I did it!

[Draco1962]

It may not be a big deal to some that already have it or those that don't care, but it is a big deal to me. As of today, I am CompTIA A+ Certified!

[GimmeClassics]

Congrats Draco !! Great job

[Tempest]

Yay!

[Adultery]

Hey nice job Draco! The tests can be a real bear, but I'm not surprised you rocked it!

Gonna get your Cisco certification too, or just doing normal stuff?

[hansolo77]

Dude, can you tell me anything about it? Like, what do I need to know, and how much does it cost? I've heard so many wildely different things, it's hard to know whats true. I've heard you need to know both PC and MAC stuff, and that you need to know stuff clear from the 1960's up to today, including everything from different hardware types (even redudant and obsolete stuff) to software on what IRQ's locations are. How are you supposed to memorize IRQ's and DMA addresses? I think I know a lot, but I really don't know jack crap about Mac stuff. If I really need to know it, i'm hosed. Also, cost is a major hurdle for me. I've heard there are 2 tests, hardware and software, and each cost $300, and each needs to be passed to get the certification, and if you fail you have to wait 6 month to take it again, and they don't tell you what you failed and need to learn more about.

Any help you care to share? I really need to get this to get a decent job but can't afford to throw away that kind of money not knowing what I'm getting into.

Oh, and good job by the way. You are the envy of me.

[Adultery]

The tests are expensive and are probably different based on where you take them, you need to know a little about everything including obsolete information and computing history. Shitty thing is if you flunk, you're out the money and you have to pay again to test.

I'm not sure if "certing up" is as important today as the education. That's more of a resume pad imho. ;-)

[nullPointer]

Congratulations Draco! Tonight I'll be tipping back a cold one in your honor. I know it's been a long road but you did it! I'm so pumped for you man. Great job!

[Draco1962]

@Han - I don't know how much the tests are where you live, but the current CompTIA A+ 220-801 and 220-802 tests cost about $183 per test (follow the link to see test objectives in much greater detail). They cover XP through 7. There is some older hardware mentioned in the study guides, but there is relatively little about it in the tests. Be prepared to have to answer questions setting up for BYOD devices for email and such. Locally, the tests are handled through an authorized Pearson-VUE testing center. Your best bet is to study your ass off. If you can qualify through any government programs or grants to pay for a boot camp that would be the best bet. Take a work week to do nothing but sit in a class, go over the exam objectives and simulations and test immediately at the end. Otherwise, it is much harder to study when you have to worry about balancing your home and work life and injecting study time whenever you can get it.

@Everyone - thanks! Going out to Tijuana Flats for some Tex-Mex and a beer or two to celebrate!

[Draco1962]

Hey nice job Draco! The tests can be a real bear, but I'm not surprised you rocked it!

Gonna get your Cisco certification too, or just doing normal stuff?

My next endeavor will be to obtain my MCSA: Windows 7 Certification.

[hansolo77]

Man I went to that CompTIA website and checked out their sample questions. I only missed 1 out of both sections. Does that mean I'm pretty good? Or does that simply mean that those questions are the EASY ones, and they real ones on the test are going to be so much harder? GRR!!! I really want to take this test and get certified, but I can't afford $183-each to just blow away if I fail. Plus, I only make like $120 a week at my job, and my Dad takes $60-80 a week in rent. ARGH!!! I wonder if you can get a bank loan to pay for testing? Also, Draco; do I have to take both tests together, back to back? Or can I gt the money together and take one part, then like 4 months later when I get more money together I can take the other? I looked at the Purchase a Voucher section, and it says it's valid for 12 months.

Thanks for your help!

[Draco1962]

I would definitely recommend studying the objectives for the first and taking the test, then the second. While there is some overlap of material, you will find trying to digest the objectives to both exams and taking them together overwhelming and increase your odds of failing one or both.

As for the sample questions, they are actually representative of the easier ones.

As for the books, sample cram CDs, etc, count on spending on those as well. I recommend sticking with the CompTIA approved texts, which run a bit more than some of the others. And make sure to get the hard copy as many of the ebooks do not come with the media.

[hansolo77]

A few years ago I looked at the library for A+ books. Sure, they had them, with sample tests and CD medias, but they covered materials that were outdated. As you said (and I read on their website) it covers the time period from Windows XP-7. Most of the books I've found cover DOS up to Windows 3.11. Some covered Windows ME, and one or two had XP snippits. But that was the extent of the availability. Thats what concerned me the most, because these systems are so old, their information is no longer necessary. In the real world, if I encountered such a system, I know enough to get by, and can easily troubleshoot them. But to be required to memorize things like IRQ and DMA addresses is just absurd. In those few A+ books I've checked out, they really drive home the necessity to memorize those things, and stuff like bus speeds, all the different connectors (like IDE, SATA, ISA, PCI), how many pins are on a RAM chip or Processor. It's really too much to memorize given that most of it is useless. I've talked with a few people recently (prior to your post) about their thoughts, and a lot of them are saying I should look into going back to college; the local city college will pay for the testing as long as you take their class, and at my age, I should be able to get it free, and it should be available as an online class so I wouldn't even have to leave home. Trouble is, because of my depression, I have a really hard time finding the motivation to really get in there and DO something about all this. I'm fine where I am, but I know I can do so much more; it's just getting it together and DOING it.

[Draco1962]

You are like me in that you are your own worst enemy. As Captain Planet would say.." The POWER is YOURS!"

[AlphaUMi]

Congratulations Draco!!!

[Tom Speirs]

I did a Novel (before it was Linux based) CNE back in the day (Which is equivalent in difficulty to MCSE) and it was tough. I think it was 7 exams in total. So congratulations, I know how hard it is.

[Draco1962]

Thanks!

[wolfman24]

congrats draco so what kind of work are you planning to do?

[Draco1962]

I am currently performing Tier 1/2 tech support for a local property insurance company. Most of my experience is self-taught so this is my first formal certification /validation of what I know. Eventually, I may venture into network or security.

[hansolo77]

Years ago I worked for WorldCom doing remote access (VPN with a keyfob) tech support. People were on the road, at hotels or whatever, using a laptop and a dialup modem trying to connect to their corporate network via our software. I did a lot of soft support trying to figure out why their connections weren't working. Checking software settings, reinstalling modem drivers, flushing DNS, ipconfig release/renew type stuff. A lot of the calls were simple password resets cause they locked out, or keyfob resetting because their batteries were getting low and going out of sync with the server. It was a good job, paid like $10 an hour. They hired people off the streets with no more than high school diplomas (thats how I got the job). Then WorldCom decided they didn't want to outsource to the company I was working for (it was a global tech support call center that had multiple "programs" for people, like WorldCom, AT&T, BankOne, BellSouth, etc all in the same building). WorldCom offered to transfer everybody in our "program" to their onsite building, but at the same pay. The building I worked at made a counter offer; Stay with us, we'll make you Supervisors (at $22/hour pay) in our new "program" coming: Verizon DSL. I couldn't pass that opportunity up. So I agreed to stay. Then I was scheduled off the day they passed around the clipboard where everybody could choose their shift they wanted. I came in the next day and the program-leader said all the Supervisor positions were filled the day before, and all they had left available was Tier 2 tech support, at a $1 loss from my $10 I was already making. But he told me if I stayed, I could take the very first Supervisor position that opened whenever somebody left. Well, 2 years went by, it never happened. Then one day a guy (that had no idea what he was doing.. just some kid fresh out of high school, and didn't know crap about computers) came around trying to be all "supervisory" and saw me on an outside website when I wasn't on a call. I was trying to get information about a 3rd party program the caller I had just finished with was using, and I was switching over to get the name of it for my call log when he walked by. His attitude was short and rude "You're on an outside website off a call, that's a pointable offense), and he wrote me up. Came back like 2 minutes later with the paper filled out. Then he saw I was still "off-queue" because I was still typing up my log, and reached over my shoulders and clicked my line button to put me back in queue when I wasn't ready. Another call came in and before I knew what happened, I clicked off the line button and cussed the jerk out, saying he had no right to switch my phone. He said he was a supervisor and could do what ever he wanted, and said he was writing me up again for insubordination, and again for hanging up on a call. Well, I had already had 3 write ups that were rolling off, but now I had 3 more, and 5 was the "fired" number. I was sooooo pissed. I called the NOC (network operations center) to request a break, they said they were booked for an hour and I'd have to wait. I got up and walked out. Had a cigarette, came back in to get my stuff, and left. I came home, got on the phone, and called the project-leader. I told him about the situation, and he had me come in and give my point of view with him, my direct supervisor, and the building operator, as well as the jerk supervisor. In the end, they said I was right, and he was wrong. They fired the other guy on the spot. But because I walked out, I was fired too. They said it was more like a 6-month suspension, because I could reapply in 6 months if I still wanted to work there. And they said if they hadn't hired anybody, I could have the supervisor position the other guy had. Well needless to say, I came back 6 months later, ready for the job. The interviewer told me point blank "we don't hire supervisors without college degrees, 10-years management experience, and A+, Cisco, and Microsoft certifications. I told them I was promised the position, and that I knew for a fact that supervisors didn't even take calls, so the requirements were unnessessary. They told me to wait, got the building operator guy to come in and interview me. I reminded him about the ordeal on how I was fired, in as much detail as I just posted here, and he said "Yeah, there still seems to be a lot of hostility coming from you in regards to past events. I'm sorry but I can't hire you back until you've calmed down and let go what happened". I told him I was over it, that he just wanted to know why I was gone in the first place, but he said NO. And that was it. I haven't tried to get my job back ever since. Been probably 12 years now (god has it been that long?). In a way, I don't miss it. But it did sorta open my eyes to the limitations of decent jobs, being that you need experience, education, and certifications. Kinda sucks.

Yeah sorry about that long post. I probably posted it here a long time ago, but it's still fresh. And I need to get the word out to people to avoid call center jobs if at all possible. Everybody above you thinks they're God's gift to the universe, but in reality they probably don't know half the stuff you do, and they get paid twice the pay you do, when you do 2 or 3 times the work. I hate working.

[Draco1962]

We rotate on and off phone support every few weeks or so. While we have "shifts," they all fall within 7AM to 6PM support hours with a rotating 24 hr /7 day on call. Not terribly bad and our management team is fairly relaxed and flexible. Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, but not all call centers are bad and not everyone is cut out for them. Just the luck of the draw - good or bad.

[jackhammersalm]

I remember getting that back in 99 the software part was harder than the hardware which I passed easily. go for network+ next draco

[KRC]

A little late but Congratulations none the less!

[Draco1962]

Thanks! Better late than never!