Need some opinions/advice!

I'm thinking about writing the A+ since I know that alot of employers do look for this certification. My question is: is the A+ (or even other CompTIA certs for that matter... Network+ & Security+) worth getting?? I understand that most of their certs expire after 2-3 years... do most people renew their certs every time there is a new edition or only after a few new ones?

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Bl8ckr0uter

andrew09 wrote: »

I'm thinking about writing the A+ since I know that alot of employers do look for this certification. My question is: is the A+ (or even other CompTIA certs for that matter... Network+ & Security+) worth getting?? I understand that most of their certs expire after 2-3 years... do most people renew their certs every time there is a new edition or only after a few new ones?

There are other threads with similar questions but I will chime in first.

A+/N+/S+ and to a lesser degree (but still valid) Linux+ (I am currently studying for S+ and Linux+) I have said and will continue to say are worth it. I would say that there worth is either going to be a direct benefit (like you get a promotion because you are comptia certified) or indirect (because of your A+/N+/S+/L+ and so on skills you were able to get or keep a job). I think that the value of the certs (besides S+) greatly depreciates with the amount of experience you have and career level you are on.

When I first started my first paid IT job, I was given a promotion due to the fact that I had my A+. I think that the skills I have gained doing my A+ have been invaluable for me. The network+ was also valuable to me due to the fact that it helped me get my second and third jobs (current) and the knowledge I gained helped lay a foundation for the CCNA. Now I am still somewhat entry level (less than 4 years experience and my most recent job is my first non- helpdesk/customer support role) and I feel that comptia certs helped me (and some other people I know) but for someone with 5-10 exp and more, the A+/N+/L+ (depending on their skill set and jobs roles in that time period) may not help them at all because their skill set is assumed to have that level knowledge. For an example, a Network Engineer with 5+ years of experience should have Network+ level knowledge and much much more. A break fix server/pc tech with 5+ years experience should have A+ and Server+ level knowledge and much much more (don't get hung up on the 5 year time frame, I merely plugged in a number, you can feel free to do the same). That does not mean that they shouldn't do comptia certs, they just may not see as much benefit from doing them.

Security+ is kind of special among comptia certs (from what I have gathered) especially among Government IT jobs. Take a look at this link as I think it explans it a little better http://www.giac.org/8570/

I live near a major Air Force base and Security+ is (among other certs) wanted so I know it is worth it. To put it in perspective, I was told by a contractor that if I wanted to work for them I need to have the S+ (among other things) yesterday.

In summary I will say a lot of people here will say yes comptia certs mean something, a lot of people will say they mean nothing. I will say this: Do your homework. Do a dice search of your area on the types of jobs you want to do or are doing and see if they mention A+, Network+, Linux+, Security+, Server+ or any of the others and do a cost-benefit analysis. Comptia certs can be costly so spend your monies wisely. You should also weight these certs against you career goals. Hopefully when you have done this, you will have your answer.

Oh and welcome to the forums!!!

steve13ad

andrew09 wrote: »

I'm thinking about writing the A+ since I know that alot of employers do look for this certification. My question is: is the A+ (or even other CompTIA certs for that matter... Network+ & Security+) worth getting?? I understand that most of their certs expire after 2-3 years... do most people renew their certs every time there is a new edition or only after a few new ones?

While most of the Comptia Certs are updated every couple of years re-certification isn't necessary. Once you have the certification, you never have retake the test. Some employers require your to certified on the newest version, but many don't.

ipconfig.all

Comptia certifications will teach you a lot of the fundamental stuffs that will help you in the I.T industry. They aren't specialized certifications such as MCSE,CCNA etc but they are technical certifications that will teach you alot broad range of topics. For an example if you want to become a computer repair tech it is good to get your Comptia A+ and if you get hired as a computer repair tech and work for a few years in the industry you will not need to renew your comptia certifications because once you have the real world industry experinece it is not really necessary.

tha_dub

Yup get the A+.

With just an A+ a decent attitude you could get a job paying above min wage fixing PC's at best buy or some similar store. Its probably not a dream job but fixing home PC's is how I got started.

The best part of COMPTIA certs is that they are not vendor specific which allows a more general knowledge/experience base. At some point though if you want to make decent coin you really need to pick something and get really good at it. Whether it's cisco networking or voice or windows servers etc etc doesn't really matter.