Comptia A+ vs Ccent

I am looking to work in IT as a IT Tech Support get a basic role, I’m currently working in Customer Service, I was wondering what you think is the best path for Certification the Comptia A+ or the Ccent, which is one harder for someone with limited IT skills but keen to develop. Which one I could do quicker and which one is more useful for someone looking to get a role in IT Tech Support and then look to later build a career in Networking.

I read some of a Comptia A+ book a while back, I found it good, it is quite broad in the subjects it covers though, but I did enjoy the troubleshooting issues in it for Windows and Hardware. I found the difficulty alright some bits were tough, I never took the exam though, I want to get a certificate on my career asap though and get learning. Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

danny069

If you're looking to get into IT Tech Support, then A+ is the way to go. I believe everyone in IT should have a basic understanding of a computer and how it operates. You can always build off that if you want to get into networking after getting your CCENT + ICND2 - CCNA.

techfiend

I second the A+. It's expensive and kind of boring to study for but IT IS the entry for so many IT professionals.

DoubleNNs

A+.
Don't do CCENT unless you plan to follow it up (quickly) with the second half and complete the CCNA. And if you have only a CCNA, you'll most likely have to know most of the material in the A+ curriculum, even if you don't pay to get the cert. So, since you're thinking of a 1-stop show and to get your foot int he door ASAP, definitely go w/ the A+.

jcundiff

A+ is the gold standard for entry level IT period as been for many years ( I earned mine in 2000), and will be for many years to come. From there you can work on the CompTIA suite of certs or broaden out into MS, Cisco, ITIL, (ISC)2, ISACA, etc depending on how you want to drive your career. But in my opinion, A+ is where you open the door and get in the car to start the drive.

Mike R

The A+ and I believe CompTIA in general lays the foundation for future certs. I've read some people skip the N+ in favor of the CCENT but I think that really depends on your level of networking knowledge.

koz24

A+ will help you a lot more in this situation. There are not many CCENT level jobs out there, so you'd have to go CCNA anyway.

Params7

A+ is solid in building a good base in pure IT technical/helpdesk support. Once you have the foundations with A+ and some experience, you can go into more focused areas like networking (Cisco) or server admin (Linux/Microsoft).