Best CompTIA Course to take? Is it worth it? Asking for tips on my IT Career.

[xiaanliim]

Hi Guys. So I just want to ask some tips on what's the right thing to do in my career right now. So quick background check, I'm an IT Support on a company (200+ users). I'm responsible on assembling workstations, hardware and software troubleshooting, and little bit of network troubleshooting (I don't handle servers and switches and stuffs). 1.5 years in this job, going for 2nd yr on August. I'm only 22.

 

I want to take some CompTIA courses to maybe elevate my knowledge, and my career? Should I take the CompTIA A+ or skip it and take the CompTIA Network+ instead? I'm also thinking if I should just focus more on what I'm doing with my job and get more experience first before taking CompTIA Network+ (if that's the best course to take for me). I'm seeing myself in the future as a Network Engineer or going beyond that, and also I'm interested in the Cyber security path.

 

Is CompTIA certifications is really worth it? does it still weigh on resumes even if it's expired already?

 

 

 

Thank you, hope you can help me.

[starry]

CompTIA is basically a meme from what Ive heard. Friend of mine is a sys admin and he regrets wasting his time with it. Nobody who actually knows what theyre doing realistically cares about an A+ cert on resume.

 

I recommend focusing on adding experiences to your resume instead.

 

But I did fail to get into the IT industry, so don't just take my word for it.

[AzzaNezz]

34 minutes ago, starry said:

CompTIA is basically a meme from what Ive heard. Friend of mine is a sys admin and he regrets wasting his time with it. Nobody who actually knows what theyre doing realistically cares about an A+ cert on resume.

 

I recommend focusing on adding experiences to your resume instead.

 

But I did fail to get into the IT industry, so don't just take my word for it.

Goddamnit just when i thought it would be a good idea to do some comptia certs so i can land a job without any kind of IT college/school,i read this

[Pikatchu]

@xiaanliim

 

CompTIA certification, or any certification for that matter, will help you land your FIRST job.

Once you have years of experience, it will matter more than the certificates. Unless, the job you will apply for specifically asks you to get these certificates.

 

From personally experience, my boss didn't even know what is CompTIA and their set of certifications. If you like networking, you should take some course on how to manage and use CISCO equipment.

2 minutes ago, AzzaNezz said:

Goddamnit just when i thought it would be a good idea to do some comptia certs so i can land a job without any kind of IT college/school,i read this

If you are looking to land your first internship/job, you should definitely go for it. OP is already working in the industry, so he is earning experience as we are speaking.

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, AzzaNezz said:

Goddamnit just when i thought it would be a good idea to do some comptia certs so i can land a job without any kind of IT college/school,i read this

It's not a bad move to get your starter position, but for any of the more technical roles. CompTIA is definitely seen as a bit of a joke. 

 

To be honest, pretty much all certs, with the exception of some of the high end Cisco type certs aren't really valued much in the industry. I know plenty of people with multiple certs that are useless when it comes to applying the knowledge the certs cover and also the other way, where the people with the best knowledge and skills don't have a single cert. 

 

What you can use them for is actually to get pay rises when you're already in a position as it shows your achievement. Assuming you have merit based pay reviews at your work.

[AzzaNezz]

3 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

It's not a bad move to get your starter position, but for any of the more technical roles. CompTIA is definitely seen as a bit of a joke. 

 

To be honest, pretty much all certs, with the exception of some of the high end Cisco type certs aren't really valued much in the industry. I know plenty of people with multiple certs that are useless when it comes to applying the knowledge the certs cover and also the other way, where the people with the best knowledge and skills don't have a single cert. 

 

What you can use them for is actually to get pay rises when you're already in a position as it shows your achievement. Assuming you have merit based pay reviews at your work.

Well to get a job in my country,well at least in my area they wont you give any IT job without IT highschool finished or college.I thought maybe adding some certs will help me land it at least to show that i am willing to learn.

And yes you are payed per your knowledge(more degrees more money)

[Pikatchu]

2 minutes ago, AzzaNezz said:

 

It does make sense to require a field degree for said field. But in the US of A, unless you are in Ivy League, most colleges does not teach you hands on experiences. This is why internship is a big thing here, because colleges teaches concepts and not technical skills.

[wasab]

1 hour ago, Pikatchu said:

It does make sense to require a field degree for said field. But in the US of A, unless you are in Ivy League, most colleges does not teach you hands on experiences. This is why internship is a big thing here, because colleges teaches concepts and not technical skills.

Not true. I was learning amazon AWS and full stack development in college. The course was called cloud computing. It was a special interest topic(think of specialization but it was one topic focused instead of a set of courses towards a degree requirement)

 

The topics changed semester to semester. One semester it might be mobile app development, next it might be block chain technology, then next after that could be data science or some other things. 

 

All incredibly relevant. I learned tools like docker, kubernetes, Ansible, hadoop, elasticsearch, redis cache, nginx/apache, database sharding, microservices architecture, how to scale up my servers/applications to eliminate bottlenecks, ect. 

 

 

It all depends on what courses you picked in college. You can be very academic and theoretical or you can pick courses that get your hands dirty. Also, if your goal is to be SWE, college prepare you for alogrithm, data structures, and discrete maths, you know, topics that those leetcode questions are based on and most major companies test you in coding interviews with, far better. They certainly won't be teaching you these in internships(which is ironic).

 

Furthermore, you shouldn't downplay the importance of theory. Knowing how and why it works is as important as the actual practice/implementations.This allows you to troubleshoot things way better.

 

For example, I was configuring nginx to work with different versions of php for the first time. Nginx config file needed to know the unix socket of the fpm. If I hadn't learned about computer architecture and POSIX C programming back in college, I would be utterly confuse to what that was and where I could find it. 

 

[tkitch]

For your first job?  Certs 100% matter.  It gives you some proof you know something about tech to get the interview.

 

Once you've got 3 years of experience?  Your previous jobs get you the interview.

[tkitch]

holy shit, bro, learn to multiquote.  You don't need to comment 5 times in a row!

 

Anyways, if you're working in the IT world already?  Talk to your boss about getting certs.  Many companies will foot the bill for certifications, if you're willing to stick around for a while.  It can save quite a bit of $ on some of the more expensive certs.

[xiaanliim]

I'm just in the point of my life on thinking what career path should I take, and how can I pursue it. Now, I'm thinking on pursuing the Network/Cybersecurity path, and just wondering if taking the CompTIA Net+ is the best first step to take or is there other else worth doing more than that. 

[xiaanliim]

10 hours ago, starry said:

CompTIA is basically a meme from what Ive heard. Friend of mine is a sys admin and he regrets wasting his time with it. Nobody who actually knows what theyre doing realistically cares about an A+ cert on resume.

 

I recommend focusing on adding experiences to your resume instead.

 

But I did fail to get into the IT industry, so don't just take my word for it.

Yahh.. I also think that I don't need to get the A+ cert since I already have experience with that scope of knowledge. Maybe Network+ is the one I should focus on?

10 hours ago, AzzaNezz said:

Goddamnit just when i thought it would be a good idea to do some comptia certs so i can land a job without any kind of IT college/school,i read this

ikr hahaha

10 hours ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

It's not a bad move to get your starter position, but for any of the more technical roles. CompTIA is definitely seen as a bit of a joke. 

 

To be honest, pretty much all certs, with the exception of some of the high end Cisco type certs aren't really valued much in the industry. I know plenty of people with multiple certs that are useless when it comes to applying the knowledge the certs cover and also the other way, where the people with the best knowledge and skills don't have a single cert. 

 

What you can use them for is actually to get pay rises when you're already in a position as it shows your achievement. Assuming you have merit based pay reviews at your work.

so is it worth it to invest on that to get that high paying jobs? 

10 hours ago, Pikatchu said:

It does make sense to require a field degree for said field. But in the US of A, unless you are in Ivy League, most colleges does not teach you hands on experiences. This is why internship is a big thing here, because colleges teaches concepts and not technical skills.

totally agree on this

8 hours ago, tkitch said:

For your first job?  Certs 100% matter.  It gives you some proof you know something about tech to get the interview.

 

Once you've got 3 years of experience?  Your previous jobs get you the interview.

 

thank you for this. experience>certs

2 minutes ago, tkitch said:

holy shit, bro, learn to multiquote.  You don't need to comment 5 times in a row!

 

Anyways, if you're working in the IT world already?  Talk to your boss about getting certs.  Many companies will foot the bill for certifications, if you're willing to stick around for a while.  It can save quite a bit of $ on some of the more expensive certs.

LOL sorry. new to this. Thank you, might as well do that because this coursed cost a lot. 

[Neumann_Joe]

On 4/25/2021 at 11:22 AM, xiaanliim said:

Hi Guys. So I just want to ask some tips on what's the right thing to do in my career right now. So quick background check, I'm an IT Support on a company (200+ users). I'm responsible on assembling workstations, hardware and software troubleshooting, and little bit of network troubleshooting (I don't handle servers and switches and stuffs). 1.5 years in this job, going for 2nd yr on August. I'm only 22.

 

I want to take some CompTIA courses to maybe elevate my knowledge, and my career? Should I take the CompTIA A+ or skip it and take the CompTIA Network+ instead? I'm also thinking if I should just focus more on what I'm doing with my job and get more experience first before taking CompTIA Network+ (if that's the best course to take for me). I'm seeing myself in the future as a Network Engineer or going beyond that, and also I'm interested in the Cyber security path.

 

Is CompTIA certifications is really worth it? does it still weigh on resumes even if it's expired already?

 

 

 

Thank you, hope you can help me.

If your already working as IT support I'd skip A+. Unless your job will pay for it. I do know if your looking at any government agencies positions they required to pass SEC+.  Or at least in DOD it is required. For my department we are given 6 months to pass the test and they pay for it. If your looking for online classes or books I recommend Mike Meyers and Jason Dion. I thought their were very helpful.

[xiaanliim]

On 4/27/2021 at 2:19 AM, Neumann_Joe said:

If your already working as IT support I'd skip A+. Unless your job will pay for it. I do know if your looking at any government agencies positions they required to pass SEC+.  Or at least in DOD it is required. For my department we are given 6 months to pass the test and they pay for it. If your looking for online classes or books I recommend Mike Meyers and Jason Dion. I thought their were very helpful.

Unfortunately, I think doesn't offer us trainings and such. I'll check your suggestions as I'm planning to self study for the meantime. Thanks!

[SpikeSpiegel]

Sadly this year the COMPTIA A+ Cerf went up in price compared to last year.  Mine A+ Cerf expired last year and I manage to pass it.  But this year they increased the price doubled compared to last year's COMPTIA A+ Cerf.

 

But remember the COMPTIA  A+ Cerf is only good for 3 years.  And you have to retake the A+ Cerf's every 3 years.  There are coupons and discount at times.  But your employer should help you pay for some of that cerf.