Tips for taking CompTIA A+?

[reidms]

HI-

I am soon to take the CompTIA A+ Certification test.

Does anyone have any recommendations for study material or test taking strategies?

I know the A+ is not that big of a deal- but I have not even graduated yet and I just want to have it on my record to get higher pay for my summer job.

Thanks for your time!

[kragen]

Hmm, I'm not sure if you've looked here already, but I found this simply by searching in google for "CompTIA" and following the link-trail

http://certification.comptia.org/res...materials.aspx

I put in books and english and it came up with a massive list of them, it sounds like one of those would be your best answer

[Grout58]

Getting A+ is a very big deal. The thing that helped me the most was taking a crap load of online practice tests. Google for it but here are some good ones.

http://www.freepractice.com/Aplus/aplus.htm

Good luck.

[reidms]

Thanks for the links guys-

I do appreciate it.

[dspari1]

I remember when I took the A+ exam in 2002 when I was still in high school. I used an e-trainer to help me prepare for the exam.

I liked it because it had a lot of practice tests, video, and audio. I'm pretty sure the CD is outdated, but if you can find something similar, I recommend it.

The one I used is dated from 2000, so I'm sure that it's too dated these days, but if you can find something similar that is up to date, I would give it a shot.

Good Luck friend.

[reidms]

I remember when I took the A+ exam in 2002 when I was still in high school. I used an e-trainer to help me prepare for the exam.

I liked it because it had a lot of practice tests, video, and audio. I'm pretty sure the CD is outdated, but if you can find something similar, I recommend it.

The one I used is dated from 2000, so I'm sure that it's too dated these days, but if you can find something similar that is up to date, I would give it a shot.

Good Luck friend.

Taking it in highschool here too

Thanks for the response!

[Xzallion]

I suggest using links from the comptia website, and maybe purchasing a comptia A+ study book from barnes and noble or another bookstore. Everyone that I know that has taken it has said it was really hard, and most had to take it multiple times. Make sure you know your material before you take the test, and good luck!

[samjh]

I got my CompTIA A+ certification two years ago (passed on first try), so I'm a little behind the times. But the certification probably hasn't changed too much in the last revision.

The books I used were:
PC Hardware and A+ Handbook
ExamCram A+ PC Maintenance and Troublshooting Field Guide

Tip: Know your networking stuff - protocols, LAN topologies, cabling, etc. I neglected this and got bogged down in this section of the exam.
Tip2: Do lots of practice exams, even outdated ones are better than nothing. The ExamCram website site some fairly easy to moderately difficult questions (www.examcram2.com), as do some other websites. Google is your friend.

[reidms]

Well the test has changed a bit since the 2003 version.
The 2006 version now has 4 tests-
*Essentials(required)
*IT Technician
*Remote Support Technician
*Depot Technician

You have to take the essentials test and combine it with one of the other three and pass both.

Which one of these do you think is the best for a part time or summer job?

Also, can anyone tell me about how much is hourly pay for an A+ Certified person?

And as always- thanks for the input of you guys and thanks for your time!

[samjh]

Also, can anyone tell me about how much is hourly pay for an A+ Certified person?

Depends.

Certification complements your prior education and experience. Certification alone will NOT get you a pay rise, or even a job.

By all means, get your A+ certification. But do not expect to get a job or above-average pay with it. You will first need to find a job, and then after you have proven yourself to be a competent technician, leverage the certification for pay/promotion.

Keep in mind too, that A+ is an entry level certification. It won't really make you stand out enough for a pay rise on the basis of the certification alone. I recommend that if technical support is the field you wish to get into, you should obtain something higher like MCSA (Microsoft Certified System Administrator) or similar. That will help you later once you have enough experience and good job record, to be promoted to system admin jobs.