No experience, can I still pass the A+?

I wanted to ask you guys if it is possible to get the A+ without having any work experience? Will it be a lot harder test if I don't have experience or should I just study my butt off? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Newbie to the site! It's wonderful!!!)

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jryantech

Depends how computer savvy you are...

There are a lot of technical questions the average computer geek might not know without studying.

If I was you I would purchase a practice exam, see if you pass it, if you can't then you will have to hit the books

Remember there are two exams you need to pass to achieve your A+.. 220-601 and 220-602...

Transcender.com has good practice exams...

Good Luck

jryantech

Oh and I forgot the most important thing!

Exam Objectives!

http://certification.comptia.org/a/

go to the "Download exam objectives" link.

dynamik

You don't have work experience or you don't have experience?

You don't need work experience, but there's no excuse to not have any experience. You can pick up on old PC on eBay for $20. Tear it apart and play around. Maybe get two or three of various makes and models. You'll learn the material better, and you won't risk throwing away $200+ on a failed exam.

ThePrimetimer

I do have experience, I just got an Associates degree in Computer Systems Technologies. I meant having work experience. Is it gonna make it harder that I don't have that?

Daniel333

Absolutely not a problem. Comptia exams are all about entry level. Shouldn't be any trouble. It might even be too easy for you.

Best of luck!

mrgetdown88

Study your butt off definitely, you say you have an AA so pretty much you have all of the knowledge. A really good book that I recommend is Mike Meyers A+ Certification Passport 3rd edition, it has every topic on the exams and the practice exams that come with the book are a pretty good simulation of the question on the A+ exam. In fact, some of the questions on those practice exams were nearly identical to the actual test... if you can past those practice exams, you can past the test

Plantwiz

ThePrimetimer wrote:

I wanted to ask you guys if it is possible to get the A+ without having any work experience? Will it be a lot harder test if I don't have experience or should I just study my butt off? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Newbie to the site! It's wonderful!!!)

Can you pass? Sure.

Why take the exam without having some experience though? Holding an A+ and no experience won't make you a more desirable employee. But it is possible and people take the exam and pass without working in the industry.

nicklauscombs

Plantwiz wrote:

Why take the exam without having some experience though? Holding an A+ and no experience won't make you a more desirable employee. But it is possible and people take the exam and pass without working in the industry.

I don't know if I would agree with that, A+ seems to be a pretty standard requirement for most entry level jobs

jryantech

nicklauscombs wrote:

Plantwiz wrote:

Why take the exam without having some experience though? Holding an A+ and no experience won't make you a more desirable employee. But it is possible and people take the exam and pass without working in the industry.

I don't know if I would agree with that, A+ seems to be a pretty standard requirement for most entry level jobs

As standard as it gets.

ThePrimetimer

I am using the Train Signal CBT videos and they are really good. I would say pretty standard because I lost a job not having it. The man who interviewed me said that if I would have had my A+, he would have hired me right then and put me to work that afternoon. Now, I am just really buckling down to get that certification. My view is that if I got certified, then I might be be considered more for an IT job.
Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it!

mike3

I got my A+ years ago before I started working in the field. I've also been into computers since 1994 and I still had to study to memorize things.

somedudefromthenet

http://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Complete-Study-Quentin-Docter/dp/0470048301/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214735420&sr=1-2 - just around the same money you'll pay for 6 double whoppers at BK. I found this book really helpful for both the essentials and the 602/603/604 exams, PLUS there is a cdrom bundled with it containing the the PDF version of the entire book (i think?), flashcards for some devices (i havent used them) and of course the practice tests. Another stuff you can use are the technotes that are available from this site (for the price of >10 clicks).

LifelongLearner

ThePrimetimer wrote:

I wanted to ask you guys if it is possible to get the A+ without having any work experience? Will it be a lot harder test if I don't have experience or should I just study my butt off? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
(Newbie to the site! It's wonderful!!!)

You can definately still pass if you don't have any experience. I didn't when I passed. Buy yourself a good book (see amazon reviews or what other guys think in this forum), study and pass. Also it's good practice to do some physical work so get your hands on an old computer and just practice, practice, practice

Good luck!