Are the Apple Certs worth it?

Are the Apple Mac OS certs worth looking into for someone who is seeking a help desk/desktop support role--especially if they are seeking work in higher ed or a k-12 environment?

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ande0255

I wouldn't think so unless you are pursuing a career in Apple products, as I've known several people who have worked in Apple support that had almost no technical skills, just very low level troubleshooting. The specialists were generally cherry picked from the hundreds of call center workers based on stats / performance.

This is what I've been told from a couple different people, not 100% sure about its validity, but sounds lkke any other career that starts at a call center.

tjb122982

ande0255 wrote: »

I wouldn't think so unless you are pursuing a career in Apple products, as I've known several people who have worked in Apple support that had almost no technical skills, just very low level troubleshooting. The specialists were generally cherry picked from the hundreds of call center workers based on stats / performance.

This is what I've been told from a couple different people, not 100% sure about its validity, but sounds lkke any other career that starts at a call center.

I don't want to work for Apple. I am just interested because apparently the Apple Certs are only like $60 and I thought I could couple with a A+ and some other certs.

stryder144

A large private high school down the street from me requires their IT staff to have Apple certs. So, if you are looking to go that direction, they may have value to you. I would say it comes down to "may not help but can't hurt, either".

tjb122982

stryder144 wrote: »

A large private high school down the street from me requires their IT staff to have Apple certs. So, if you are looking to go that direction, they may have value to you. I would say it comes down to "may not help but can't hurt, either".

That's true. Plus if even if the certs are required or preferred, it shows that I would have potential for Mac support.

White_Wolf

Unless you are working a job that services apple products then no. Apple certs cost 300 dollars though, not 60.

WafflesAndRootbeer

IMO, no. Until Apple lands a big chunk of Enterprise/Corporate IT markets, their tech certs are relatively worthless outside of niche markets. Apple is not a company that is overly happy about anyone taking away their service/repair business and have made their products incredibly difficult and prohibitively expensive to service through outside channels, so the certs are not worth having in my opinion.

tpatt100

tjb122982 wrote: »

That's true. Plus if even if the certs are required or preferred, it shows that I would have potential for Mac support.

I think if you work in an environment where you have to support them like in the education sector then it makes sense. Apple products are in the Enterprise just not in the way Windows is but the laptops and phones have managed to work their way in it seems, I thought I read the iPhone either has or is about to end up replacing Blackberry in the corporate environment. From what I read on the Apple site the certification is basically about network integration in a mixed operating system environment so it might be a niche advantage only.

"Worth it" is entirely subjective and up to you really.

tjb122982

tpatt100 wrote: »

I think if you work in an environment where you have to support them like in the education sector then it makes sense. Apple products are in the Enterprise just not in the way Windows is but the laptops and phones have managed to work their way in it seems, I thought I read the iPhone either has or is about to end up replacing Blackberry in the corporate environment. From what I read on the Apple site the certification is basically about network integration in a mixed operating system environment so it might be a niche advantage only.

"Worth it" is entirely subjective and up to you really.

At this point, it looks to be worth it but I think I will mull it over some more. Thanks for all of your advice.

dspielman

I don't know if this is still the case but back in the day Apple certs were totally worthless and very easy to get. Just read a book and take a test.

antielvis

To clarify, there is one Apple cert that is around $60 bucks and the test is taken online. It's called Mac Essentials or something like that and about Apple computers on a Windows domain.

Worth it? Hard to say but there are a growing number of corporations who have Mac on their domains. They tend to be in specialized departments (say a marketing department in a large firm, etc). It is less about you supporting the Mac OS technically than it is about you supporting Mac OS X in a Windows environment. That's where they come in handy.

tpatt100

Yeah I ended up "the Mac" guy at my first IT job because somehow owning a Powerbook back then meant I knew more about Macs than the rest of the techs. Problem was Mac OS X was only a year old and I knew nothing about it and OS X was going through that transition phase from hell back then. What made it worse was Apple wasn't nearly as mainstream as it is now so support online was me asking about being on a Windows network and getting replies of "wait seriously they let you guys put Macs on a government network??"

tjb122982

tpatt100 wrote: »

Yeah I ended up "the Mac" guy at my first IT job because somehow owning a Powerbook back then meant I knew more about Macs than the rest of the techs. Problem was Mac OS X was only a year old and I knew nothing about it and OS X was going through that transition phase from hell back then. What made it worse was Apple wasn't nearly as mainstream as it is now so support online was me asking about being on a Windows network and getting replies of "wait seriously they let you guys put Macs on a government network??"

I love those kinds of gigs! It doesn't matter if you don't know something as long as your boss and coworkers know less than you do.

Cisc0kidd

How to become an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician | Macworld

Last year Apple moved all the cert exams online with a cost of $60. Not all the Apple pages are up todate.

mokaiba

Honestly, all Ive ever needed to know for a mac was apple icon>system prefs, how to add the mac to a window network, and how to open safari. For everything else on the mac, just find one (dont buy), click all over the place, and you have pretty much learned all youll ever need to know about it.

Tremie24

I work at a school district now, and we use some apple products. I have had absolutely no experience with apple prior to this.

tjb122982

Tremie24 wrote: »

I work at a school district now, and we use some apple products. I have had absolutely no experience with apple prior to this.

This is why I asked because when I was in high school (I graduated in 2002), most of the teachers had Mac's. I didn't know if that is still the case or not. Plus I know a lot of school districts are giving their students iPad's.

Tremie24

Yeah teachers have ipads, and then there's a certain number of iPads per classroom. They didn't seem to care if I knew anything about apple because I remember I was never asked anything about apple in my interview. We do have a guy that we call the "apple guy", and he handles most of the apple related problems. I'm not sure if he is certified or not.

If its that cheap I say go for it, couldn't hurt, I've seen some jobs that require an Apple Cert.

tjb122982

Tremie24 wrote: »

Yeah teachers have ipads, and then there's a certain number of iPads per classroom. They didn't seem to care if I knew anything about apple because I remember I was never asked anything about apple in my interview. We do have a guy that we call the "apple guy", and he handles most of the apple related problems. I'm not sure if he is certified or not.

If its that cheap I say go for it, couldn't hurt, I've seen some jobs that require an Apple Cert.

Thanks man. Also I see that you have your Network+ and Security+. How have they worked out for you?