certification questions

Hello Everyone,

I am new to this forum and the IT field. I am 26 and have been a musician my whole life. I pursued music performance degrees, but now I have obviously undergone a significant career change. I am currently pursuing an AS degree in IT, and am halfway through the program (12 courses). I have no experience working in the field.

My first 2 courses were A+ Hardware and Software, and we used the books "Guide to Hardware: Managing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting, 4th ed." and "Guide to Software: Managing, Maintaining, and Troubleshooting, 4th ed." both by Jean Andrews. They are both A+ certified books. The 3rd course was Networking, in which we used the Official Microsoft book by Craig Zacker "Academic Learning Series: Network+ Certification, 4th ed."

Upon completion of my 3rd course, my instructor stressed that I take the A+ Certification (Essentials and IT Technician). With his guidance and the usage of his study material, I took the 2 A+ tests last year and passed (I'm happy to say)! So I am now A+ certified.

After that, I went on to take the Server course, utilizing the Microsoft Official Course book, "Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment." Now, here is what I don't understand...

Upon completion of this course, my instructor stressed how important it was to pursue the Server+ certification next. He said that the Network+ cert was unnecessary to take, being that the A+ cert already covers/includes basic networking. He went on to say that acquiring Server+ is important, because it gets you Microsoft certified and you will be working with servers all the time out in the field.

Even though I have little knowledge here, I am questioning this concept. I have researched this forum and others, and have found that while A+ is essential, Network+ actually seems to be the common cert most everyone takes next. Server+, meanwhile, appears to be a far less common cert, it isn't necessarily a job requirement, there's little study material, etc. In addition, the Server+ study material my teacher gave me is quite difficult for me to comprehend.

How might any of you recommend I precede? Should I in fact pursue the Network+? Or are my instructor's recommendations sound, and I should go after the Server+? I have enjoyed my program, learned so much, and like my instructor, but I am just questioning some of his certification tactics.

Thank you for reading this; any help you can provide me would be much appreciated.

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Comments

cacharo

Skip the Server+. I took A+ Net+ and Sec+ before moving on to Microsoft. I understand it can be a spendy start with the price of COMPTIA exams, but I am very glad I went that route. COMPTIA tests are great for beginners as they cover alot of topics, but not very deep. But lets face it, you are going to have trouble with the more technical topics without the baseline knowledge anyway. If you decide to go M$ you must realize that you will likely have to re-study for the test. I have seen several students in classes with me try to take a M$ test after only the college curriculum, sadly, few have done well. Your instructor may know this and try to direct his students to the test they have a better chance of passing. That being said, you took a Microsoft server class and COMPTIA covers all general platforms, so keep in mind that you could get blindsided with Unix, Linux, and Novell server questions as well.

Daniel333

People will argue this either way...I am not a fan of comptia, so please consider that when reading this.

As someone who passed A+ and Net+, let me tell you I felt they were mistakes on my part. If knew what I know now I would have went straight for the Microsoft exams. Just jump onto monster.com and search for the cert in question, and the answer will be obvious if the cert is worth your time.

The exams required for the MCSE taken in order will build you from entry level in Windows XP all the way up. So I wouldn't say for a second you need to start at the A+/net+ certs.

If you are more interested in the networking side, skip Net+ and go to the CCNA. The CCNA too is designed for entry level and MUCH more respected. Again, a quick search at monster.com will demonstrate that.

Either way, Comptia exams won't hurt your resume. But they don't seem to open enough doors to be worth the time and money compared to vendor specific exams like those from Cisco, Microsoft and RedHat. my $.02.