Maximum PC

As many of you know, I'm moving out of state, and am hoping to break into the IT industry. I've worked with computers for years now, both for another company, and in my own business venture. I've been away from that for a few years now though. Anywho, I'll be going for a certification in a few months, one of which will be my MS 70-270.

I've studied for the Net+ a while ago, so reviewing for it wouldn't be a big thing. My main concern is whether I could conceivably take in all the info of the CCNA in some 3-4 months, and whether the CCNA would really carry that much more weight than the Net+ in helping get me a job.

bumpers

Offhand I know that A+ and Network+ (or A+ & Server+) combined will satisfy one of the elective requirements for MCSA/MCSE.

I don't know if CCNA can be used to satisfy an elective requirement.

I knew about select CompTIA exams qualifying as an elective requirement for the MS cert, but I have no plans for following a Microsoft path. I'm not saying that I'm not open to going that path. It just wasn't what I'd planned.

Also, I've been wondering if the lack of an A+ cert couldn't be made up for with my experience. I've been fixing and building for 5+ years.

My original plans were to get a CCNA and my XP MCP since that's what most IT employers seem to favor more. Would an A+/Network+ combo be just as good for an entry level IT job, generally speaking?

To be blunt, experience 'fixing and building' and running your own business isn't worth 2 cents unless you can prove it. Everyone and their little brother claims that experience.

If your business is known in the community, or you have an established profssional website, or some way of showing that you do more than slot a new stick of RAM in your family's PC from time to time .. I wouldn't even mention it. If I was the interviewer, I'd just roll my eyes and move on.

I am not a fan of paper certs .. but they are better than nothing and can help you get a foot in the door.

Honestly, I can't really prove my business. I never had a web-site. I advertised by word of mouth, business cards, Craigslist, and some flyers. After a few months of doing it, I got really sick of it. After losing my car, the "business" really tanked. It never grew to the point I needed to actually make real money with it, thus it's always been more of a thing on the side as opposed to my real job. I just figured it would look much better on a resume if I played it off as a real business, but you make a great point. I can't really prove it. I have no more business cards, I had few clients, it never really was much of a business. I don't lie about my skills. I won't say I know Veritas when I have no friggin clue what it is. I'm not afraid to say that I can do this, but not that. I'm always honest and up-front about my skills. However, I will stretch the truth with the business thing. I guess it won't really matter though and I'll probably leave it alone since it will probably do more good than harm.

I did a bit more than replacing RAM. I did some malware removal, some upgrades, mostly consulting. By consulting, I mean the same type of questions we get in the Help me buy/help me build section, but without all the gaming rig questions. Done some custom builds, some hardware trouble shooting, etc. I didn't know squat about networking at the time, but I had more requests for setting up home networks than anything else. I'd be a better fit for that stuff now though. Through all of my jobs while doing the side job, I still learned more working as a tech for another local shop, and just working on my own computers.

I'm not terribly huge on paper certs either. I could just as easily cram for some of the MS and CompTIA stuff as I could actually reading, working, and understanding the material. I think more exams should take Red Hat's certification methods and make everything a hand's on. Red Hat used to have a small multiple choice section, but now the RHCT, RHCE, and RHCA certs are entirely hands-on tests. However, no matter my feelings on certifications, they're my only real hope until I get a significant amount of college or a degree under my belt, or if I get some real, non-retail IT job experience. The latter of which I'll need the former, or some paper certs.

Ah, I was confusing test 70-270 with 70-290, that's why.





A+ is easy as hell, I passed it 6 years ago when they were still asking archaic shit like the hex addresses for COM1 and LPT1.

Network+ I passed by a very small amount of points, but that's because I was doing Novell at the same time.




How comfortable are you with RAID and SCSI? You could add Server+ to your list of qualifications, the test is fairly easy, sorta like A+ but with workstation class hardware n stuff.

Usually when I already have experience in a field, I'll just pick up one of Mike Meyer's passport books just to get a feel for the testing requirements. If it's a test I have no background on, I usually end up getting two or three 500 page books and doing it the loooong way.

A quick sniff of IT industry recruiters:

Network Administration Specialists, those that are good with LANs and WANs are in high demand, followed by Windows Administration experts.


You may want to go after MCSA

I'm pretty confident that I could pass the Network+ and A+. Anything else would really require much more studying.

I've been debating on the A+ or not simply because I'm not terribly sure how worth it is. I've seen lots of jobs I could do that I don't need the A+ for. I've seen several Craigslist and Dice postings that don't necessarily call for the A+. It's $150 per exam, and two exams. I'm just curious how worth it the A+ exam is in this day and age where at least a quarter of my generation could almost pass it.

I know what you mean about the A+ Flytrap. When I was really studying for it, it was 2005 and I was using a book published in 1996. There was a lot of material covering things you just don't need to do. When I was a tech, even the oldest computers I've seen come across the counter were current enough to not need me to be screwing with IRQ settings, messing with jumper pins, etc. I guess shortly after my studying, they updated the A+ exam. The Exams were essentially one for hardware, and a second for software. They covered very, very basic networking hardware, and absolutely basic customer service ideals, but past that, it was really old news. Now one is an updated hardware/software exam, and the second is one of three specialized exams. Depot Tech, IT Tech, and Remote Support Tech. I'd have to get some new material to review for this one.

I've known about the Server+ exam, but I've never really seen any employers ask for it. From what I've been told from some I've talked with, it's not really worth it. The A+ would be more valuable. I've never really dealt with RAID or SCSI. My ancient A+ book talked about SCSI, but I've forgotten much of it since I haven't had to ever recall that info. The only thing that sticks out in my mind is SCSI cable termination. I do have an old dual-PII system out in the garage with 4x 9Gb SCSI drives in RAID5 (I think), that was given to me by a friend. It'll soon become my new DHCP3, OpenLDAP, and Postfix server running Debian.

So what do you guys think? A+/Net+ worth it.

From a job functionality point of view both A+ and Server+ are worthless, but the reason you get them is not for the employer, but for the recruiter/headhunter/HR hiring department.

Those extra credentials may be just the small push you need to take the interview offer away from someone with similar credentials/experience you'd be competing against for the job.




Sometimes you gotta spend money to make money.

Very good points Flytrap. I keep forgetting that getting a job is a lot more about looking good and kissing ass than I keep making it out to be.

That kind of settles it for me then. I'll start reviewing for my A+ and Net+. It shouldn't take me long to review for 'em, so I should be able to pick up some test vouchers in the next couple months.

Thanks for the info Flytrap and Jip. I really appreciate it.

Test vouchers are awesome.


My brother got laid off a few years ago, and he found a state sponsored program that basically paid for his MCSE training and certification in full. He picked up a new job shortly afterwards.

How would I go about finding such a place around here?

It wasn't a place, but a program that New York State runs for residents who get laid off.

You would have to see if Michigan offers any similar programs.

In answer to the end of your question:

The Network+ and CCNA are two totally different levels of certification, and yes the CCNA would be looked at with more "weight" than the CompTIA Network+ exam.

The Network+ certification, worth getting IMHO, is a vendor neutral network certification that shows potential/current employers that you know what a network is and how it functions.

The CCNA certification is a vendor (CISCO) specific certification that shows that you not only know what a network is but how CISCO hardware is used to build a robust network using not only the protocol's of a network (TCP/IP) but also how to configure the routers and switches from the node itself all the way across the network to the node you are trying to reach as well as how to troubleshoot all the CISCO gear in beween.

I would say, get the Network+ and then go for the CCNA.

JMTC

Please pay attention to the date stamps on threads .. this particular thread was over 2 years old when you responded.

As it happens, TLG landed himself a decent job in his new state and is doing pretty well.