MCDST or A+

MRiTJay

Should i take the a+ or mcdst first. Which is more in demand. I've done alot of work with laptops and desktops at a local store but its not like the help desk stuff mcdst, any suggestions.

steve13ad

What do you want to do long term? MCDST is a great starting point for the MS stuff and A+ is the most well known entry-level certification.

Just throwing this out there, the MCDST exams are set to retire at the end of June, and the A+ is no longer a lifetime certification.

Cisco Inferno

MRiTJay wrote: »

Should i take the a+ or mcdst first. Which is more in demand. I've done alot of work with laptops and desktops at a local store but its not like the help desk stuff mcdst, any suggestions.

if you've been doing hardware repair, you should easily pass the a+ with maybe a couple weeks of skimming a textbook or watching freeaplus.com videos.

dont worry about the retirement in 3 years, when you take higher level comptia exams which you will probably want later(like net+, sec+) it automatically revalidates your a+.

almost everyone has a+, mcdst show proficiency in troubleshooting. something thats vital for the helpdesk/desktop support role. I'm studying it to get my foot in the IT door and start at helpdesk. im only a freshman in college so it seems to be wise at the moment.

N2IT

I've seen jobs requiring both. Lately the MCP has been a really popular certification to ask for. Don't ask me why it's old technology.

I think if you are more interested in operating systems and office applications go with the MCDST if you are not sure what you like probably the A+.

MRiTJay

Being at a local shop with no certs has been good to me in the past but know I feel ita time to move on I see alot if companies asking for mcse more then any other cert i'v repaired PC's for years

steve13ad

MRiTJay wrote: »

Being at a local shop with no certs has been good to me in the past but know I feel ita time to move on I see alot if companies asking for mcse more then any other cert i'v repaired PC's for years

The MCSE has been the defacto end-all cert for awhile. It's one of the oldest and well known.

The thinking is that someone who has their MCSE can "in theory" handle most everyday operations.

MRiTJay

Is it possible to get the mcdst with little to no exp in helpdesk, with 2 months of study

steve13ad

Absolutely! If your familiar with XP then you should be good.

I'm using the MCDST: Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician Study Guide: Exams 70 - 271 and 70 - 272 by Bill Ferguson.

I picked it up of ebay brand new for $20.

Mike-Mike

my wallet has kept me from testing, but I have studied the MCDST material in-depth, and I found the A+/Net+ to be a good warm up for MCDST

MRiTJay

I know the a+ shouldn't be to hard I'm just wondering about mcdst since it expires soon. I can do the a+ anytime I'm just trying to weight my options and if it's worth doing

Mike-Mike

i think between now and june is more than enough time to get them both done....

steve13ad

Yeah June is very doable!

I'd scheduled it towards the beginning of the month though. Just in case you didn't pass you'd have plenty of time to study up before it expires.

MRiTJay

I just ordered mcdst self training kit, should I setup a server with a workstation. I have xp pro and server 2003.

Devilsbane

A+ is going to give you a larger pool of skills, as well as be easier to pass. It is where I started, and I have no regrets.

MRiTJay

I'm from NYC so there's loads of people with a+ and from most if the job listings I see companies looking more for Microsoft certs. I will go for the A+ which was my first choice @devilsbane do you have any Microsoft certs?

MRiTJay

I just might take the a+ first, any recommend books for that I think I might be able to do both before June. I'll A+ first then mcdst I'll keep everybody posted on results

Devilsbane

MRiTJay wrote: »

@devilsbane do you have any Microsoft certs?

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I am 2 exams away from MCSE (hopefully only 1 after Saturday). After that I am going to double back for the MCDST before it expires just to add that to my skill-set, and then I will move on to MCITP SA/EA.

Mike-Mike

MRiTJay wrote: »

I just might take the a+ first, any recommend books for that I think I might be able to do both before June. I'll A+ first then mcdst I'll keep everybody posted on results

i used the Sybex kit and i thought it was very helpful

MRiTJay

I have one of those and I just bought one of the exam cram books if amazon. I tried the same questions on the comptia site and scored 73% which = failed. At least I know my week points now. @mike-mike have you ever tried the sample questions?

N2IT

MRiTJay wrote: »

I'm from NYC so there's loads of people with a+ and from most if the job listings I see companies looking more for Microsoft certs. I will go for the A+ which was my first choice @devilsbane do you have any Microsoft certs?

+1

I've noticed lately A+ has lost it's punch. I would personally go with the MCDST and then leverage that into a Windows 7 certification. That right there would probably give you a nice leg up on the competiton.

The Comptia's are very plain and basic. MCDST and others get your closer to a specialist which in my mind is what employers want to see.

steve13ad

I could agree more, N2. It'll be interesting to see if Comptia is able to keep the demand up for their big 3 after switching to a 3 year renewal.

Off topic, I saw that the Storage+ is slated to be a 3 year expiration as well.

Mike-Mike

MRiTJay wrote: »

I have one of those and I just bought one of the exam cram books if amazon. I tried the same questions on the comptia site and scored 73% which = failed. At least I know my week points now. @mike-mike have you ever tried the sample questions?

i used the CompTIA free sample questions for all 3 comptia certs, and for A+ and Net+ they made me feel much better, but made me nervous for Security+... I waited until the day before my actual certification exam to get the free CompTIA questions...

N2IT

steve13ad wrote: »

I could agree more, N2. It'll be interesting to see if Comptia is able to keep the demand up for their big 3 after switching to a 3 year renewal.

Off topic, I saw that the Storage+ is slated to be a 3 year expiration as well.

I'm not touching an entry level certification that expires. No friggin way man.

When you have Windows 7 and other awesome technologies to learn, why would you do that?

I'll be honest with you, if I could do it all over again I would rather have 1 Microsoft certification than my A+ and N +

jtoast

I went the MCDST route instead of the A+ route. I did it because everyone I knew with an A+ was making $10-12/hour and everyone I knew with a Microsoft cert was making $20+/hour. I didn't know anything about MCSA vs MCSE vs MCDST at the time so my reasoning was somewhat flawed...heh.

Since that time I've found that most non-technical people (read many low level HR types) give more respect to a Microsoft cert over an A+ simply because everyone's heard of Microsoft and only techs have heard of CompTia.

MRiTJay

I bought book for both exams I was looking to do A+ first but I asked a few people and most recommend a Microsoft cert if I choose to go further in the IT field. I did a little research and like jtoast said jobs range from $10 to $15 hr

N2IT

jtoast wrote: »

I went the MCDST route instead of the A+ route. I did it because everyone I knew with an A+ was making $10-12/hour and everyone I knew with a Microsoft cert was making $20+/hour. I didn't know anything about MCSA vs MCSE vs MCDST at the time so my reasoning was somewhat flawed...heh.

Since that time I've found that most non-technical people (read many low level HR types) give more respect to a Microsoft cert over an A+ simply because everyone's heard of Microsoft and only techs have heard of CompTia.

This makes a lot of sense.