New and confused

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Hi guys..

First of all many many apologies as I am sure this has been asked a million times before, and i've read around the forums but I haven't come across a definative answer.

I am looking to get into the IT industry and after doing some research and nearly commiting to paying £5k to a training provider, I decided that I will try and obtain the A+ and N+ certifications on my own.

The things I need help with is the few questions I have which have got me all confused:

1. There seems to be many many books on the A+ exam, which is the best one for someone like me who is determined to get into IT but values practical hands on learning above all?

2. Is the A+ exam about to be changed or am I just going crazy?

3. How do I go about getting ready for the exam? just work through the book and then book an exam when I am ready? or is there another process? and where and who takes the exams?

Any other pointers to help me get started on my to obtaining A+ and N+ with self-study will be much appreciated.

Once again, apologies for the asking very mundane questions.

 

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1. Get the A+ All-in-One Exam Guide 6th Edition by Mike Meyers and PC Technician Street Smarts by James Pyles.

2. No, it was just updated in 2006. Therefore, you're just going crazy.

3. Study the books until you completely understand the concepts. Then take the exam. You can book the exam either through VUE or Prometric, and take it at whatever time is available at the testing center closest to you. Simple as that.

 

Hi Welcome

First don't go with a training provider you don't need one.

Second the best two book books for the A+ are CompTia A+ all in one exam guide by Mike Meyers 6th edition and PC technician street smarts by James pyles.

Third get some practice exams for the A+ (theres a disk in the Mike Meyers book with some on.

When your confident enough register with Person Vue or Prometric (whichever one is nearest you) book the exams and take them (you need to pass two to become A+ certified the most common ones are 220-601 and 220-602.

The exams did change a while ago, at the end of june I believe so there won't be any other changes for a while.

 

You beat me to it

 

Welcome to CF Tully I had the same questions when I started out!

1. The book you want in my opinion is the Mike Meyers All In One A+, 6th Edition. Its very easy to read and understand and will help you alot. If you have funds for a second book, go with the Street Smarts by James Pyles (Tripwire45 in these forums!). Its a hands on book that'll run through many tasks that will aid your learning.

2. The A+ exams have already changed recently, so you have nothing to worry about. You'll need to pass A+ Essentials (220-601) and then an elective of 220-602 / 603 / 604. Most people go with the 601, and i'd recommend that if your starting out.

3.1. Thats a hard question, what I personally did was read through the book, and then took a practice test (That comes included with the Meyers book) and realised were my weak areas were. I then went over that chapter again, wrote notes, and basicly kept doing that til I learnt it. Once you start reading the book, you'll probably develop your own style of learning as I did!

3.2. The exams can be done at any prometic or pearson vue testing centre, they're dotted all over the place so have a look on the website's for your nearest one. (Have a search on google for prometic or pearson vue for the web addresses). The exams cost around 120 quid each, are 90 minutes long and contain between 90-100 questions.

My only other pointers would be to order the books, start reading and see how quickly you progress, then have another look at your situation in a couple of weeks or a month!

Good luck with the A+, if you have any other questions, I've been there and done the A+ recently, so feel free to fire away!

 

Thank you so much guys for all hte replies.

I'll order the book straight away and get the ball rolling.

 

Hi Tully,

Your profile doesn't state where your from, I'm guessing the UK, but before you run out and start buying up books and study material, check the link below to the CompTIA Calendar first. If you're taking the exam in Germany, or taking the Japanese or Korean versions in one of those countries, you'll need material for the 220-301 and 220-302 exams. Ireland and the UK along with several other countries retired the older materials as of 6/30/07, so you should be OK with the 220-601, 220-602, 220-603, and the 220-604 depending on your electives.

http://certification.comptia.org/a/New_A_Calendar.aspx

Have fun,
Bill

 

Thanks Bill, that is certainly a valid point.

I am from the UK, and i'll be taking my test in the UK as well. Also, can you please expand on what you mean when you say "electives" please.

Thanks in advance

 

They are exams that you can choose to take as part of a certification.

On the other hand there are exams that are compulsory.

 

On the A+ Certification Exam, the 220-601 (Essentials) is a required exam. The 220-602 (IT Technician), 220-603 (Remote Support Technician), and the 220-604 (Depot Technician) are all elective exams and the completion of one of these is also required. These are designed to address certification options for specific job scenarios.

Depending upon your own needs or ambitions, you may decide to complete any one of the electives to gain certification. You can research each of these from the CompTIA website ( http://certification.comptia.org/a/default.aspx ), or if you are already employed in an IT related position, you might check with your employer or supervisor to see if one might be more beneficial than the others.

Good Luck with your studies,
Bill

 

The usual recomendation is that, unless there are compelling reasons otherwise, the 602 elective is the best one to go for.

Harry.

 

I agree with Harry. The Essentials and the IT Technician are very similar exams. General consensus is that there are a few more customer service related questions on the 602 than the 601, but most seem to be more a matter of common sense dealing with common courtesies and customer interaction.

 

I see no one has put this piece of advice on this thread, so I'll add it myself.

Whatever you do, do not use just books to study for any certification. Get as much hands-on work as you possibly can. That is where you will be able to really put the concepts together with reality and actually gain some skills. And, skills are the real point of any certification program, not the stupid little piece of paper you get afterwards.

 

To kind of go from the last post I'd advise you that doing the cert will ot prepare you for a job in IT. All it will do is help you learn some of the basic concepts of IT and computing. Be prepared that when you get that first job in IT that you find the the actaul info you learn is not directly invovled in what you do. rather the cert will give you a piece of paper that shows you have a certain level of knowledge not how well you can apply it in real life.

Experiebnce > Certification every day so the quicker you can get yourself some experience the better off you will be....

 

Couldn't agree with you more guys.

I appreciate the value of experience over a peice of paper. So I plan on getting as much hands on experience as I can get, even if that means just buying cheap components and putting a PC together for myself. I am currently applying to as many entry level IT jobs as I can, but where I become unstuck is when the employeer asks about my knowledge of IT skills. I know that an entry level job doesn't require a high end certification, but they do however require the very basic of IT skills which I am currently lacking but hoping to gain from doing my A+, Im kinda in the chicken of the egg situation.

Is there anything you guys can recommend that will help in getting more 'hands-on' experience? (apart from getting an IT job obviously, which I am trying to do)

 

You could get your hands on two or three old PCs and start performing modifications on them (upgrading RAM, installing a CPU, and such). You could also buy all of the components and make a PC from scratch.

You could volunteer at some sort of non-profit organization (charity, church, etc...) and upgrade/optimize/maintain their computers.

If you have a non-IT job in a place that has an IT department, you could volunteer to do their low-level PC maintenance tasks in exchange for the experience.

Just a few ideas.

 

One word "volunteer"! Find your local PC repair shop or if you already have a job the your IT dept and say "Hi, i'm looking to get a casreer in IT but have no experience. Would you be happy for my to perhaps shadow someone here and help out in my spare time just to get some experience?" someone out there will say yes even if it means you don't get to do anything exciting or even get tons of hands on time it looks amazing on your CV and if you can get a good reference off them then so much the better....