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Hey everyone! I’m currently new to the forum, I was wondering if I could get some help from you guys and gals. I’m currently a brand new Computer Science major student and looking to get into the IT world. My question is, how do you guys feel about A+ certifications? I’ve heard people say they are out dated and frowned upon when put on a resume. Although I’ve also been told that it was a great learning tool for a new IT. I would be looking into getting A+, Network+ and Security+. I thought it would be a good foundation to build off of, I plan on getting my CCNA and then CCNP

Thank you for your time,

Dalton

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If you have ever upgraded your own PC, then you are probably beyond the scope of the A+. Move to Network+ at minimum. A+ is great if you have never opened a computer and are planning to go work at Best Buy.

Networking is going to be one of the key things you will be able to use across the various IT disciplines. In the professional world, my stuff is all under warranty. I call HP we run through a few things (if I haven’t tried those things) and then they send someone out to fix it.

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A+ came in handy when the recession hit and we didn’t have the cash to extend warranties or just buy replacements. For a while there we were building little Frankenstein units. I took a class at a local community college back in the day. We spent the first part of the class ripping computers apart, then switched with another group (different make and model) and put theirs back together.

We also got into networking a bit. Made some cables (haven’t made any since, we just buy them) and learned the basics of subnetting.

But you asked about the cert. I think if you’re going to school and graduate with a degree, it’s pretty much implied that you took the class that covers the A+ requirements and passed.

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Welcome to the community!

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So some concerns here. You have a mismatch of things.

  1. Computer Science. This is the field of algorithmic research. It’s the “physicist” to the software developer’s “engineer.” It’s two steps removed from IT (SE stands in between.) This is not a degree for someone interesting in IT. Why are you in a CS degree while pursing IT? This is literally the last degree program you would do for that. See… Choosing a Degree for IT
  2. IT. This is the second degree field that you mentioned. If this is truly your end goal, you need to focus on IT.
  3. A+ This is a cert for bench work and while tangential to entry level IT, it is not IT itself. Getting this cert would be if you wanted to work on physical computers like at Best Buy, not for getting into IT. Once you have your first IT job or any other cert or a degree, this cert would already be behind you. So not useful for someone whose goal is either IT or CS.

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They are great, if you want to be a virus removal guy at Best Buy. They are bad if you want to work in IT. All depends on your goal. The A+ is THE cert for the entry level bench tech world, but that isn’t really IT. It gets close, but if you want to work in IT you work in IT, you don’t do bench work to get into IT, it just doesn’t work that way in a practical sense. I’d hire a fourteen year old interesting in IT before I’d hire a 24 year old with an A+ and six months of Best Buy experience, all other things being equal.

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The A+ doesn’t cover IT stuff, so this is pretty off base. The A+ isn’t actually good for teaching bench stuff, either. The information in the A+ is typically years (often many years) out of date and pointless. Mostly about old operating systems that you will never see in real life (when I took it it was about DOS!!) and old peripherals and connectors you will never need to deal with and all of the information is stuff you will never and would never have used in IT. It’s stuff that people building their own computer out of ebay parts as a hobby would run into but not things that even serious white box gamers would run into as the information is not up to date enough or advanced enough.

The A+ is, unlike many other certs, not a learning tool but a required barrier for near minimum wage bench techs. If your job relies on an A+ you are in rough shape, even in the bench field. High end bench work is certified on specific hardware, not generic “old desktop hardware.”

If you want to learn about IT, you should be well beyond the A+ long before considering your first college class and you will want to learn actual IT skills, not waste your time memorizing the names of long dead connectors.

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I highly recommend the Network+ as the starting point for “dipping your toes into IT.” The Net+ is the actual entry level cert for beginning IT. The knowledge in it is basic and general but applicable to effectively every role in IT. On its own it prepares you for nothing, but what it has in it you will need for everything. It’s foundational and I suggest that you start there.

The Sec+ is a good cert but it is what I call an “icing” cert. On its own it is useless, you need a solid bit of experience or set of certs before you look at the Sec+. LIke if you were going to do the CCNP, you’d do that first THEN get the Sec+. The Sec+ is like “see my creds, AND I understand security!” It’s nothing on its own, it just enhances other things.

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These are very specific certs for someone going into Network Administration, a sub-division of IT that is not represented in the SMB space (the space to which this community is dedicated.) Are you sure that this is what you are planning to do? This fits with your “IT” plans, but these are very much the exact certs that I expect from someone who isn’t sure what they are doing and had a non-technical person make a career roadmap for them. I’m not saying that they are not right for you, but they are exactly the certs I would guess you would say after finding out that you were in college for CS, want to be in IT and people were trying to sell you on the A+. The same bad logic that combines those three things would likely lead to the CCNA and CCNP.

Are you familiar with what a career in network administration really is and are you aware of just how focused that career would be? If that’s what you want, then by all means, those are the right certs to begin that path. If you are not sure, then those are the wrong certs for learning about what IT has to offer.

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Agree, skip A+, start with Net+, which is also a good starting point and will help for the CCNA.

Good luck.

As others have mentioned, if you study computer sciences (I have a BS in Computer science myself lol)
you are expected to be more in the programmer / Developer site vs IT who does Systems Administration or Architecture.

Programming was my weakest horse, so getting the BS was not easy for me but I knew I do not want to peruse a career in programming. lol

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The CCNA is still so basic, no damage done,and shoes you know networking and IOS and CIsco at a basic level, but unless you really want to be in networking, no need to pursue the CCNP

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So you want to study mechanical engineering (Computer science) , are looking into getting a Jiffy lube cert (A+) and down the road want to pursue s specification in tire design (CCNA, CCNP)

As that (i hope anyways) might help to build a clearer picture, those are all mechanical jobs and things related to a car, but yet completely different. It is the same with a degree in computer sciences VS A+ VS CCNA/P

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At the end of the all of that, I think you might want to tell Scott what interests you. Only then, can you truly unlock the door to his knowledge.

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If you are thinking about Network+, you might want look at Cisco’s ICND1 exam. It covers the same information included in Network+ and some basic Cisco/IOS. Plus, you’ll get a Cisco cert (CCENT) and be half way to a CCNA.

As for A+, this is probably not fair, but I tend to internally question someone’s skills when I find out they have A+. In my mind, I wonder if they just decided one day, “I’m going to do IT!” And attended some frontage road for-profit college where the first thing everyone does is A+.

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It’s been said is so many words, but if you’re new to this degree and are actually wanting to go into IT, then switch your major to something like Computer Information Systems. Computer Science is mostly software & hardware development and not hardly IT at all.

I say all this because I made the same mistake too. I started off declaring a Computer Science major at a California University, but halfway through the first semester realized my mistake. I also realized once I graduated and got a job that I made a mistake going to Uni expecting an adequate technical degree, but I digress (I learned more my first year out of uni at an MSP than I did my entire college time).

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Before you rule out A+, I’d take a look at our typical A+ course outlines ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) to see what subjects the certification tests on. If you feel confident that you have a basic understanding, then I’d recommend Network+ to be your next option. It’s designed to provide network technicians with the foundation-level skills they need to install, operate, manage, maintain, and troubleshoot a corporate network. Once you’ve mastered the Network+ certification, then Security+ would be your next step.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

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For those, who like me, had been interested in computing for a long time (since '93) and tinkered around with PC builds and fixing friends and families computers, while having no real education to speak of. Then the A+ would be your stepping stone into “IT”. Personally I stayed clear of BestBuy/GeekSquad bench jobs and went for a MSP role where I was able to learn many facets of the business. I prepared for the Net+/Sec+ but ran out of money to actually certify. If I hadn’t studied for those certs I probably wouldn’t have gotten the job that has taught me troubleshooting. I feel one of the most important skills you can learn in IT is TS. It takes a particular mindset to be able to solve problems and no matter what field you enter into this is a necessary skill.

For someone in college, young I assume, and without an actual plan afterwards I would advise not wasting your money on entry level certs. As Neally and others have pointed out make sure you understand where you want to be in your career. No point in paying for degree you will never really use. It all depends on what your passion is. Don’t do it for the money, in most states you won’t get paid what your worth. IT is about being generally interested in technology and getting to work in a field where you get to do what you really enjoy.

For me I’m going to make my next cert CCNA ( I currently only posses an A+). Been studying for months now and I think it really is a starting point in which you gain an extensive base knowledge of computing. Learn the OSI model because networking is computing in many aspects, especially in a world where most services are being hosted or offered as an off site service. If I didn’t understand the difference between public and private IP addressing schemes( yes I understand this pretty basic knowledge) I would have no clue how to setup an Exchange server. Or point my clients to the proper email server.

Good luck with your studies and welcome to the community. Remember we all started somewhere and you now have an arsenal of IT professionals to help you in your goals.

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A+ waste of time. if you have ever pulled a PC apart - you can do A+

and now modern hardware is more integrated and not alot of things are “fixed”. they are pulled and replaced with identical part. there is little knowledge there

i did A+ in 2006, and passed with 90%. but this was because i already had a computer repair business i had run for 9 years, so i learned nothing doing A+ that i already hadnt come across in my day to day experience.

computer scientist is not IT related at all. i gave up on that in early 90’s when i was studying at university here in NZ, and in level 2 they started teaching us how to write your own OS. why i wanted to do this i still have no idea, so i stopped

network + good start, then CCNA or something, look at microsoft virtual academy also as you decide what you want to do and what path to take

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You haven’t said what you want to do in IT, what are your ambitions, dream jobs etc.? I disagree slightly with the above comments in that A+ is not a bad cert to have, but it really is a very basic level one so unless you are keen to work with old parts, skip it.
It sounds like you want ot focus on networking, based on your planned Cisco certs, - if so great, but make sure you pick other ones up, Juniper etc.
If you see yourself wanting to go for management, focus more on how IT brings value to a business by understanding business. Look at Prince2 for projects, or Agile. Check out ITIL for **guidelines(!)** on best practices and so on

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My opinion is that A+ certifications is not a waste of time and it can get you more than just repair positions. It is a entry level cert to get your foot in the door and you can always get more certs adn move around within a company that offers advancement. I am speaking from what I know about the market in the city of Atlanta. When I first started I.T. I had plenty of calls to work deskside/helpdesk support positions just with A+ alone.

It does come down to your current knowledge if you skip it and go for another cert or tackle that first.

I would suggest speaking with a few I.t. recruiters/staffing agencies and find out what seems to get entry level candidates placed being new to I.T.

Example: http://www.monster.com/technology/a/entry-level-it-jobs

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