CompTia or Vista?

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to get your opinions on my certification path. I just finished my MCDST certification

, got 910 on 271 and 884 on 272. I was planning on going into 70-621 to get the Vista certification next. I was reading the forums and found that a lot of people recommend going A+ and Network+ as well. Which route should I tackle first? Ultimately, I would want to go the MCSE route.

My background: I started building computers and installing software for my friends and family, then got a job as a one-woman IT support in a small company for about 18 months, now I'm working in a helpdesk for another 16 months. I'm pretty comfortable with Windows XP, but my experience in hardware and network are just the basic stuff you get from installing hardware and routers. Don't really know RAID, etc..

Thanks for all your opinions in advance!

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Comments

ElvisG

I went that route not by anyone telling me too but by just reading job descriptions. Majority of jobs that I saw that I wanted required either A+ or Network +. I'm currently studying for Security + because if you want to work on-base in Comm it's required. Then I'm going the whole MCSA / CCNA route. So my next test after Security + is 70-620 just because XP doesn't count towards MCITP cert's. I don't plan on getting any MCITP cert's for a year or two but just encase I need to go that route the 70-620 works.

I would do get the A+, Network+, and Security+ just because you might want to work for the local school district at some point. And besides, a lot of HR people are dumb to what cert's actually mean. You might lose a job just because someone has A+ and you don't. I would rather get it then ever have to worry about that situation rise up.

BigTex71

I think the A+, Net+, Security+ are good to have, so I would recommend you do them. Not too many places are even using Vista because of the early problems with it which caused it to have a bad name. A lot of people consider Vista to be a four-letter word. So most companies (that I am aware of) are sticking with XP. Also, the CompTIA certs will be able to be used towards your MCSA/MCSE.

tom0927

Thank you for your replies! I'll look into the A+, Network+ and Security+ exams, take those then go back to MCSE.

BigTex71, I know what you mean, the corporate client we're supporting now went on a Vista pilot for 6 months, their conclusion... ditch Vista and go back to XP.

Sanis4life

Excuse me for saying what i am about to say...

I...

Hate...

Vista...

That is all.

Happy Friday the 13th!

HeroPsycho

Cracks me up that most of the people who say they hate Vista seem to love Win7, even though they're basically the same thing.

Anywho, I've been running Vista for a few years now, and it's been great.

I wouldn't bother with A+ at this point for you. You could get Network+ in preparation for more advanced certs, but to be honest, I would begin after that with pursuing MCSE, MCITP, or CCNA. Your current MCDST and Network+ should cover you fine for most help desk type of positions as far as certs go.

rwwest7

tom0927 wrote: »

Thank you for your replies! I'll look into the A+, Network+ and Security+ exams, take those then go back to MCSE.

BigTex71, I know what you mean, the corporate client we're supporting now went on a Vista pilot for 6 months, their conclusion... ditch Vista and go back to XP.

Was it because Vista was bad, or they just couldn't figure out how to do certain things they were used to doing a certain way in XP. Vista if fine, it just requires you to learn new (and usually better) ways to do things.

rfult001

Do all 3. A+, Net+, and Vista. It helps to know the hardware and how it works. It can only help in the end.

BigTex71

rwwest7 wrote: »

Was it because Vista was bad, or they just couldn't figure out how to do certain things they were used to doing a certain way in XP. Vista if fine, it just requires you to learn new (and usually better) ways to do things.

I personally like Vista. My employer (company) did not. This was before the fixes with SP1. Extremely slow network transfers were probably the main reason, from what I heard.

tom0927

rwwest7 wrote: »

Was it because Vista was bad, or they just couldn't figure out how to do certain things they were used to doing a certain way in XP. Vista if fine, it just requires you to learn new (and usually better) ways to do things.

It was because they weren't able to find a way to work their in house programs with Vista. Also, they weren't able to give helpdesk access to remote desktop into the users's computers while we could on XP

but that might just be they forgot to press the ON button or something..

rfult001 wrote: »

Do all 3. A+, Net+, and Vista. It helps to know the hardware and how it works. It can only help in the end.

Now to find the money to do all 3 plus whatever ones afterwards.....

HeroPsycho wrote: »

Cracks me up that most of the people who say they hate Vista seem to love Win7, even though they're basically the same thing.

Anywho, I've been running Vista for a few years now, and it's been great.

I wouldn't bother with A+ at this point for you. You could get Network+ in preparation for more advanced certs, but to be honest, I would begin after that with pursuing MCSE, MCITP, or CCNA. Your current MCDST and Network+ should cover you fine for most help desk type of positions as far as certs go.

Thank you for your comments! Maybe that's the way to go until I get more $$

goforthbmerry

I am always amazed at how many jobs say they require the A+ exam when the job really entails no work with hardware. The A+ is useful if you you do repair, upgrade or build work. Otherwise I don't think it has much use. Still I do see it asked for so I understand why some people who really don't need it end up taking it.