Hi all, a noob drops by to say hello , , ,

Discussion in 'New Members Introduction' started by portion, Feb 6, 2008.

  1. portion

    portion New Member

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    Hi everyone,
    Firstly, apologies if the info i am asking for is already somewhere in the forum, as i am at work i do not have too much time to trawl through the posts , , ,ok, i will jump in with my first questions :

    1. A+ certification. Firstly, let me give you some of my background :

    I was building and repairing 386's 486's back in the early 90's ( i can throw a pc together in my sleep, even when you had to do the hard bits like physical jumper settings , , )
    then i went to work for realtime distribution ( been bought by VIP since then ) where i was a technical sales advisor, specing out and selling systems to user requirements. ( biggest system i did back then was a £30,000 scsi raid system for a newspaper )
    I then spent two years running a repair contract with the american military air bases ( horrible ! dealing with the american military produces enough red tape to wrap every valentines day prezzie in the country ! )

    I was then made redundant, and worked in a cr**py office job as a temp ( for the last seven years )

    o.k. that is my history. Now, i have just looked at the 'practice'e evams for A+ , and without revising, or looking up anything in my textbooks from years ago, i got 550 out of 900.

    so my questions are ( finally ) :
    1. am i overthinking the A+ cert ( i.e. do you pros think i will be able to pass it with a few weeks of revising stuff and updating my knowledge base )
    2. Where can i take the exam, and how much ( aprox ) does it cost.

    I was thinking about signing up to an A+ 'bootcamp' but having looked at th4e practice tests, i am now thinking that i may not need as much training as i thought, , ,

    also, if you are still reading by now, , , what is the learning curve to go from A+ to MCP ?

    please let me know if i have commited any crimes of etticate on the forum, and please accep mi spelign misatkes ! :D
    any feedback is greatly appreciated , , , ,
    Many many thanks !
    PORTION
     
  2. nXPLOSi

    nXPLOSi Terabyte Poster

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    Welcome to CF :)

    I wouldn't think you'd need any sort of bootcamp etc.. even people with no knowledge can pick up the A+ topics without tutor led training. Try picking up the Mike Meyers A+ All In One - 6th Edition, its a big book but dont be put off, if you can already throw together a PC, you'll already know alot of it. With your experience you shouldn't take *too* long to be ready for the exams, but its hard to put a timeline on it until you get a few books and have a look through them.

    The A+ consists of two exams, priced at (roughly) 120-130 quid each, done mine a while back with vouchers, which are not as available in recent times! 90 questions each, 90 minutes to complete. You can take them at a Pearson Vue or Prometric test centre, they dotted all over the place so have a look at their websites and have a look which one has a centre nearer to you.

    As for the A+ level to MCP level, its thought that the MCP exams are harder, but there are still entry level certs such as MCDST which I don't believe is a major jump, although others may disagree. Although looking at higher level certs such as MCSA/MCSE, there is a noticable jump in knowledge and experience needed to study and pass the exams!

    I hope i've answered your questions, but dont hesitate to ask more if I haven't. :)
     
    Certifications: A+, Network+, Security+, MCSA 2003 (270, 290, 291), MCTS (640, 642), MCSA 2008
    WIP: MCSA 2012
  3. portion

    portion New Member

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    many thanks nXPLOSi, that does answer my questions perfectly. i will look for some books. and if i have any further quesries, i wil ldrop a note in the forums.

    thanks again !

    PORTION
     
  4. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Welcome!

    You can certainly do the A+ through self study. I'd also recommend the Meyers book. Considering your past experience, you may not need any labs... but if you do, I'd recommend PC Technician Street Smarts by James Pyles, our very own Tripwire45. :)
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  5. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    Hi Welcome :)

    I agree with whats been said.
     
    Certifications: A+, N+, MCDST, Security+, 70-270
    WIP: 70-620 or 70-680?
  6. interceptor

    interceptor New Member

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    Hi all, i'm new to this forum and new to A+ - I am starting my A+ course in a couple of weeks one night a week at my local college and dreading what might be in store for me so I will be relying on this forum to get through the next 18 weeks so wish me luck and nice to be here!
     
  7. GiddyG

    GiddyG Terabyte Poster Gold Member

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    Welcome to CF! Best of luck with your studies and the exam.
     
  8. Notes_Bloke

    Notes_Bloke Terabyte Poster

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    Hi & welcome to CF!:D

    Good luck with the studies!

    NB
     
    Certifications: 70-210, 70-215, A+,N+, Security+
    WIP: MCSA

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