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A+ certification: is it worth it?

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D

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
I just graduated college and have no fucking clue whatsoever what I should do, at least in the relative short-term. There are maybe one or two things I can think of that I'd actually really like to do, but even if I pursue that (whatever the hell that would actually involve), I really need to just make some money first.

Anyway, I have a bit of background in computer work, and my dad's pushing me to go for an A+ certification because supposedly lots of jobs look for people with A+ certification. Now in my dad's world, everything revolves around computers, and he'd push for me to get more computer experience and certifications if I were going for a career in dancing, if you know what I mean. So while I'm sure he has a point that getting an A+ certification could help, I really don't entirely trust him on these things.

So does anyone here know about this? Would it be worth it? I would hope I would only need it for the work I'd be doing for the next year or so.....I really don't want any kind of career that requires this kind of shit.
 
If you plan on doing any kind of hardware work at all, you're going to need the A+. It's an easy test and only costs about 100 bucks.
 
sefskillz said:
If you plan on doing any kind of hardware work at all, you're going to need the A+. It's an easy test and only costs about 100 bucks.
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uh, what?

's funny, because I've been working in IT for the last 5 years and haven't ever even considered getting A+ Certified.

It's a mostly useless Cert that serves as an extra bullet point on your resume, not much more. But then, if you don't have any experience or formal education on computers, I suppose a single bullet point is better than nothing.
 
GLoK said:
uh, what?

's funny, because I've been working in IT for the last 5 years and haven't ever even considered getting A+ Certified.

It's a mostly useless Cert that serves as an extra bullet point on your resume, not much more. But then, if you don't have any experience or formal education on computers, I suppose a single bullet point is better than nothing.
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Well I really don't give a shit about computer work and understanding the inner workings of operating systems etc; I'd only be doing this to be more qualified for a relatively short-term job somewhere. If I knew I didn't need it, I wouldn't get it. I'm sure I don't know everything required to do really well on an A+ test, but I do have job experience that would look pretty good on a resume- working as an intern a few times for the group that supports the trading floor at what used to be Bank One, helping build their disaster recovery trading floor site, and so on. I really don't want to do this if it won't do anything for me.
 
FWIW, I've never really paid any attention to A+ certification and I'm on my 10th year in IT (2nd as a manager and 5th in a hiring capacity).

However, to get your foot in the door - it certainly looks better than absolutely nothing on the resume.

Update - helping build a disaster recovery site is far more impressive than A+. Skip it.
 
A+ is not a good way into the IT industry. Having a powerful resume and being able to show through that resume that you'd be able to handle a computer confidently is a good way into the IT industry.

A+ is a bullet point. In importance, I'd rank it among what Interests you put on your resume at the very bottom.

Also, why would you consider Cisco certs a must have? If I was hiring a low level tech to do the grind work for me, swapping hardware out, or clicking next through windows installations, why on earth would I want them to have networking certifications?
 
Thanks for the feedback.

Keep in mind that while I may be talking about having IT experience and whatnot, I'm not interested in getting an IT job. It's just that I thought--well, my dad thought--that having something like an A+ certificate would make me look more attractive in general because many jobs require some kind of computer work.
 
That's why is said "just might". But from what he is saying he isn't going the IT route if that is the case I would see it as a bonus, a company might think they are getting a two for one.
 
A+ is a piece of crap and doesn't prove anything in practical terms (who the hell needs to know what kinds of fire extinguishers there are, or what each IRQ port does?), but if you want to get a job easily in IT or tech support, you should probably get your A+.

I hate it, software part was easy, but I'm still trying to pass the hardware part. Stupid IRQ ports.
 
I don't really see what an A+ degree would prove if you are going into computers. If you were an english, law or history major it would be different. Computer skills are not really an "expertise" IMO but a knowledge field and all that I could see anyone caring about is that you are certified. Having a 4.0 will be good if you plan to transfer to a university and choose a new major later on down the road, though. Not knowing what you want to do with your life makes this a very difficult question to answer. :lol
 
I don't really see what an A+ degree would prove if you are going into computers.
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It doesn't prove anything but,
a prospective employer is more likely to choose someone with at least some kind of certification than someone who doesn't have any industry certifications. A+ is the easiest one to get, hence why it's name gets tossed around a lot.

For higher end jobs (the kinds you get after 5+ years), of course nobody cares about A+, and would rather get people with MCSE or masters' degrees, but you get my point. It's great for trying to get an entry level position.
 
Hmm, I heard something about a Q in the HW examan talking about the IRQ port for the floppy :D
I have no job experience and I'm doing A+, although I kind of forgot about it while I get the Net+. I got the Cisco CCNA already(yes I know I'm doing everything backwords).

I figured I'll get a job over someone else that doesn't have anything. Plus I also heard they pay better. I guess different people hear different things.
 
An A+ might help you get a foot in the door to a low level IT position... Many IT folks consider it a joke cert. Me? Well I think the hardware hands on portion is good to know, but depending on your job the relevancy may not be that high and some of it doesn't apply in the XP, 2000 or Network OS environments.
 
Jotaro said:
Say, how does this letter system (A, B, C, D, F, with pluses and minuses) works? I've never had to use it.
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uhhh....
 
Jotaro: It's a marketing term CompTIA uses to sell their certification. Like "Network+". "Network plus what?" It means nothing.
 
Lhadatt said:
Jotaro: It's a marketing term CompTIA uses to sell their certification. Like "Network+". "Network plus what?" It means nothing.
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This I know!

But what about the other grades? Is this a grade based on thirteen?

Like one to thirteen, would be A+, A, A-, and then the same for all the other letters, while F would stand for failure?
 
A+ basically certifies you know how to turn on a computer :lol I worked in IT for five years with no certs or even a computer degree (I went to art school).
 
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