I am also a newb! *FURTHER ADVICE ON CERTS*

hayhaypowers

Hello one and all!

Long story short I am a kid who realized she picked the wrong major in college (Turns out biology is really only worth it if you're going into medicine or grad school, which means MORE loans).

I am currently pursing the following certs: Comptia A+, Comptia Network+, and Comptia Security+ - which I have the time to do as a high school substitute teacher.

A few questions: 

1. What authors/materials have you found helpful?
   I have the Comptia study guides, Professor Messer (a godsend for the frugal), and am pulling from other resources
   
   
2. How much time would you reasonably allot for studying per certification?
   
   
3. I read that the current version of Network+ is about to expire in March 2022. Would it be worth it to hold out on getting materials until the new study guides tailored for the revisions are out? Or would the previous versions do just fine?
   

Any further study tips are MOST welcome!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!!!

JDMurray

Welcome to TechExams.Net!

For your #3 question, there is plenty of free material for the expiring Net+ 007 cert. All of this material is good to study for the new Net+ 008 cert. Just make sure you know what the new topics are on 008. Remember that no single source of study material is completely comprehensive for a CompTIA exam.

Info_Sec_Wannabe

The time you need to dedicate studying would vary depending on how comfortable or versed you are in the topics covered. Where you can set aside time consistently, say, 2 hrs per day or more, that would be ideal, but it will still depend on your study habits 

Good luck! 

SteveLavoie

First, I would like to know what's your goal in doing those certification. It look like you dont want to go back to college, but maybe it would capitalize on your existing degree and pursue some bio-informatics degree or masters. That's my first advice for you. 

However, if you really hate biology, then if your goal is to work in IT/helpdesk/MSP, then doing those 3 certifications is good. However, I would consider to apply to any open IT position because experience is better than certification. Get those certification after you started working in IT. Consider also doing an associate degree (part time) to give you more formal education in IT. It will eventually become useful later in your career in IT 

hayhaypowers

@JDMurray & @Info_Sec_Wannabe Thank you so much for your input!

@SteveLavoie My goal with these certifications is to get my foot in the door. I have been "making it rain" in sending out applications to any/all opportunities, but I haven't had much luck yet due to lack of experience within the field and I am hoping the certifications will help. As of right now, my interest is to eventually get into Penetration Testing. Comptia PenTest+ is on my radar, but I want to make sure I have a good foundation. That said, I haven't taken bioinformatics into consideration yet! I am definitely going to check it out. Many thanks for your input!!

UnixGuy

No advice here, welcome to the forum and good luck in your journey!

hayhaypowers

@UnixGuy Thank you! Happy to be here

E Double U

hayhaypowers said:

A few questions: 

1. What authors/materials have you found helpful?
   
   
2. How much time would you reasonably allot for studying per certification?
   
   
3. Would it be worth it to hold out on getting materials until the new study guides tailored for the revisions are out? Or would the previous versions do just fine?

Welcome and enjoy your stay!

1. My CompTIA experience (A+, Network+) was in 2005 and I went with McGraw Hill books so that would be Mike Myers.

2. As much time is needed. Different for everyone.

3. Depends on my level of experience with the material and when I want to complete the exam. When I am going for a cert that I have experience in then I cram the current study material. When I see new material is coming out for a topic I am less experienced in then I just wait for the new stuff. 

Good luck!

thomas_

1) I used Mike Meyers when I studied for Network+ back in 2014.  I think it was pretty much the only resource I used, but I did have some networking experience under my belt that helped me.

2) I would say 30 - 50 hours per each cert, maybe up to 100 hours.  I would recommend coming up with a study plan.  Go through the material, study it, and take the exam.  If money is really tight, then I would recommend studying more than you might otherwise study.  I find that following a study plan that I developed and then taking the exam helps me cope with the fear of failing an exam.  No one likes to fail, but at the same time you reach a point in your studies where you just have to take the test and see what happens.  I find studying for an hour each day helps keep me on track.

3) You would need to look at the syllabus for the old and new exam.  If something from the old syllabus is not on the new syllabus, then it might not be worth putting a lot of study time on those topics.  If there is something on the new syllabus that wasn't present on the old syllabus, then you'll need to find a different resource to learn those concepts.  I would probably focus on a different cert and not wait around for the Network+ study materials to come out.  You'll never know how long it will be until they're released.