Requirements for certification?

I'm considering studying for/taking the CompTIA A+ exam, but I need to know if there are any requirements. Do you have to be a certain age to take the exam (I'm currently 14)? Also, on the site (general information page) it says, "The CompTIA A+ certification exam validates the knowledge and abilities of an entry-level technician with six months of on-the-job experience", does that mean I need to have 6 months professional experience, or it is just recommended? Also, assuming I am actually able to take the exam, how long do you recommend studying for? Right now I can take a practice exam and get about 60% correct, but I don't think I'm anywhere near good enough to try taking the real thing. What I hope to do is ask my parents to buy me the exam for Christmas, then take it sometime in January, so that gives me about 2 months to study.

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Comments

colebert

COMPTIA will take your money no matter how old you are.

You don't need professional experience to take the exam. they just recommend it.

take the exams at XXXXXXXXXXX they're free.

[Edit by webmaster: there is a reason for our word censor to replace that site's name...

)

RussS

No you don't have to be any specific age to take the exam.
The 6 month recommendation is basically that if you have been a PC tech for 6 mths or more you should have the knowledge to pass the exam (with a little study).

Lexxdymondz

Man I wish I got started at 14, I'm sure if we all got started at 14 we'd have MUCH more under our belts by now.

I'm impressed, and good luck with your test when you take it. Don't sweat it its not that hard just study and make sure you know your stuff.

Try the Mike Myers All In One ISBN 0-07-222274-3
Its a great study guide and covers all the topics necessary to pass the test.

colebert

[Edit by webmaster: there is a reason for our word censor to replace that site's name... )

sorry, sir.

carbunkle

I am impressed at your age too Im 19. If you want to cram a lot I would say a month with mike myers A+ and online recourses, if its going to be a little each night I would say 2-3 months. You want to be scoring 90s on practice tests.

I hope getting certified helps you I would imagine many employers would not hire any one under 18 to fix computers

learningIT

It's certainly nice to start now...

I have a little story to tell.

I took Cisco Academy my sophmore year of High School, I tried, failed many tests, was the only one in the class doing my work...We were doing the cirriculum at 2x the rate of colleges in a high school environment (4 regular Cisco semesters in 2 of ours - 1 year). Everyone around me was cheating offline and getting 100% (teacher was completely optimistic and gullible)...It was hard, I was getting 60% on my tests. This next semester, I am a teacher assistant for the Cisco class, and I'll be trying again.

Local community colleges here offer Cisco CCNA classes for about $1500 each (4 semesters of cirriculum, maybe 8 quarters total?). You sure can save a lot of money, and pass up many people who're much older and just learning Microsoft Word. Just keep persistance and eventually you will succeed. At age 14, that is impressive!

I didn't know what a hard drive partition was then!

"I hope getting certified helps you I would imagine many employers would not hire any one under 18 to fix computers" -Carbunkle

Freshman year of highschool, I was offered an office job for $12 an hour. No certifications, nothing. Only thing I could prove to my potential boss was my hard work and effort. The only thing that turned me down was that I couldn't drive at age 14. So don't let age stop you! Now that one boss says he'll help me, that I should keep him informed of my school and work situation, and ask for help if needed.

I'm 16 now. 14 is better, charge on, you're to a great start, and you know it!

viper75

Very impressed...When I was 14 I had no clue on what a modem was and I think I was still playing with G.I.Joes.

Anyway Like everyone has mention here you don't have to have pro. experience in the field to take your A+ all you really need is to do some studying and get some hands on...like working on an old pc. If you can get your hands on an old pc and take it apart, break it ,fix it you will be able to undertsnad more of what you're reading. Hope all goes well for you and Good Luck!!!

JDMurray

viper75 wrote:

Very impressed...When I was 14 I had no clue on what a modem was and I think I was still playing with G.I.Joes.

When I was 14 (late 70's) I was also still playing with G.I. Joes (8 inches of action!!), but I was also down at my neighborhood Radio Shack computer store playing with BASIC on a TRS-80 (or "Trash Eighties" as we call them back then). It was several years later before I knew more about the insides of a computer than I did a Ham radio. There is just no substitute for hands-on experience.

You never knew how good you had it with tubes until you lost them...