Pretty Useless Exam Alright

I'm about 2 months in to a 12-month Network Engineer Diploma program at the #1 career / technical college here in Canada, which includes A+, Net+, Linux+, Security+, MCSE, CCNA Certification tracks. I have 12 years of business experience including the last 5 in IT or IT-related roles. I have done everything except manage a network, completed the A+ courses with a 95% average and felt I had aced both certification exams as well.

Both times I was given a report with missing the pass mark by 7 points. I doubt I will be taking the Net+ CompTIA exam, I'll spend the vouchers I have on Microsoft Exams thank you very much. Now I know why everyone in the IT Consulting business think CompTIA is a joke!! It is.

I also got 100% on my OS Final and 86% on my Hardware Final in the course. Useless once I get my MCSE, CCNA anyway.

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Comments

viper75

garv221 wrote:

LOL..Good point...People hate this exam because people feel it should be common knowledge & a given for anyone in the computer field. The people who seem to hate the exam are those who have been techies or those who design networks or systems at a high in depth level & had A LOT of experience with A+ work. I started out a bench tech...
I never took the exam, I know everything about a PC though & I am100% confident I can manipulate a pc anyway I want & fix any issue aroused within one. Anything about sockets & crap like that...I go Google...I have forgotten more that a lot of A+ bench techs even know..But it does take some time to memorize the prep book to pass..

Well said...I also started as a bench tech in '95 and now I work with networks...I have forgotten stuff that some techs don't even know now. I took my A+ in '97. When the test still had Windows 3.11 and DOS commands questions. Took Hardware and Software back to back and passed in one shot!!!

You think the A+ is hard now consider your self lucky you didn't take it in '97. You had to remember how much memory to allocate to load Windows 3.11 and how much memory to allocate to run certain programs and in which order or how to edit the WIN.INI and SYSTEM.INI files when troubleshooting Windows. Can you go into the AUTOEXEC.BAT and troubleshoot that now with DOS commands??? or CONFIG.SYS???
How about remembering every single IRQ setting and what each IRQ was used for...this is when every card you put in a PC had jumpers.

One of your worst enemies was a modem believe or not!!! You had to make sure you set the jumpers for the IRQ's correct on your modem or you can screw up the whole pc's IRQ allocation. Man I don't miss those days!!!

THANK GOD for plug and pray!!!

Plantwiz

viper75 wrote:

One of your worst enemies was a modem believe or not!!! You had to make sure you set the jumpers for the IRQ's correct on your modem or you can screw up the whole pc's IRQ allocation. Man I don't miss those days!!! THANK GOD for plug and pray!!!

But that was fun

No, I agree, PNP is a very helpful tool. The thing that bugs me, is there are so many people who have now cracked open their chassis and decided that they can install the boards themselves (and they can), but think this makes them a 'PC tech'. IT DOES NOT.

I still disagree with anyone thinking that the A+ is:
1. Entry Level
2. Waste of time

If you are working directly with systems and most likely home users in a computer shop you do run a good chance at running into many of the things on the exam. Will you see everything? No.

Trying to explain the reasons to not take an exam for more money (braggin rights for you or the company) is like trying to explain why buying a DVD player from w@l-m@rt is a bad idea. Short term, it looks like a good thing...Long term, it is bad for more than the two who initially profited.

Anyway, I still stand by not everyone needs to take the A+. If you are going into a Design, Engineering, Web-type path, seems little reason to know how to swap ram, add a HDD, or change a PS.

If you take it, then don't discount it as a waste of time. There are far too many people I run into on a daily basis who pretend to be competent with hardware/OS's and some have A+, yet they cannot troubleshoot basic topics from the exam objectives.

duckduckduck

Because I'm sure you're all dying to know, I passed them both today. Thank God they didn't hold me to the 4 hour testing scheme I was originally given, rather they let me hit them one after the other and both tests only took under an hour to complete.

viper75 wrote:

You think the A+ is hard now consider your self lucky you didn't take it in '97. You had to remember ...!

Unfortunately, you still need to memorize all of those things for the '03 version of the exam. That aside, I need help trying to decide if I should continue on my path of insisting that 75% of the A+ could be discounted as useless knowledge. Because I'm kind of thinking of becomming one of those fanatical defenders of the exams now that I've passed. I just bought an ESD strap I plan on wearing EVERYWHERE from now on and a multimeter to test processor voltages.

Haha - just joking guys. I'd never wear an ESD strap.

garv221

I think what kills this exam is how fast technology changes. Who cares about sockets & pin outs? They change every month. If you are truly in IT than you will be up to speed with technology .

Like Viper said..Back in 97' I bet that was tough. That is when people actually thought you were smart if you could open a PC..Now days though alot of people have caught up, the geek next door can fix your PC now & that trumped the A+..Fixing a PC doesn't pay the bills either like it use to..Its almost like the A+ tech & the VCR repair guy play golf after work together.

IloveIT

If you cant pass this exam...That's pretty sad.

I'm in high school. I've passed both the OS and Hardware tests. And before they allow you to take the cert test. You have to take a Tech Prep test worth 6 credits. The tech prep test is at least 10 times harder than the cert test. I've passsed it. Maybe you need to go back to school

viper75

IloveIT wrote:

If you cant pass this exam...That's pretty sad.

I'm in high school. I've passed both the OS and Hardware tests. And before they allow you to take the cert test. You have to take a Tech Prep test worth 6 credits. The tech prep test is at least 10 times harder than the cert test. I've passsed it. Maybe you need to go back to school

Webmaster

viper75 wrote:

IloveIT wrote:

If you cant pass this exam...That's pretty sad.

I'm in high school. I've passed both the OS and Hardware tests. And before they allow you to take the cert test. You have to take a Tech Prep test worth 6 credits. The tech prep test is at least 10 times harder than the cert test. I've passsed it. Maybe you need to go back to school

What's sad is that this IloveIT posted several major **** sites in another topic by circumventing our filter... I'm sure knowing the answers in advance makes A+ an easy test for anyone.

garv221

Webmaster wrote:

viper75 wrote:

IloveIT wrote:

If you cant pass this exam...That's pretty sad.

I'm in high school. I've passed both the OS and Hardware tests. And before they allow you to take the cert test. You have to take a Tech Prep test worth 6 credits. The tech prep test is at least 10 times harder than the cert test. I've passsed it. Maybe you need to go back to school

What's sad is that this IloveIT posted several major **** sites in another topic by circumventing our filter... I'm sure knowing the answers in advance makes A+ an easy test for anyone.

Yeah that is pretty sad when you have to ****. Any test is easy if you know the answers.

Smallguy

Just Try it again

If I had ot guess I'd say your Taking a course through CDI (I am too) but in all honestly so far Im' 1 month into it and with the way the course is weighed 70% hands on and 30% exams getting a high average is not all that hard if you can pass the exam and know what ur donig for the hands on.

I've been studying for about 2-3 weeks I've read my book tried practice tests at 3 or 4 different sites... read the study guides there and just recently started with the exam cram2 software.. the more angle to use to prepare your self the more chance u have of being sucessful

paige1

But that was fun

No, I agree, PNP is a very helpful tool. The thing that bugs me, is there are so many people who have now cracked open their chassis and decided that they can install the boards themselves (and they can), but think this makes them a 'PC tech'. IT DOES NOT.

Remember the sound cards that you had to connect the CD-ROM ribbon cable and speaker wire to? The one that came with the floppy that had the program that said basically; --if you hear the test tone you're good to go, if not choose another dma and/or irq, and then gave you a list? --Those were the days.

y-yorn

A+ exams are simlpy great My friends. There is something i hav learnt regarding humans. Once they hav succeded in doin a certain thing that every one straggles for , they start braging , thereby lossing respect and discouraging their folks. this is Ouite Tricky....

guys, i'm about to sit for my hardware & need any help from anyone of UUUUUUUU!!!!!!

sharpescalade

i hated doing A+, it was just a pain learning about old computer junk we no longer use..

but I can say the same for spanish class and gym in school..

..sucked, but taught us learning and education systems...

A+ is a foundation for ANY IT person... if I were a IT director and was hiring someone.. I would look for A+ even if they had a Cisco cert or MCSE...why?

would you hire someone who just grad HS without going to 1-4th grade?

anyone can pay and spend time and goto MCSE bootcamp or Cisco, but showing your full spectrum and getting a A+, even if you Ace it, shows your dedication to a Complete Tech Training..PLUS A+ is a basis for everything in IT

elathrop

IloveIT wrote:

If you cant pass this exam...That's pretty sad.

I'm in high school. I've passed both the OS and Hardware tests. And before they allow you to take the cert test. You have to take a Tech Prep test worth 6 credits. The tech prep test is at least 10 times harder than the cert test. I've passsed it. Maybe you need to go back to school

If you’ve had the opportunity to learn computer repair in school, maybe COMP TIA doesn’t apply you. But, when I was in school, computers were like, Radio Shack TRS 80’s. I actually did learn about them, if you want to talk about useless knowledge. If you are going to school and learning how to be a computer tech, that’s fine. However, what happens when you are working full time but would like to move into another field, maybe just to better yourself? Or, like in my case; what happens when computers move into your field? Suddenly, or not so suddenly, you realize you need to become a competent computer technician to maintain your standing in your field. What are you going to do if you can’t go back to high school but you still want to learn? More importantly, how does the employer know you have learned anything. How does he separate the wheat from the chaff? I guess you could tell him you’ve learned everything there is to know and then some in high school! Maybe, that will work.

Frankly, I’m thankful for COMP TIA’s tests. Because of them, I’m proving to the hiring community, that even at my advanced age, I can still learn and am willing to do so. Maybe it’s not of the utmost importance to them that I may be actually learning some things I no longer need to know! I guarantee that if you have been in the electronics field for 20 years your brain is going to be loaded with obsolete stuff. That doesn’t matter, what matters is, you are still learning the new stuff. You’ve got to keep learning because things keep changing.

If I can get a couple of certifications under my belt and really learn along the way, with my experience, it will bode well for me. I will be able to maintain my standing as a competent intercom and clock system technician. Who knows, in the future ( Yes, guys my age still consider the future) if I applied for a promotion, or maybe a better job with another company, the hiring authority might be happy he’s found a person with experience and credentials. He may even choose me over some kid who’s gone to school and says he knows everything!

dje

elathrop wrote:

Frankly, I’m thankful for COMP TIA’s tests. Because of them, I’m proving to the hiring community, that even at my advanced age, I can still learn and am willing to do so.

Finally...somebody who knows what half of the entire learning process is all about...
At least some people here have a clue as to what 'education' means...

Duckduckdork, or whatever u call yourself, you must be really inexperienced, really young, or just really stupid.
You think all of education and passing exams etc is just to gain that particular knowledge? rofl...I assume you haven't spent much time in 'real' school, or real life for that matter.
You think 6 years of law school means you are ready to be Joe Lawyer, out on your own, ready to defend OJ in his next murder trial? No...it means you've shown you have the dedication, the drive, the desire, and the ability to accomplish a given task.
You really think all the companies who require an A+ for employment REALLY care if you know what CPU's go into a Socket 7 connector, or PERHAPS they are just a BIT more interested in the fact that you were able to do what it takes to pass this exam? Maybe its not just ALL about the actual knowledge, but they also care that you were able to learn the objectives presented to you and complete the task at hand?
Duckdork, you are basically THE reason that education and certifications exist in this world...to weed out complete morons like you.
Go back to Geeksquad, as thats about the only thing a simple mind like y ours will ever be good for.

Plantwiz

Let's keep the name calling out of the discussion, shall we?

From time to time people will post things that strike a nerve within us, but keeping things professional doesn't mean we need to sink to that level.

It is nice to see your comments and your support of elathrop, but try to keep it from becoming a flame of another.

I'm sure you'll see here that your views are in the majority here, and not against the exam.

Take it if you need it. Don't take it if you don't.

crap I forgot my old pwd

You 'are incorrect' to think CompTIA is a joke, 'seriously'... CompTIA got my foot in the door easy. And dude, if you can't pass A+, use this website's tools, they are helpful. I passed A+ when I was 15 with no prior experience, now I am working on my CCNP and I am 18. All thanks to CompTIA.

edit: PW - apparently didn't read my post above.