Do people think the A+ > MCP?

I was wondering if people think the A+ is vastly better to have then the MCP or if people just havnt heard of it? Because I keep getting emails from randies on craigslist going basicly "LOLOLOL my A+ is better then your MCP" Persoanlly I think the A+ is a stepping stone cert into computers, I know MCP is a lower lever cert as well but I think its above the A+ on knowledge needed to pass level. I know quite a bit of people who have passed the A+ with out hassel but failed/barley passed the MCP. What are your guys thoughts? Also do places like bestbuy, circuit city, ect ect prefer A+ over other certs?? Im making some nice money with my company, and I was gonna wait to see if college would pay for my next certs but if I have to Ill take the A+, idk.

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Daniel333

That is about the childish thing I have heard this week (what they did). The fact you are giving it anything thought it just silly unto itself.

You shouldn't stop learning though my friend. If you are not in college right now, there is no excuse for not starting in on you 70-620.

gorebrush

Lordy.

Apples and Oranges in some respects.

Isn't A+ meant to be generic?

MCP's are specialised in specific area's.

What you need to do, is get an MCSA/MCSE, then all the A+ whiners can STFU

Daniel333

gorebrush wrote:

What you need to do, is get an MCSA/MCSE, then all the A+ whiners can STFU

Seriously!

kriscamaro68

Well I think that the 70-270 is the hardest test I have taken so far. Also the 270 is vendor specific a+ is not even though it feels like it is. I would say a+=knowledge in hardware 270=knowledge in os for the most part. yes there is some hardware in there but not as much as a+.

pLuhhmm

Daniel333 wrote:

That is about the childish thing I have heard this week (what they did). The fact you are giving it anything thought it just silly unto itself.

You shouldn't stop learning though my friend. If you are not in college right now, there is no excuse for not starting in on you 70-620.

Im in college atm, but the adviser conveniently forgot to tell me I can test out of basic computing -_- I almost had to spend $110 on a book for it O_O luckly I found someone to share a book with if I got them an A in the course HEHEHEHE

brad-

Neither is superior. They are both silly. The whole certification world is silly, its just a necessary evil.

I took A+ a year ago, and the test was about 50% ridiculously easy questions, and 50% ridiculously irrelevant left field questions. A total wash. The test was not very indicative of the time I spent studying or any real world experience. Same for N+

The MCP's are specific to a technology and ranged from moderately difficult, to un-necessarily difficult for me. I thought the MCDST wasnt too bad, but I barely passed 290...in which I had CBT Nuggets, Transcenders, and been to a 1 Week course @ HP. Not that I didn't know it, just horrible questions.

One lasts a lifetime, but is vendor neutral...so nobody really cares IMHO. The other lasts for 3-5 years, but "demonstrates" a specific skillset.

It's neck and neck for me, but the MS tests have a slight advantage in that they tend to be more current and relevant to what employers want.

Just my .02

Daniel333

yeah, places like Geek Squad actually want the A+ cert because their hiring guides written in the 90's say they do.

But if most hiring managers were actually active in the "certification community" they would realize that brad above statements about Comptia A+'s being a waste is very true.

Kasor

If you do not understand computer, then what is the point of being MCP or higher..

jetfan

interesting debate

steve_f

Kasor wrote:

If you do not understand computer, then what is the point of being MCP or higher..

In my experience, most corporations have their desktops, laptops, servers, printers, copiers etc under warranty.

The common practice is to get (often A+ qualified) service engineers in to fix these hardware problems under warranty, while the MCPs concentrate on keeping the IT infrastructure running and the users happy.

In my mix of 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support, there just isn't the time to be taking things apart and rtying to determine whether it's the graphics, RAM, or motherboard is fried. There is too much else to do that is urgent.

Just last week we had a server with frequent hardware problems, and our service guys came in with the same model server as a temp for us, swapped the RAID over, and took ours away to diagnose and repair it.

Of course I can change the RAM or HDD in a laptop, and I know loads of stuff about redundant technology like ISA slots, Pentium IIs, parallel ports etc. But that comes from my days in a PC repair shop, and this knowledge is almost never required in my job.

Other jobs my vary of course.

JDMurray

Comparing A+ to the MCP is "apples and oranges" because the MCP isn't really a certification. It's a marketing device invented by MS years ago to give people a sense of satisfaction from passing their first MS exam. Do you really consider two MCPs, one who took 70-620 and the other 70-291, to be equivalent? In reality they are because the MCP only means "I've passed at least
one Microsoft certification exam." The A+ is a good deal more specific in its meaning.

brad- wrote:

Neither is superior. They are both silly. The whole certification world is silly, its just a necessary evil.

I took A+ a year ago, and the test was about 50% ridiculously easy questions, and 50% ridiculously irrelevant left field questions. A total wash. The test was not very indicative of the time I spent studying or any real world experience. Same for N+

You found two certification exams from a single vendor to be ridiculously easy, and from that extremely small statistical sample you have decided that the entire universe of certification and everything in it is "silly." I think that logic is silly too.

blargoe

Anyone bragging like those folks on craigslist about an A+ is silly.