CompTIA A+ certification

[jousef]

So, I'm planning to get A+ certified. I bought a book by Mike Meyers but it contains all the the other "+" certifications ie; network, security etc. My first step is finishing the A+ only, 

Anyone knows which chapters to study on this book and which ones to skip?

P.S I would like you to share your knowledge and experience about the job market after getting the certificate. 

[KuJoe]

An A+ will land you a job working in a help desk most likely. I got my A+ back in high school (many years ago) and the majority of the questions were related to keyboards, mice, and printers (with some basic Windows troubleshooting). I don't remember why I took the exam but I do remember I didn't study for it and I got a near perfect score on the first one (220-601) and slightly lower on the second one (220-603), back in high school I knew a small fraction of what I know today and I remember after I took it I laughed so hard at how easy it was and I knew right away the certificate was going to be worthless when I went looking for a real job. Maybe it's changed since I took it but if you want to look for a real entry level job I would suggest going for your Network+, Cloud+, Security+, Linux+, etc... and skip the A+ unless you just want an easy certificate under your belt.

 

If you still want to take the exams, then just go take some of the practice tests online to see what areas you need to study for. Basically just go through the practice tests (as many as you can find) and you'll see what subjects appear more frequently and which types of questions you don't know.

[KuJoe]

I should also state that there's nothing wrong with working in a help desk. At the company I work for the help desk makes decent money for being a level 1 tech support job (mostly reading off of scripts, Googling, and escalating to other teams for more advanced issues) but it's also a good way to get your foot in the door. For example, my brother started in the help desk and now has a really nice job. Not all help desks are like that though and sometimes the only place to advance is within the call center/help desk department.

 

I just looked up that the exams are like $200 each which is quite a bit more than than what I had paid for mine so if you want a better option, go find an internship and start gaining some real experience (experience > school). If you're lucky you can find a paid internship so it's more beneficial than paying for school/certs. Both my brother and I started out as interns at the company we work for now and even though the pay wasn't good ($9-10/hour with a max of 20 hours a week and no benefits/paid holidays) it was better than spending money on school in the long run. Lately a lot of our interns usually get hired by other companies before being offered a job here so if you don't want to wait you can put it on your resume after you've been an intern for a few months and look around for something else.

[jousef]

Well school is a different issue, but yeah there is nothing wrong with working at a help desk. In-fact there is nothing wrong with doing any type of job, you got to do what you have to do.

I want the A+ certification to help me get a job that pays above minimum wage. It will be a job I do while attending University. I mean Here in Alberta the job market got hit hard in the last year. I got laid off a restaurant job ffs, and now no one wants to pay for training new comers, getting any sort of certification I believe will put me ahead of competition.