Some Advice from experience

computerparts2007

To everyone that is going to take the A+ exam:

I have been in the computer field for 10 years now and I don't have an A+ but I've seen the practice tests. Most of the stuff on there you will never use. Like the question about what kind of socket is a P3. Who cares? Hardly any large business uses a P3 anyway. The point is, its just a bunch of stuff to memorize. Thats why you have to take the test right after you take classes or study for it. Don't wait because its all from memory. I can fix any computer and I don't have an A+. How do you find out what socket any computer uses? Look it up on the internet or take off the case and look what it says. It is very hard to remember ALL of the technical details of anything especially when it is outdated technology. People were not designed to remember meaningless or trivial information. That's why doctors have many many manuals to look up information that they can't store in their head. The learning really starts once you start your job. If you want some really good practice, do what I did and start buying old computers and take them home and fix them. Thats the best hands on experience Ive ever had. Im not knocking an A+ by any means, it may get you a job. But just remember to get some hands on if you can before you start.

Thnx

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Vogon Poet

People were not designed to remember meaningless or trivial information.

Hmm. What was Capt. Kirk's middle name? How many castaways were on Gilligan's Island? Who did Alice date on The Brady Bunch?
For most people, that's about all they know, isn't it?
Point taken though. In the words of Monica Lewinski, "there is no substitute for hands on experience." I've noticed that the questions have started to lean more towards troubleshooting though.
Companies are always looking for standard criteria for qualifications as well as for advertising purposes.

shednik

Vogon Poet wrote:

People were not designed to remember meaningless or trivial information.

Hmm. What was Capt. Kirk's middle name? How many castaways were on Gilligan's Island? Who did Alice date on The Brady Bunch?
For most people, that's about all they know, isn't it?
Point taken though. In the words of Monica Lewinski, "there is no substitute for hands on experience." I've noticed that the questions have started to lean more towards troubleshooting though.
Companies are always looking for standard criteria for qualifications as well as for advertising purposes.

I have to agree, the test isn't bad at all...and definatley not if you have field experience. Even so it does help when applying for jobs, I still see it at a certification preference shows you have a good foundation.

blackmage439

A certification that employers know and respect can tell them infinitely more about you than "10 yrs computer repair experience." To me, that could mean anything from repairing high-end servers and mainframes to being a script-reading Lv1 bench tech for a proprietary company who just follows printed directions and repairs the same types of systems over and over again. A certification is standardized, meaning that whoever holds that title should know a baseline of certain things. This makes certs a (mostly) perfect baseline for judging a candidate (ignoring the "braindumpers" of course). Besides, you never know when an employer will ask trivial, meaningless questions during an interview. It would be handy to at least have an idea of what they are referring to...

Anyhoo, I do agree that hands-on experience is your best friend. Having a piece of paper isn't going to do you any good if you can only tell the difference between a PCI slot and an AGP slot on a test.

wwpranma

computerparts2007 wrote:

To everyone that is going to take the A+ exam:

I have been in the computer field for 10 years now and I don't have an A+ but I've seen the practice tests. Most of the stuff on there you will never use. Like the question about what kind of socket is a P3. Who cares? Hardly any large business uses a P3 anyway. The point is, its just a bunch of stuff to memorize. Thats why you have to take the test right after you take classes or study for it. Don't wait because its all from memory. I can fix any computer and I don't have an A+. How do you find out what socket any computer uses? Look it up on the internet or take off the case and look what it says. It is very hard to remember ALL of the technical details of anything especially when it is outdated technology. People were not designed to remember meaningless or trivial information. That's why doctors have many many manuals to look up information that they can't store in their head. The learning really starts once you start your job. If you want some really good practice, do what I did and start buying old computers and take them home and fix them. Thats the best hands on experience Ive ever had. Im not knocking an A+ by any means, it may get you a job. But just remember to get some hands on if you can before you start.

Thnx

I'm down with that.

I'm mainly trying to get certified just so I can move on to the next step.

I'm gonna get some entry level cpu job, but I don't have high aspirations of starting a family or buying a house. I'm a bum like that.

But I am gonna get an entry level job to support all the tests that I take and all the new app's I wanna learn.

To me the A+ is a jumping point so that I can easily be able to get a simpleton job that will keep me sane, I drive taxi's right now.

Once I get a regular job, I'm gonna just chill out from the stress of tests and just take them at my own pace.

computerparts2007

Yeah, I have a bachelors in MIS. I think I need a cert. actually. I just don't want to have to rememorize things I don't really use anymore to pass a test. But, I probably will have to.

Plantwiz

computerparts2007 wrote:

I have been in the computer field for 10 years now and I don't have an A+ but I've seen the practice tests. Most of the stuff on there you will never use. Like the question about what kind of socket is a P3. Who cares? Hardly any large business uses a P3 anyway..

Find a different career path then.

No one forces anyone to complete a certification exam. If it's not worth your time, then focus on the exams that you think are worth your time.

If you don't know your history, you will limit your opportunities. Then again, since you 'know' this is stuff is all [email]cr@p...don[/email]'t worry about it.

Then again....how is it you've been in 'computers' for 10 years and now find that you need to 'memorize' these things? It shouldn't be new for you. And if you haven't been working on PCs but have been working on Networks...skip the A+ and go for NET+.

wwpranma

I just await the day when they start making certification for Robot Building, then I can finally initiate my plan to build an army and take over the world.