Certifications and Help

I just received a call today from my employer and have been laid off. So my plan of action was to go get some certifications like the A+ for example and begin looking for a new job.

I was wondering if any of you had recommendations on what certifications would be most beneficial to me and if any of you knew ways to take the tests cheaper then what I am finding them for on the net.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

*bump* No responses? Where's the love?

A+, Net+, and maybe a few MS certifications couldn't hurt.

MS has a buy one, get 2 chances deal. If I can find the ad, I will upload it.

Always buy vouchers rather than pay for the test up front, costs 60% or so less.

What knowledge do you have?

Also, your sig is too big, fix it please.

Thanks for the replies. I've been studying for my A+. Just wasn't sure how much that could help me. Was also looking into the Network +. How do those vouchers work?

I've been messing with computers for 8 years now. I do a lot of repairing, building, and upgrading on the side. Even now I have a laptop that needs to be worked on. I know software and hardware. More curious about the MS certifications and how to go about attaining those.

Sig will be fixed later on tonight. Didn't look that long on my LCD, but that's because I'm running at 1920x1200.

A+ is a nice entry cert. Very many poeple have them now adays so it is not worth as much but it is still soemthig worth getting. If you can pick up a A+ book and read through it eaisy and know more or less everythign allready in it it will be an easy exam for you. Net+ is the next up after that in terms of easiest. After that it depends on what you want to do in life at to what to go for. MSCE, CCNA, CCNP, RHCP and such. I recoomend the Exam Cram books for basic studying. Those are when you allready have a good understanding of everything and just want to brush up on certain things. They are very helpfull and I have used them to pass exams myself.

shuiends said:

A+ is a nice entry cert. Very many poeple have them now adays so it is not worth as much but it is still soemthig worth getting. If you can pick up a A+ book and read through it eaisy and know more or less everythign allready in it it will be an easy exam for you. Net+ is the next up after that in terms of easiest. After that it depends on what you want to do in life at to what to go for. MSCE, CCNA, CCNP, RHCP and such. I recoomend the Exam Cram books for basic studying. Those are when you allready have a good understanding of everything and just want to brush up on certain things. They are very helpfull and I have used them to pass exams myself.

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Excellent response. Thank you. A+, then Network+, then the MSCE is what I will look into after that. I really enjoy fixing peoples computers for the most part. It's very satisfying to see a happy customer. (my side job)

It's sort of ify about getting the A+ cert. If you have 8 years of exp as a computer service tech there's no point in getting the cert. Basically all the cert says is (aside from building your pride and having a nice piece of paper), you know as much as someone who has been in the computer service tech field for 6 months. I think a Network+ is supposed to be equivalent to 18-24 months. It's in general reccommended that you get that A+ cert before the Network+. It however, it isn't required that you do so. A Cisco entry and a Network+ would be worth far more than an A+ i'd think. If you already have the exp skip the A+ and save yourself $300. I think you have to renew Cisco certs like every 2 years or so while the comp tia ones are lifetime.
Also, remember that experience beats certs and education.

NewbiePerson said:

It's sort of ify about getting the A+ cert. If you have 8 years of exp as a computer service tech there's no point in getting the cert. Basically all the cert says is (aside from building your pride and having a nice piece of paper), you know as much as someone who has been in the computer service tech field for 6 months. I think a Network+ is supposed to be equivalent to 18-24 months. It's in general reccommended that you get that A+ cert before the Network+. It however, it isn't required that you do so. A Cisco entry and a Network+ would be worth far more than an A+ i'd think. If you already have the exp skip the A+ and save yourself $300. I think you have to renew Cisco certs like every 2 years or so while the comp tia ones are lifetime.
Also, remember that experience beats certs and education.

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Yeah, but a lot of companies find comfort in those little pieces of paper and I can understand that.

NewbiePerson said:

It's sort of ify about getting the A+ cert. If you have 8 years of exp as a computer service tech there's no point in getting the cert. Basically all the cert says is (aside from building your pride and having a nice piece of paper), you know as much as someone who has been in the computer service tech field for 6 months. I think a Network+ is supposed to be equivalent to 18-24 months. It's in general reccommended that you get that A+ cert before the Network+. It however, it isn't required that you do so. A Cisco entry and a Network+ would be worth far more than an A+ i'd think. If you already have the exp skip the A+ and save yourself $300. I think you have to renew Cisco certs like every 2 years or so while the comp tia ones are lifetime.
Also, remember that experience beats certs and education.

Click to expand...

Cisco certs are every 3 years, CompTIA is lifetime. If you're not intimately experienced with networks (and even if you are), I strongly advise you to not pursue the Cisco certifications without taking classes or doing a LOT of studying.

Yes do not attempt the cisco certs unless you are enrolled in their classes or unless you have many many years of experience. We have students at our school who have taken all 4 semesters for the CCNA and then fail the CCNA exam. If you try to just study it will be a very very longshot that you will pass. Also yes experience counts alot more the peper certs. But paper serts are still nice to have on the resume. 300$ isnt that bad in my mind to get something that could pay off big time later in life. Network+ is a good one to get if you want to pursue cisco certs later because it will provide you with lots of foundation knowledge. I personally wouldnt recoomend the MSCE or whatever it is but that simply because I dont like microsoft. Those exams tend the be very specific and you have to redo it all when the new versions come out. If you take exams that show a broader range of knowledge can help because it gives you more opurtunitues to find a job. Once you find what you like exactly though and want to seiourly persue that then specialized certs are very nice.