CompTIA with a degree in BIT

barlow1123

Hi,

Im 21 and I've just finished university with a BS degree in BIT (Business Information Technology), I'm just wondering if it is worth doing the CompTIA certificates (network, server, security etc.) when I have the degree in IT?

Thanks in advance

Iristheangel

It really depends on what you want to go into and the kind of classes you took. If you already learned the fundamentals during the course of getting your degree or if you are more interested in the business side of things, then CompTIA will just be waste. It's not worth spending the $250 per exam only to have to renew it 3 years later in my opinion.

grande25

If you're looking for federal work they classify Security+ as "IA tech level 2" or "IA management level 1". Sec+ coupled with your bachelor degree really should qualify you as the IA management level 1 position. CISSP would be IA management level 2 which is the next step up. I was lucky to get about 30 hours informal class time with a guy I know at work and then I watched some CBTs, read the Sybex book and ran through as many practice quiz questions as I could find. Did all that over about 3-4 months and passed the Sec+ no problem. My opinion is that it's good exposure to more management level material. I've moved on to CCNA and am learning MUCH more technical/functional material which is great. I think Sec+ will open more federal doors and is not too hard to get. Add a CCNA or higher to that and you'll be a real IT nerd

tpatt100

A+ is required for a lot of entry level jobs. Not sure if it is "worth it" but it was the first cert. Depending on the college you went to and courses you "might be" good to go but I know back in the day I did more general studies rather than actually learning anything useful in the real world.

Most of what I learned for my first two IT jobs was at the University of Barnes and Noble.

grande25

A+ is at the entry-level or one of CompTIAs "lower" certifications as indicated by their Continuing Education requirements. In my opinion, A+ has a lot of nit-noid, minutia and jargon oriented material where you are simply learning acronyms and even historical events in general IT such as how microprocessors developed between Intel and AMD. Shortly after getting my Sec+ I had a guy from the IT department in my office fixing my boss's computer. Maybe he was having a bad day but he didn't make the connection between a new motherboard (LAN interface...) and the need to update the new MAC address. Of course, the network security features would have nothing to do with the unfamiliar/new network device. I suggested it to him but he just sort of looked at me like, "you're not an IT guy..." and walked off. I called the IT dept, gave them the new MAC address and my boss's computer was working again. lol... I just assume the A+ guy was having an off day.

Some businesses will even pay you to get these certifications "after" you get hired. Then again, having the certifications in advance may give you a leg up. CompTIA requires that you pay "maintenance fees" and perform continuing education to refresh the cert on a 3-year recurring basis. I'd imagine if you worked for a company that desired Sec+ they would pay for the fees. It's about $50 a year.

barlow1123

Thanks for the good replies.

Well as I've just come out of uni i don't have any experience and read around a lot that these qualifications can help with that also I've found this deal online (Im in the UK)

I am into the more computer side of it, I did originally start my course in straight up Computer Science but switched after not enjoying the programming as much as id thought, and didn't have too many modules on network and security etc.