A+ Certification

[sydbat]

*Moderator - Please move to appropriate board if I have posted this in the wrong section.*

I am asking this question here, because this community has a wide range of experience in IT, and I have come to trust many people's opinions and advice.

A+ Certification. I see this as a "required qualification" in many job postings and have wondered what good my IT degree is.

I also have a friend who has the same degree (we graduated together) and his current employer made him take the A+ tests to keep his job. He said the tests were not very thorough, but gave him a bit of a refresher in DOS and minor Windows-only settings. He was also glad his employer paid the $400 for the tests (to this point...more testing to follow).

I also know other people in IT who have nothing good to say about these certifications. In fact, I hear more negative than positive about them.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Is this more a scam than anything? How does it relate to OS's other than Windows (if at all)?

If you do not have an IT degree, I could see it helping a bit, maybe showing some minor, behind the scenes Windows configurations. But 4 years of university, with an IT degree at the end, should count for something...

[mips]

If you know very little about computers then A+ is OK. If you have a degree and have used/supported computers most of your life I think it is an absolute waste of time.

The company I worked for sent all their it employees on the A+ course. Many of us were correcting the lecturer. Some of us left the course and just wrote the exams. Those that continued the course did it in half the time.

I would say it's a course for those with very little knowledge in that field.

[sydbat]

If you know very little about computers then A+ is OK. If you have a degree and have used/supported computers most of your life I think it is an absolute waste of time.

The company I worked for sent all their it employees on the A+ course. Many of us were correcting the lecturer. Some of us left the course and just wrote the exams. Those that continued the course did it in half the time.

I would say it's a course for those with very little knowledge in that field.This is basically what I have heard from many people.

But why are companies 'forcing' their IT people to have this certification? If you have hired someone who has an IT degree or 20 years experience (for example), isn't this simply a waste of time and money?

To me, it sounds like the salespeople for the A+ courses are telling the companies things that are not true about what the certification is. Of course upper management is not always the brightest bunch either...

[dgoosens]

But why are companies 'forcing' their IT people to have this certification?

because, managers just have no clue what IT is about...

http://www.wikihow.com/Manage-Geeks

[Firestem4]

This is basically what I have heard from many people.

But why are companies 'forcing' their IT people to have this certification? If you have hired someone who has an IT degree or 20 years experience (for example), isn't this simply a waste of time and money?

To me, it sounds like the salespeople for the A+ courses are telling the companies things that are not true about what the certification is. Of course upper management is not always the brightest bunch either...

Personally I believe this goes along the lines of the Learning Effect. (Education Discrimination).

I would imagine it would be nearly impossible to obtain an IT job if you don't have a fancy resume stating that you have "so and so" certificatoins. Employer's will believe you're an inbred monkey before hiring you if you don't have the certifications or experience.

To me that is backwards considering the very essence of what computers and technology are. Anyone here who knows anyone in the IT field, or yourseelf can say that there are so many talented people that know a lot about computers. (And in many cases more than so called "Certified" IT specialists. Just look at the number of Open-Source developers. I wonder how many of them are certified in their programing languages?

I have a problem with this sort of disassociation. It applies to me personally because I am a very talented computer technician, but I don't have an A+ certification. Most employers won't even look at my resume because of this. The only reason I have my current job is because my friends mom (who does the books for them) Pushed the General Manager to have me come in and see what I can do. - and trust me. I know a hell of a lot more about computers than most people do; But I don't have anything to back me up. And nobody cares about letting me show what I can do unless I have that ever-important shiny Certificate of "I can do this" for realz now!

[Sand & Mercury]

A+ certification really is entry-level computer stuff, basically just being able to identify the internals and know your way around administrating Windows and upgrade/repairing. I have the certificate (received in 2005, when I was 17) and it's extremely easy to get it. I don't understand why anybody would be turned down without it when they have a certificate for something more in-depth.

It seems to me like you have a better chance of landing a job by walking into an IT joint and asking to see the boss directly, and relate to them if you can some of the things you're experienced and skilled with before you even give them your resume. I know the procedure is to walk in, ask for a job, hand in your resume and wait to see if they call. But more often than not they could skim over it, see no certificates and then throw your resume in the bin.

[sydbat]

because, managers just have no clue what IT is about...

http://www.wikihow.com/Manage-GeeksExplains alot about the state of the economy too...


Personally I believe this goes along the lines of the Learning Effect. (Education Discrimination).

I would imagine it would be nearly impossible to obtain an IT job if you don't have a fancy resume stating that you have "so and so" certificatoins. Employer's will believe you're an inbred monkey before hiring you if you don't have the certifications or experience.

To me that is backwards considering the very essence of what computers and technology are. Anyone here who knows anyone in the IT field, or yourseelf can say that there are so many talented people that know a lot about computers. (And in many cases more than so called "Certified" IT specialists. Just look at the number of Open-Source developers. I wonder how many of them are certified in their programing languages?

I have a problem with this sort of disassociation. It applies to me personally because I am a very talented computer technician, but I don't have an A+ certification. Most employers won't even look at my resume because of this. The only reason I have my current job is because my friends mom (who does the books for them) Pushed the General Manager to have me come in and see what I can do. - and trust me. I know a hell of a lot more about computers than most people do; But I don't have anything to back me up. And nobody cares about letting me show what I can do unless I have that ever-important shiny Certificate of "I can do this" for realz now!I have another friend who works in the IT department of a major airline and he has no certifications, just 2 decades of experience. Fortunately, his employer is not asking him to take the A+ tests, but all new hires have to have this certification. When I applied for an opening (with his recommendation), they asked about A+. I told them I have an IT degree. They actually thought this meant something else (what, exactly, I have no clue...but it is inline with dgoosens comment I'm sure...).


A+ certification really is entry-level computer stuff, basically just being able to identify the internals and know your way around administrating Windows and upgrade/repairing. I have the certificate (received in 2005, when I was 17) and it's extremely easy to get it. I don't understand why anybody would be turned down without it when they have a certificate for something more in-depth.

It seems to me like you have a better chance of landing a job by walking into an IT joint and asking to see the boss directly, and relate to them if you can some of the things you're experienced and skilled with before you even give them your resume. I know the procedure is to walk in, ask for a job, hand in your resume and wait to see if they call. But more often than not they could skim over it, see no certificates and then throw your resume in the bin.Good idea. However, most places here tell you to go and apply online (even when you walk into their shop), which takes us back to the beginning of the song that never ends...

Thanks for all your replies so far!