Hey guys, Question...

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First off, just wanted to say hello! Looks like an awesome community here.

What I really wanted to know from you guys is what age were you when you got your first cert, and how long did it take you to get it? Also, any other certs after that?

Thanks

 

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Well, after 20+ years in the heating and air conditioning business, I wanted to try working with computers, so at age 34 I got my A+ cert, followed by Net+, and them MCSA.

Then again, I've been building pc's since the Win 3.1 days.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I got my first one (A+) at 36.

 

Hi there and welcome to CF. I'm 32 and going to start my first cert in November

 

Welcome to the forum mate.

Got my first MCP at 46, MCSE at 49

 

Hi and welcome!

I got my first cert about 8 months ago. And I'm way past my half-century!

Harry.

 

First real cert about 7/8 months ago (A+) at the ripe old age of 26.

 

That's awesome guys, thanks for all the replies. The main reason I Ask is because I just hit 20 in March and I've been working with computers since I was... about 15 I would say. I went to a vocational school for last two years in highschool that was basically a 3 hour course everyday in A+ and Net+.

I'm kind of kicking myself now because I could have easily gone for my A+ right out of school and got it and most likely after a little more studying, I could of had my Net+.

Somethings did happen in my life (I won't bore you with them ) that threw me off right after highschool and kinda put a hault on things. I remember at one point I had 2 servers runing in my room. 1. A FreeBSD webserver, and 2. A linux server running a Counter-Strike game server. On top of that I had my beefy gaming rig which I built (would never buy a desktop PC) and ontop of that a Thinkpad laptop. Also to add to that during my last year in highschool and the year after I was hired by the school to work with the Network Admin to just maintain the networks, run new CAT5 cables, and setup new networks for thet student and teacher domains.....


BUT... It's been 1 full year since all of that where I basically haven't even touched a computer. I sold everything I owned, every last piece of hardware for odd reasons. I bought an IBM x23 notebook just to have something. Anyway to get to the point, I'm getting the "inner-geek" back and trying to get back into everything hardcore. I thought I might as well re-read all my A+/Net+ books (which are 2 years old) and maybe go for my certs instead of spending thousands on college.

Sorry to bore you guys, just had to get that out to explain why I asked for age and how long it took for you to get your cert. Did it take you guys months to get a cert?

 

welcome to CF
i just got my A+ cert, i'm 24 and trying to break into IT took me about 1 month to get A+ hardware and 1 month for OS, keeping in mind i already had knowledge about most of the operating systems they taught about...

 

Some are harder than others, the A+ Net+ are considered entry level certs and so you might want to take your time, just to get the hang of studying again. The 70-216 MS Network infrastructure, otherwise known as the beast, took me 10 months , ISA took me almost a year before I felt ready.

Bear in mind that it is not a race, other things crop up in life and the time it might take will depend on various things, like your commitment, your previous knowledge and how much of the additional material you really want to learn. Personally I try and learn the necessary topics inside out but that may not be necessary.

It is not the certification that is important, it is the knowledge. Hence take your time and make sure you really understand the material. Otherwise, it is a waste of time and money.

 

Top advice from Bluerinse .

First cert (A+) at 25

Good luck with your studies.

Si

 

First cert (MCP) at 20. Took me a couple of months.

 

First cert at 19 in Windows 98.

Was a great feeling!

 

I definitely understand. I know this is stupid but to me it feels like I've wasted so much time already and I just turned 20! Like my life is over... stupid huh? But I suppose it doesn't hurt to get back into it and it sure does help that I know a lot of the stuff already, I just don't know the "in-depth" parts.

What sparked this erge in me to get my certs was because I met up with a really old friend of mine who basically got me into computers. I haven't talked to him in over 4 years and I just got a hold of him the other day and come to find out he already has his A+, Net+, Linux+, and Server+ certs... and he's 19! And it just made me think wow, Why didn't I take this more seriously...

But anyway, enough with the ranting. I really want to start on this like right now and not waste anymore time. I have an A+ and Net+ book from 2002, do you think this is too old for the current exams and should I look into buying newer books?

 

Well, I woke up at 10:30am this morning, ate some breakfast and banged out 5 chapters in the A+ passport book.

1. Connectors / Ports
2. Basic Precaution and Safety / Cleaning
3. Motherboards / Buses / Power supplies
4. CMOS Setup Utility
5. Processors

Man was that some great refreshing of memory... I think I'll read a couple more later today, take a few practice tests and call it a day.

Do you guys generally read a full book then do practice exams or do some practice exams between chapers? I suppose it depends on the person and their study habbits. I think I'm becoming more confident in myself to reach these certs in very reasonable timing. And believe me, I know it's not a race, I just hate wasting time!

 

I haven't done the A+ but from what I have read on this forum, it would seem sensible to study from the latest Mike Myers all in one tome. Your study material might be out of date!

 

hey techzero, the book might be a bit old, u can go to a book store and try matching chapters with the old one see if anything fits in there, otherwise u'll have to buy a new one.