New to certifications

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Hi all,
New member here just looking for the best ways to move forward with this certification method. Obvioulsy i am sure many are aware that the job market is very bad at the moment and i am looking at making ways for my c.v to get more notice on monster and the like.
It had been in the back of my mind that at my age (30) the best way to change or move into the I.T field from Education ( fulltime special needs assistant ) and Pro athelte (Basketball ) would be to get some qualifications under my belt as it has been a very long time since i did any I.T work ( 6 years ago - at University getting my degree in CIS ) Later this year ( May ) i will have alot more time to self study at my disposal and possibly get my A+ and Network + by the end of July. I am wanting to get some feed back if people think that is possible, i am willing to study for say two months or so and then go on a Firebrand type course to get it all out the way so to speak ! Then as the summer holidays approach offer my services to local business` in the area as help/cover over the summer holiday period, the best dates for me to potentially go on the firebrand type course to get the qualifactions done and fill in gaps in my knowledge are from Monday the 4th of June to the 11th June, this would give me 5 weeks of studying after the basketball season finished at night ( say 2-3hrs a day ) and then the refresher course / get the certs with firebrand in June ( hopefully they offer a suitable date ). Fingers crossed i pass i can then write a letter to all the local IT business` and say im available to help out Summer Intern from July 20th until August 6th .....
What does everyone think to this ?

 

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So after much deliberation and surfing others posts and views on the above i have decided to book the initial A+ examination (220-701 essentials) for The first week in April at the local test centre, that gives me approximately 100 days to study and i have probably already a major grasp of the fiurst 4 chapers in mike meyers book will revist them anyway ! Of course its a fine time scaler but with a good 6-10 hours study a week i think i can get it done! I figured i would roll the dice on self study seeing as i have alot of materials to hand already and the test cost me £130 including VAT and anytime rebooking ! Basically instead of dumping £2300 to firebrand i figured id book the course for three months time and then see actually can i pass it myself and gain some valuable study skills plus safe the money .... Ya get me? haha i do amuse myself

Anyways i will be blogging the next three months...

 

Slightly worried by this site level of security as it will not me post that FreeAPlus is an excellent website with some veyr good resources on it....

Using these Two books

A complete guide to A+ all in one (p1300 - mike meyers )

Comptia A+ Q&A

 

You're a new member, the restriction will lift after a few posts. It's basically there to stop spammers joining and spamming us with links to whatever cr@p they're punting.

 

Well after 8 days of study im haflway through the initial domain ( hardware ) on the 701 exam, i am actually quite enjoying studying but cant see how im going to remember all the information ! I have looked at the other domains ( 6 in total ) actually the hardware section is the biggest , and is weighted quite heavily towards on the exam i plan on maybe studying this one for 14 days even if am finished with it after 10 , just recap and so on because some of the domains are very short and wont take me anywhere near as long , I have around 100 days to get this one done ! Im 8 days in and feeling confident

 

Though id let you all know how study is going! After 15 days i have gotten through about a third of the a + 701 requirements, i have watched videos and made notes plus some flash cards on sections:
1.0 Hardware (27% of exam)
5.0 Security (10% of exam )

After i had done this i then tested myself on both sections totally 120 questions for hardware ( 84 out of 120 ) then i got 40 questions for security (29 out of 40 ) i was quite pleased as i am hovering just over 70% for the two sections i hope to get through the other 4 sections fairly quickly using the same sort of study scheme. Then revise the syllabus and take two full exams if i score over 70% on the practises i am gonna move my April 5th date forward considerably... Things are going well

 

Nice work Englishkid19, keep it up and good luck.

You've motivated me to get my arse in gear.

 

Keep up the good work

One word of advice I would give is not to get over certified, getting the A+ is a good start but don't go overboard where exams are concerned, the idea behind certification is to prove your real world ability rather than being used as a stepping stone for getting a job. There is no point for example in getting a Windows Server certification if you haven't actually used it in the real world, what happens if you do that is you become known as a paper (insert certification here), and in general it de-values the certification (one of the reasons VMware require people to attend courses is that at least they have attended some structured training instead of brain dumping to get the certification).

 

Yeh good point Simon,
to be honest its mainly a confidence thing in my case after spending 7 years bouncing a ball around its hard to convince somebody to even let you in their own pc shop as a non paid intern/saturday boy ( Read _ i will work for free anywhere within 10 miles of Ashby for free LOL in exchange for experience/job shadowing ) let alone taking you on as a paid memeber of staff ! After i get A+ done and dusted gonna see if i can convince someone to let me absorb some real world knowledge LOL ! Then network +

 

Hi all

update - could`nt resist having a dabble on a couple practice exams, scored 55 / 100 and 46 / 100 so feeling alright about it considering i know nothing about 2 of the 6 remaining domains. Really struggled with the networking stuff and can tell i will be spending a fair amount of time reviewing that section. Hope to up my scores a little once i have finished the remaing two domains, will book my test as soon as i score over 75% on a practise exam . keep studying .............

 

nice work...keep going.

 

Working on the networking know as i find it incredibly difficult really ! Done a few bits and bobs since i last posted but nothing serious will be studying much harder in February !

 

Hi englishkid19,

The networking portion of the A+ is huge. There are lots of questions on networking, in fact, it's lopsided in my opinion.
I highly recommend you set up a network at your home if you haven't already. 2 computers and a router should do it. Find cheap parts and computer online and get that hands-on in. It really matters for the networking section of the A+, especially the 702 exam which has a lot more troubleshooting questions. Plus, the hands on can only improve your ability over time. PC shops, repair benches, and the like will be more likely to hire you when they know you have been practicing on computers.
You know what I did when I was studying for A+? I went to flea markets/swap meets, checked the classifieds, all to search for cheap computers. I would look for computers that were broken that the owner was getting rid of cheap. You'd be surprised how many of the systems just needed a simple fix. I ended up making a profit (not expected), while learning a whole lot about PCs.
SimonD gave some good advice about why to get certified, and this plays right into that concept. Without the hands-on, the certification is really just a piece of paper.
Good luck to you. Check out the Exam Cram books, ProfessorMesser, and anything free you can find online!