely up to you. Working for it is probably a bit more dignified than panhandling on a streetcorner, but you can use whatever works for your particular situation.

Welcome to the forums!

 

I hope you're not advocating what I think you're advocating...

...Mikey doesn't like it when people steal his books and practice exams...

 

you can self study for the certs and save money by only paying for exams, if you want to do a course you can get in touch with learning direct through the job centre.

But I hope you are not using braindumps etc.

 

Hi there and welcome to CF

 

What he said... braindumps prove nothing... and can get you decertified if you are found to have used them...

 

Hey, I agree regarding the braindumping thing... It would be "cheating" to myself!
I do not want volatile knowledge.

About the whereabouts or the sources of my study materials, I have spent just little over £300 on them, totalling 27 books. The rest I got from other sources, including my dearest local library.

And well Mikey does not need to be worried with me. I might check out a PDF or so to see if the material is indeed good, but I always go for the book itself (for practical reasons and because I need to save my eyesight)... And that my friend, you can't download!

What are though, the options available for those who are in financial need ?

 

Welcome to CF! If you've got the books and have the money for the exams, what more do you need? Get going

 

Ah, Mikey is happier now. You must understand my concern... the Usenet (and indeed, the Internet) is filled with places to download my hard work for free.

To be honest, you've pretty much found the options available for those without a lot of cash to spend... the Internet, the library, technical documentation within the software or OS. You can often borrow books from other techie friends. Amazon has used books, and there are plenty of other used book sources online. Practice exams usually have licensing restrictions that allow only a single user to use the product, so unfortunately, those can't legally be shared. I'm under no illusions that that's never done... but I thought I'd throw all the legal stuff out there for you.

 

Yeah, I understand the concern.

But regarding the options I have available for me, I have a few things to learn and sort first.

Perhaps this isn't the right place to ask them, but since we are at it, I might give it a shot:

-Is the A+ exam voucher you buy at either Prometric/VUE valid for only one exam or both ?

I was confused at this because at CompTIA website, they wrote this in the description:

"CompTIA A+® VUE Voucher Expiration June 30, 2008 CompTIA
Member Price : $128.00
Non Member Price : $163.00
Members Save : 21.00 %

Certification candidates and employers can purchase vouchers directly from CompTIA. You can use these vouchers for the CompTIA A+ Essentials, 220-602 (IT Technician), 220-603 (Remote Support Technician) and 220-604 (Depot Technician) exams. These CompTIA A+ exam vouchers are available in limited quantities and are valid at any Pearson VUE testing center."

Noticed that they employ the use of "AND" and not "OR"... So I am here wondering if they mean that the voucher itself is for the whole A+ certification, or only a partial exam that comprizes A+.
I also went to other websites that sell these vouchers, but they were not clear enough.

The rest of the options I have concerns with, are really the financial part. I was wondering if something like the Career Development Loan would "help" me with loans that are less that £1000 or if there is any other company that would do something similar.

Being a student these days is not easy, long were the days that the only thing we would have to worry about, would be in the studies and how to pass the exams sucessfully...

I will be reviewing the links and free material posted here, I particularly enjoyed the guid to self-study, gives us that little confidence boost to go out there and give the fingers to business like CompuTeach!

By the way...

___
/m3lt

 

Each voucher is good for only one exam. Expensive, yes... but consider it an investment in your career.

Logistically speaking, there'd be no way to use a voucher to pay for two A+ exams, as the exams must be scheduled separately (you can certainly schedule them for the same day, if you're brave, but you must register for each exam separately).

 

One voucher one exam thats the way it works.

And just so you know since you are in UK you want to buy UK vouchers for the exams, look on the UK sites of prometric and VUE for purchasing vouchers.

Or you can buy International vouchers from gracetechsolutions.com

 

Heya and Welcome to CF!

Becki x

 

Heya, thanks!

By the way, I love your avatar.

 

Hello & welcome