A+ Certification

[ebaycj]

Excel 2003 is a 16bit program.

FAIL.

Perhaps you should be looking at your own computer skills and competence before criticizing others.

Excel hasn't been a 16-bit app since '95 or so.

However, in Excel's proprietary file format, a 16-bit unsigned integer is (obviously) used to store the row number (amongst other things), leading to a 65535 limit.

That is all.

 

[SandEagle]

Where did you get that I wasn't? :sneaky:

hey mcfly, i was referring to the OP
:-/

 

[Fritzo]

Then A+ isn't for you.

A+ requires some sort of brains. Noone want's a PC repair tech who can't do HS.

I got a B- on my A+ test.*



*I'm sorry- I'm compelled to do this lame joke everytime someone mentions A+ Certification.

 

[Jadow]

Well.. i'm serious..

If you're a PC tech, you should at least be able to answer competently why Excel 2003 has a max row value of 65,536 rows.

Why would a PC tech need to know that? A software developer for MS would, but I can certainly troubleshoot a PC without knowing this. PS that limitation is gone from Office 2007 thank god!

 

[Red Squirrel]

FAIL.

Perhaps you should be looking at your own computer skills and competence before criticizing others.

Excel hasn't been a 16-bit app since '95 or so.

However, in Excel's proprietary file format, a 16-bit unsigned integer is (obviously) used to store the row number (amongst other things), leading to a 65535 limit.

That is all.

lol I was thinking the same. I was like "WTF?". Excel for win 3.11 might of been a 16bit program but not 2003 lol.

also A+ (and any other cert) does not really reflect your knowledge of the subject, all certs do is show that you can learn a bunch of stuff by heart, stuff that is meaningless since in the real world you can look it up.

My suggestion is finish school first then once you're working full time look into getting certs. You'll have more spare time to study when you're working, then durring school.
that was my plan but now that I do work full time I keep procrastinating.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

For a long time I had my A+ hung above the roll of toilet paper in my guest bathroom in case anyone ran out of TP...

 

[Juddog]

I took the A+ just for something to add to my resume. I consider it the "bare minimum" these days for a base level tech support job.

 

[ViviTheMage]

haha, I got my A+ in high school, I think I was a sophomore. At the time computers were just a hobby, but damn that was really easy.

 

[DukeN]

A+ really won't get you a job today. I mean back in the day you had more offerings, maybe at COMPusa, but nowadays any fool can pull apart a PC and replace componenets. It's not that hard. The MC certifications (Microsoft) are probably more worth wild.

I think having decent English is more worth wilder.

 

[pugh]

FAIL.

Perhaps you should be looking at your own computer skills and competence before criticizing others.

Excel hasn't been a 16-bit app since '95 or so.

However, in Excel's proprietary file format, a 16-bit unsigned integer is (obviously) used to store the row number (amongst other things), leading to a 65535 limit.

That is all.

Lol nice. Funny when others try to act so knowledgeable and then they are shown the errors of their ways. He reminds me of some of the smug / smart pants people you get on the phone for various help.

Too the OP.. Just read and learn as much as you can and give the test a try. It's how I learn to trouble shoot pc's. The worst you can do is fail and then learn from it.

 

[Uhtrinity]

I do recommend the Mike Meyers books, they are humorous as well as informative. The one I have also came with practice exams. The biggest hurdle will be the terminology and this includes technology that is no longer used, but you will need it for the exams. Btw, A+ requires 2 exams at $125 each. The 2006 version had a general IT skills exam, the 2nd determines your cert, whether it be PC tech, depot support, and remote tech. It looks like the new one removes a specialization, but it is still 2 exams.

I had already been in IT over 15 years when I finally got mine and had to study the material that I had never been exposed to, mainly legacy hardware that has been phased out. You also need to learn the correct responses in situations that an experienced tech might not consider as correct. Other than that it isn't a hard exam.

I have a friend who had a little PC troubleshooting experience and he took the A+ exams. This did get him a job in a shop, so I wouldn't say it is totally worthless.

 

[mafia]

A+ really won't get you a job today. I mean back in the day you had more offerings, maybe at COMPusa, but nowadays any fool can pull apart a PC and replace componenets. It's not that hard. The MC certifications (Microsoft) are probably more worth wild.

It helps though, better than nothing, thats for sure.

 

[Modelworks]

Take some classes in basic electronics, it will look better on a resume.

 

[RESmonkey]

Woot, go Computer Engineers!

 

[AVAFREAK182]

Currently taking a CS class at the local college (I am a senior in HS)

They offer the A+ test cert for free so I figured why not.

It is super easy.

 

[steppinthrax]

It helps though, better than nothing, thats for sure.

My belief is if you decide to go for special training. Obtain certifications that have high commercial value. From what I understand Cisco is one of the best, but they are hard to get. A+ will just leave you discouraged esp. due to the job market. A lot of people are pulling computers apart with no A+.

 

[SketchMaster]

My belief is if you decide to go for special training. Obtain certifications that have high commercial value. From what I understand Cisco is one of the best, but they are hard to get. A+ will just leave you discouraged esp. due to the job market. A lot of people are pulling computers apart with no A+.

What he said, getting an MCSA is worth FAR more than an A+; however, that’s not to say you shouldn’t try to get an A+ if you have the opportunity as it will show you have a basic set of knowledge you can pull from.

If you want my advice, find out if you can do volunteer work for your school’s I.T. department. If you can land a simple gig doing that then you will get some good hands on from people that (may) know what they are doing, and if anything it will look good on your resume. If that doesn’t work then see if your school has any computer related classes you can take and go from there.

Without any certifications, I went from a pimple faced 17yr old kid working for free at a high school to a 24yr old working I.T. for a software company with my own greenie that I’m currently training up to take my old job so I can move on to bigger things (and that was with taking two years off IT related stuff to dabble around in the vet field). Taking the A+ now would be a waste of time, I would only do it if it was offered for free (pretty much what I’m doing now, its part of one of my college classes) or if I was dared to take it drunk.

Edit: And pay no mind to guyver01’s comments, I’m sure he had to google that excel issue the first time it hit his inbox. I.T. is all about hands-on learning and problem solving, you get a question you don’t know the answer to and you research/troubleshoot it until you find a solution and keep it in your book of knowledge for later.

 

[PCTC2]

Getting specialized certifications are much better at landing jobs than a general A+ certification. A general A+ Certification is basically a joke nowadays. From COMPTIA, you could get something like Networking+ or Security+ to show you have more motivation than a generic certification but even then, it won't get you much without experience. Otherwise, if you want to land a Windows environment job, look at MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) or similar, and same for Apple's Certifications. Or even a Cisco or similar certification.

The other day, we were looking to hire a new Entry-Level Tech. We did not even consider the A+ certification on his resume. We lightly discussed his Networking+ certification but if he had an Apple or Cisco Certification (we're an Apple/Cisco department), we would've been more interested in his resume.

The best thing for a tech job is EXPERIENCE and KNOWLEDGE OF THE OPERATION SYSTEM. Know commands, basic troubleshooting, and general softwares used with each OS you want to work with.

In other words, IT'S NOT WORTH THE EFFORT. Guyver is correct.

 

[wayliff]

Is anyone here A+ Certified? What jobs would it make easier to get? I want to be certified, but am unsure on how to get it. Where would I take the test, and how would I prepare for it? Any books I should get from the library? Any other resources?

Techexams.net is a good resource...

I'd say A+ is a start, it may not get you a job but it will get your education started. You could skip and study on your own too - check out the objectives.
I would not spend money on A+ cert training.

Is the A+ exam still adaptive these days?

I agree with the comment on the Meyers A+ book.