Looking to get A+ certified. Need help

[pillage2001]

I'm new to all this A+ thingy. Been reading about it for awhile and I think I wanna try to get the certification. I'm currently in my senior year pursuing a Computer Engineerign Degree. I've been to job fairs and most of them would not even look at my resume because of the lack of an internship and working experience. Moreover, I'm an international student.

So, to increase my chances by maybe erm, 1%, of getting a job. I want to give the A+ a try. I'm good around pcs and all. Both hardware and software. I want to know where's a good place to read up on the materials covered in the exam?? Where can I take the exam once I've covered more than I need to pass it?

Another thing, what certs are recommended these days?? I know the MCSE is highly sought after. What about certs that cover Networking?? I would like to start getting them. I don't have any experience with Networking but can learn if needed.

ThANk you!

 

[kenthuang]

go to www.examnotes.com, all your answers are in there. your not alone.

 

[puffpio]

What exactly is A+ certification?
For networking, I would recommend Cisco certifications. There are 3 different ones, and they get increasingly harder with the 3rd one being the hardest. I don't remember the names of them, CCNA, etc...

My uncle has all 3 and gets paid 200k/yr as a network admin. Granted he has about 10+ yrs experience, but he said he was making about 100k after he finished all 3 Cisco certs. I'm a 5th yr CS major too, so after I graduate that's what I'm going to aim for.

 

[rutchtkim]

dont bother with A+, ur engineering degree would supercede that A+ certification. Plus, it got me nowhere. I'm a second yr student majoring in Comp Sci, and work at a help desk. Only reason i got the A+ was for a higher hourly pay, but they didnt give 2 sh*ts about it, its too low of a cert and too easy to get nowadays.

 

[pillage2001]

Engineering would surpass the A+ cert?? I don't think whatever that's taught in engineering classes are covered in the A+ papers. I would have to agree that engineering paper is much better but hei, nobody wants an engineer without an intern or job experience.

Again, I'm just getting this for the sake of increasing the chances of getting a job. It might be minimal but who knows.

 

[DJFuji]

in the grand scheme of things, the A+ really is a BS cert, but it's a good start. It's quite funny how many MCSE's think it's BS and then fail the test. The A+ test has changed since i took it (in '99) but it still probably covers the basics of hardware and troubleshooting. Get a decent A+ book, and if you have a lot of real world experience, study the book and take the test. Keep in mind you'll probably have to memorize some useless facts like I/O Addresses, IRQs, and of course, the almighty OSI Layers haha. Several years ago i was in High school and that cert got me a job as a university technician, so it was a worthwhile investment for me. (of course i neglected to tell them i was in hs haha)

As far as other certs are concerned, you have the following:

Microsoft Certified Sys Engineer (MCSE) for networking/admin stuff...
Computing Technology Industry Assoc. (CompTIA) Network+ exam for networking...
CompTIA I-net+...umm not sure about this one...
CCNA- Cisco certification for routers mostly i think...
MCDBA- MS cert database admin...difficult but worth it
MCT: MS cert trainer
MCP: MS Cert Professional
MCSD: MS cert sys developer i think...for AppDev i believe

and a bunch of other ones i cant think of right now...
the job market is kinda rough right now for the IT industry...you need 5+ years of experience and a BS to qualify for most $55k+ jobs nowadays...

And the guy who's uncle is making $200k....keep in mind that's not your typical salary for a SysAdmin....he's probably an admin for THOUSANDS of computers, and probably running clustered PDCs.