Just did something crazy...

Just a little backstory here...about 2.5 years ago I had taken the A+ Core Hardware test having barely studied it at all and passed with a 696. Unfortunately I had taken it almost exactly 2 weeks prior to the switchover to the 2003 objectives. I never followed up with the OS test, and of course after a year my opportunity to do so had expired.

Anyways...yesterday I came up with a wild thought...why not take both tests at once? I figured I've been doing this stuff professionally for a long time now (over 10 years), so if I can't pass them without studying my head off, why even bother working as a computer tech? So, earlier today I went to the nearest testing place and took both tests. Last night I did just a little refresher studying, concentrating more on the OS side of things rather than the hardware, and took a few practice tests and did relatively well. Anyway...I managed to pass both, although I wasn't happy at all with my scores. I got a 655 for Core and a 618 for OS. Although both of these are easily passing, I still feel like I kinda cheated myself by not preparing for them better.

Despite this, I'm glad that I decided to do this. I really don't care about the certification other than that it's a piece of paper that'll help make employers take a little more notice of my resume should I look for a job in the future. However, taking the tests and seeing where I was strong and where I was not I think was far more beneficial to my own knowledge and my career. It may seem kinda silly to do this, but I plan on studying up more on the sections of the tests where I did poorly.

Anyways, just thought I'd share this with everyone here. I just found this website last night while looking around for some practice tests, and I'm glad I did. Next up...Network+!

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Comments

jojopramos

nice....congrats

janmike

Congrats on the new cert!

And, welcome to the forums!

Good luck on the Network+.

Plantwiz

Congratulations!

Good to hear you took both exams together too!

frozenthread

Well I've been dabling in computers for over 10 years now and have been in college for over a year and passing the computer classes without trying so this week I got an email to get exams 1/2 off if I take before next saturday. Well I bit and am now signed up for both one after the other on thursday. I have bought the book A+ Training Guide and have found a few errors. Anyway I was wondering how long the tests take since they are no longer only 20 or so questins?
Congrats and good luck with Network +

janmike

Here is a link to CompTIA's overview, http://www.comptia.org/certification/a/glancebox.aspx

I took the tests back-to-back when they were still adaptive style. I was glad that I did.

Good luck!

frozenthread

Thanks for the link their site is not one like this one where it is easy to navigate and find what you are looking for. The 90 mins per test explains why their is 105 minutes in between my tests. Thanks again. One little questions. How close is the questions in the Preplogic to the actual exam?