So I'm looking to get some qualifications in the IT industry, I'm going to start the one with what most people consider the easiest (could be wrong just assuming)... "CompTIA A+ Certification".

I feel like I'm semi decent with computers and do know what I'm doing. However I do want some material on it just so I can be sure and not waste money taking the test.

Question I have is that what material should I go for?

I've heard Mike Meyers book is decent but super big and maybe a bit overkill.

Exam Cram - Don't really know anything about this.

I've seen this also. https://www.cybrary.it/course/comptia-aplus/

I'm sure there would be some stuff up on youtube too.

Not sure if there is anything else, If there is please let me know or any other general advice would be good too.

Thanks in Advance

Professor Messor - check his youtube channel, also has a website, also does a monthly A+ 2hour live session (Q&A) Get your hands on his A+ notes they're great and once you can safely say you know them notes in depth you will pass the A+

mike meyers - good books i used his books + videos along with messor


measureup and certblaster are good but cost money.


i passed the 220-801 , for some its a easy exam for some its not (depends on experience around PCs.) for me the A+ was harder than the Network+ as there was more of a variety of topics to learn , where as network+ is just network based.


for more info this is a good site for all your needs http://www.techexams.net/forums/a/


my advice for taking the exam or at least the study method would be to have a timeframe in mind. Doing a hour tonight then not doing another hour for a week wont get u there. You will have to imo dedicate several hours per week constantly to learning and retaining the info.


i still have several things i for the A+ that will be still relevant to the 900 series so if u want them send me your email i will forward on what i have.



p.s go to comptia and download and print off the objectives for a checklist


p.p.s do you mind me asking why you want these certs , are you looking for a career in the IT industry?

Thanks for the reply and the great info you provided I will shoot you a pm with my email In too.

Yeah I'm looking too. My plan was to get this and try and get some entry level job then continue to learn on my own time whilst on the job.

Everything mesmerized posted above is spot on, and that forum is an excellent resource.

I passed the A+ without prior experience in IT by using the Messer videos and the ExamCram book. Mike Meyers is probably better than ExamCram.

Utilize flash cards.

What country are you in ? reason i ask is A+ in my experience carries no weight whatsoever for the work/study you put into getting it (employment wise) That being said if you are going to pursue comptia certs i.e Net+ and Sec+ the A+ is a great base for them.

If i had to do it all again i would go straight to CCNA , which is a cisco exam and employers where i'm from look far more highly on it.
I think the A+ is is useful more so in the USA the DOD require it or something.But then again the A+ is a great starting point as it covers a lot of topics and from there you might follow a path i.e network or security where the money is.

Net+ and Sec+ are garbage, at least in the US, but some of the better certs require you to have worked in the industry a few years. Very strange situation.

i wouldn't call them garbage,CompTIA exams are some of the hardest i've sat , material wise they cover a lot of ground , the net+ fair enough is a lot of memorisation compared to say CCNA or the CCNP where thats more hands on, but then CCNA etc is cisco based and net+ is vendor neutral. In fact the Net+ update made it quiet hard that there are are tutors no longer calling them entry level exams.

The sec+ is still a highly looked at cert no matter what country imo , and still carries weight behind it and it def helped me on my way to getting cisco 210-260.

If you have no experience at all in a live environment then comptia certs will def help you gain knowledge and make your journey into more specialist certs that bit easier as you will be familiar with terms.

I'm in the UK and yeah I was reading some forum not sure where the people are from but they said the same thing about them "being useless" in the sense of your better off going down the microsoft route.

I'm still new to these certifications so I could be totally wrong on the above.

If the job you're applying for has a cert requirement that itself requires a comptia cert, then maybe they're not useless, but I've yet to see anything like that.

You've yet to see a job requiring Comptia certs? They're absolutely everywhere on indeed. If his plan is to get an entry level job in tech, getting Comptia certs is exactly what he should be doing.

if youre going for entry level with no experience then yes, a comptia cert will help you. imo tho experience is more important than a cert is when moving up in roles.

If you are looking to get into the networking... go straight to the CCNA. It carries weight for entry level jobs and there are enough resources out there that it should be no problem for someone who is motivated. It has to be one of the easiest ways for someone with no other qualifications to land a 40k to 50k job in the US. From there.. maybe learn virtualization, security, programming... whatever interests you the most.

Not exactly what I was saying. There are a few jobs that "require" some form of comptia cert, but the only ones that actually require it are gov't jobs in the US. The rest, I feel, use it as a way to turn down the absolutely inexperienced.

If you have experience and no cert, I think you still get interviews. Cert and no experience will get you put on the bottom of the stack of resumes. Cert and experience tends to get you about the same spot as experience and no cert.

As for qualificaton in IT industry it doesnt carry much weight but getting first L1 support job it looks ok. It shows you know something/basics. Youtube videos recommended earlier a good and did read 1 or 2 books. Never bothered taking the exam thou. If you have any kind of IT job already I wouldnt do the A +.


However what ever we say it is useful to read the material through. If you do A+ the server plus wont take much extra effort and i reckon thats worth taking. For any other Comptia courses rather go with vendor specific ones from there.

Microsoft, Rhcsa or Suse, Ccna. I believe There is a general storage cert and vmware has certs. Books are normally cheap. You can buy and decide if certain cert is for you but you'll learn and will need all kind of skills in most IT jobs. Get some understanding of OS, server, networking and storage.

good place to read plenty of books for monthly fee is safaribooksonline. Dont know of they have A+ thou.

Just to add.

There are plenty of A+ books and videos on safaribooksonline. May be tens if not over hundred videos and books. You can get 10 day free trial.
it is reputable company so even before buying a book do a bit of reading and browsing for free and see what the books are like if you are planning to buy any.

Yeah, I agree with this. Experience trumps all in the end. Certs can help you get your foot in the door to get that experience, or possibly help you edge out the competition when competing with someone with similar experience to you.

It's been many years, but the A+ is super-easy if you know anything about computers, with maybe a weekend of study into it on Professor Messer or whatever else there is now. Maybe a little more .

In my old industry I used to hire some of these entry-level network coordinator type positions. While the technical value of the A+ is super small, consider that it might show a prospective employer you're at least somewhat serious about the entry-level position you're applying for. Especially relative to the endless sea of applicants who breezed in the door, thinking that the gaming computer they assembled and some typing skills make them a tech-savvy IT pro. I'd get 50 applications for a $14/hr position on a single listing and always had some on file.

Anecdotal case but one candidate in particular stands out in my mind, super young and it would have been his first full-time job, which was little green for us normally (casino industry). But he made it a point to say spent a couple hundred $ of his own money to get his A+ and N+ or whatever it was, and that it represented like 2 weeks' of his net pay from the part-time McJob he had. I had zero problem offering the job to him, though he wound up taking a job with my former boss & friend at a competitor. Had those certs not been on his resume there's no chance he'd have been called in.

I feel the same about professional associations too, if your field has one and there's a chapter local. It's usually well worth the investment for the interview value alone, nevermind being able to network within your field and the learning opportunities you can get.

i don't know what current qualifications you have but if you can do the A+ in a weekend your must be a genius

https://certification.comptia.org/do...objectives.pdf


thats the exam objectives if you can do that in a weekend lol