Preping for A+ in next 2 mo

ChronoBasher

Hello Everyone,

For the last two years I've been working for a helpdesk a a small software/web company. Things were going great for the first year, but it looks to be taking a bad turn in the last month or so. They layed off 2 of my co-workers, and gave me and my friend significant pay-cuts to the point were we have to re-locate .

Reality set in and I decided to kick myself into gear and finish up my schooling. Spoke to a counselor at the local community college and it looks like I am damn close to my AS in computer science. I also noticed that I can specialize in a "general" track that is built around the A+ cert .

This semester I'm enrolled in 2003 Command line, Hardware, and maintaining OS's (Mainly XP/2000). The classes are all built around this book:

A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC, Sixth Edition, Comprehensive, Jean Andrews, Book - Barnes & Noble

In addition I also have a 4 session prep class for the A+ exam, where we will take practice tests ect. (11 units total AHHHHH). If all goes well I should be able to knock out my A+ after the prep class in April, and get my AS degree by the end of summer in July (I hope).

Hopefully with the degree/cert and experience I can land a new, stable job. I learned the hard way that if you are stagnant with your education in this field you will not last...

undomiel

2 years help desk experience should do you well on the job market. Good luck! The 2003 command line course sounds interesting. A lot more people should be familiar with the command line.

mikej412

Welcome to the TechExams.net forums and Good Luck with your studies

Plantwiz

Good luck!

I've never been impressed with that series of book by that author, but it may be worth looking at it again.

Thank you for commenting.


BTW - as far as 'stable job'.....the only thing you can control is your level of training and the proper use of that knowledge. Keep yourself sought after!

TravR1

It is not uncommon to see IT guys without degrees. Degrees are overrated, IMO. But you do need to stay on top of yourself and stay knowledgable. Universities were created originally for scholars and doctors and professors. It eventually spread to just about every facet of life.. to attract more people and make money. The technology industry moves and advances so fast I have a hard time seeing any college cirriculum keeping up. CS degrees are also very broad and generalized, not a lot of in debth study or specialization.. which is what gets you the job and the higher pay, specializing.

ChronoBasher

Welp, Monday (27th) is the big day, I've got my 601 at 9:45am. I'm feeling pretty good, but I've set aside this entire weekend to review all of the objectives I think I'm weak on. Definitely need to review Printers and Laptops as I have little real world experience.

The review class was helpful, and the instructor gave us a ton of resources to review (practice tests, ect.)

BTW the command line class is pretty cool. We start on Active Directory stuff Monday, should be interesting.

cronohl

Just saw ur score by chance on mcmcse pretty sweet

A+ Essentials (220-601) ChronoBasher (73386) 233/236 (99%) April 26, 2009 5:09 pm

Good Luck:D

ChronoBasher

cronohl wrote: »

Just saw ur score by chance on mcmcse pretty sweet

A+ Essentials (220-601) ChronoBasher (73386) 233/236 (99%) April 26, 2009 5:09 pm

Good Luck:D

Thanks! Heh, to be fair I did take it on the 25th and got a 84%. Those were some really good questions!

I'll be back later today and let you guys know how I did.

ChronoBasher

Passed! 780 . Test wasn't too bad, just a few questions were I had no clue on. Its cool they give you a print out of what objectives you need to study.

602 here I come, May 11th!

logisticalstyles

Were there a lot of OS questions? Were there any Vista questions at all? I'm looking to take my 601 around the 11th. Did you learn alot from the Jean Andrews book? I had that book last year and I wan't impressed with it. The videos were pointless. I'm now reading the Mike meyers book and the Exam Cram test book. Last quarter I took the A+ prep class and read the Geek Squad/Marcraft book. I already purchased my voucher for the test. I just want to make sure I'm ready.

ChronoBasher

logisticalstyles wrote: »

Were there a lot of OS questions? Were there any Vista questions at all? I'm looking to take my 601 around the 11th. Did you learn alot from the Jean Andrews book? I had that book last year and I wan't impressed with it. The videos were pointless. I'm now reading the Mike meyers book and the Exam Cram test book. Last quarter I took the A+ prep class and read the Geek Squad/Marcraft book. I already purchased my voucher for the test. I just want to make sure I'm ready.

No Vista questions. Questions that did throw me off were the ones that asked you how exactly to get to a specific menu in windows, and then they provide you with options that are extremely similar. Something I didn't expect was a SLI question (dual Nvidia cards), but lucky I'm a gamer.

I really liked the Jean Andrews book, read it cover to cover (except the Win 9x chapters). I guess it all just depends on your reading/study style. I don't think I even looked at any of the videos yet...

Overall the test was a lot easier then I was expecting. If you read an entire prep book and took some practice tests you should do fine.

ChronoBasher

Passed 602 today, 855 . As I was doing the test I though I wasnt doing that good because alot of the questions could have gone either way. I would say the difficulty in the questions was on par with the 601 but it is easier to pass.

I got the same SLI question form my 601 as well, lol.

logisticalstyles

Congrats! I take my 601 on Saturday.