passed A+ in September, great helpdesk job in December!

Hey guys just wanted to share my success story i took 801 and 802 in september and passed them. I have been in sales for 10 years desperately wanting out and i just started a new helpdesk support job with only my A+ pay is great. I live in Dallas and its a great market for IT jobs many to apply to.

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vordul_mega

Congrats! Plans for the future? More certifications?

In my thread you mentioned you also had a similar exp. in community college, what ended up happening there? Did you get an associates degree or a diploma/certificate from the school? Or did you not finish?

Again congrats it must feel good to get what you want!

crazboy84

No i went to the community college as continuing education just to take the courses, it was a complete waste of time and money. Right now im working on my CCNA planning on taking ICND1 next month. I also took courses in the college for the CCNA and that was a waste of money too in fact they required us to use a test bank and they TAUGHT FROM IT and i still failed the test back over a year ago. In april i got laid off and i found out about the WIA grant which gives you 12k to go to school so i did that with new horizons and took A+ (again) N+ and CCNA (again) and it includes all the vouchers with a pass guarantee where they will have to give me another voucher if i fail.

My future plan is to stay at the company im at for awhile because my boss is awesome and its the best job ive ever had. He doesn't require me to get further certs but im going to finish what i started.

H3||scr3am

Congrats on passing, best of luck on the other Certs, and enjoy your new job, try to learn as much from it as you can

4chib4ld

@crazboy84:

I recently moved down to Fort Worth for an IT job. You're definitely right about the market conditions here!

Have any more information on that grant you received?

crazboy84

Thanks, my boss is really taking me in and showing me the ropes ive already learned so much in the last 2 weeks. We are a heavily virtualized company so im learning a ton of VMware.

crazboy84

H3||scr3am wrote: »

Congrats on passing, best of luck on the other Certs, and enjoy your new job, try to learn as much from it as you can

Yea its the WIA grant it is for people that are unemployed/underemployed. You need to make less that like 17k yearly to qualify. Google WIA grant and call your local Texas Workforce commission office I had to go thru them it took about a week of going to TWC everyday to process the paperwork.

powdered toast man

Congrats crazboy on your new job! that is great you are learning VMware. Can't wait to get my A+

Dakinggamer87

Congrats on A+ and new job!!

Techie19

Congrats on the A+ and the new job. I'm also taking the exams next month and hope to have a similar success story to share.

I'm in NJ. I've had a few job interviews in NY (also great market for IT) where if I would have had my A+ certification I could have gotten the job.

kineticfs

Congrats on your pass!!
I hope I would end up with a nice job & a boss like you.

ScarHand

Well it been almost a year since you posted this...but congrats!

Anyways, I am 28 and have been in sales since college graduation. I am getting burnt out and don't really see anything positive with my long-term career with the company I am currently employed by. Your story sounds very similar to mine. I have a few friends in IT and have wanted to make the jump to IT for quite some time and from my initial research it seems like I need experience...which is no surprise.

I plan on getting my A+ cert, finding a help desk job to gain experience while also going for a CCNA, and then by the time I get the CCNA I will hopefully have 1-2 years experience so I can land a decent job. Not expecting to be making 100k+ at that point...but also not entry level. Also, I live in DFW as well.

My question is how did you find your first IT job? The job I assume you are still at. Applying online, networking, etc? I have been searching online and I don't really know what to be looking for. I search "Help Desk" jobs on dice.com and a lot of those call for 1-2 years experience. Are you salary, or hourly pay?

I will probably be taking a pay-cut to go from my current job to an entry level IT job but I know that it needs to be done and I believe that long-term I will be making the correct decision to get into a field that seems to have many possibilities...I just need a little help in the beginning. I don't expect you to identify the company that currently employs you but any advice you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

greg9891

Congrats

thomtar

Is it possible to just read with out hands on training and pass the A+ Exam

ojenksdev

thomtar wrote: »

Is it possible to just read with out hands on training and pass the A+ Exam

I think so. Obviously having at least some hands of experience/training helps, but if you study hard and do practice exams, you can definitely pass. I'll be taking my A+ when I start at WGU in Nov. I made the mistake of letting my previous A+ (based on old exam) expire last Aug, because I was knee deep in studying for my VCPDT exam. Won't do that again!

krfan1

ojenksdev wrote: »

I think so. Obviously having at least some hands of experience/training helps, but if you study hard and do practice exams, you can definitely pass. I'll be taking my A+ when I start at WGU in Nov. I made the mistake of letting my previous A+ (based on old exam) expire last Aug, because I was knee deep in studying for my VCPDT exam. Won't do that again!

I agree. Some hands on is better.

Ojenksdev, I was almost in your situation. I was studying for my Network+ and took it the Friday, January 30th (my A+ expired the following Monday, Feb. 2nd). Got lucky and passed.

Good luck!