A+ Certification

HIEROPHANT

Hi all,
I'm thinking to do the A+ certification, or at least try to.
I don't work in the IT field and I don't have a solid backround, but I would like to do it just because I'm passionate about computer.

Maybe I could get all the training material in my company, so it will be self-study, but then I would have to do the exames somewhere.

So the question is, where could I go to do the exams, do you have any suggestions (like university, whatever)?
Dublin city center preferred.

Thanks in advance.

WexCan

You need to book the exam through http://www.prometric.com or http://www.vue.com

They have a few testing centres in the city centre.

Good luck!

milkalot

Register through Prometric and sit the exam in new horizons on strand st.

How much does it usually cost?

goodlad

coolsmileygirl wrote: »

How much does it usually cost?

Im currently doing A+ two nights a week with ashfield college in tempelogue. Ashfield have a 70% funding from FAS so the cost came to 616 euro. I had looked around a lot of places that ran it, about half the places had fas funding.

Agent Smith

is there anywhere online where you can do a sample test?

goodlad

I dont know of anywhere online to do em, but i have download several test exam programs. Obviously the ones i have aint legal so i wont link em on boards, but have a poke around the net, ye should easily find em

Zorba

I'm currently doing A+ course through Kilroys college, work are paying for it and with me working shifts i find it hard to get to a college, but what i'm wondering is where do the exams take place ? I read somewhere that u do them online surely that can't be right ?

goodlad

it is right, you will sit the exam usually in the same classroom where your course is held. The official exam program connects in with i think microsoft, the second you click finish you know if u passed or failed and a cert will print immediately

Zorba

goodlad wrote: »

it is right, you will sit the exam usually in the same classroom where your course is held. The official exam program connects in with i think microsoft, the second you click finish you know if u passed or failed and a cert will print immediately

Yes but my classroom is at home ?

goodlad

Oh right! :eek:
Only thing i can assume is you will have to head to a test center for the actual exam. I cant see them allowing people to just sit at home and freely use books/google to answer questions

Zorba

LOL yep that's what i was thinking, knew it seemed too good to be true getting 100 % in my exam !

accensi0n

agent smith wrote: »

is there anywhere online where you can do a sample test?

http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/exams/

http://www.free-tests.com/comptia.shtml

http://www.techexams.net/co_apluscore.shtml

http://www.techexams.net/co_aplusos.shtml

Zorba

accensi0n wrote: »

http://www.mcmcse.com/forums/exams/

http://www.free-tests.com/comptia.shtml

http://www.techexams.net/co_apluscore.shtml

http://www.techexams.net/co_aplusos.shtml

Thanks for the links seems i've still a long way to go to pass the exams !

Does anyone know if u need the study guides or books are is it enough to just work through the course to pass the exam ? Getting a bit worried after trying a few questions

WexCan

Exams can only be done at Prometric or Vue exam centres. milkalot's suggestion was good - book it through Prometric for New Horizons on Strand Street - nice centre with helpful staff. You go into a room and take your exam on a PC, multiple choice. There's two exams, the core (hardware) and operating sytem exams - you need to pass both before gettinf certified. Some people study for core first, do exam, then OS and exam, or other way round (easier to do core first though).

I just bought a book and read it, book had sample exam CD with it. Just work through the sample questions and go back on anything you're rusty on.

Zorba

Does it have to be done in dublin or are there other centers around the country ?

The course i'm doing has a CD with it which seems to cover everything would that not be enough ?

WexCan

Should be fine, even better if it has sample questions.

Can't remember off the top of my head if they have centres outside Dublin but I'm sure they do.

Zorba

Yep at the end of each section it has questions about the section u just done. Also i'll try out the mock exam questions posted above before the real exam. Thanks for your help.

bbability

I'm thinking of doing this myself. I've been pondering around the net looking at the options of doing it on-line. Another institute that offers an online version of the CompTia courses is http://www.cmit.ie. The cost is 650 euro and it looks like there's 10 per cent off until the end of Jan. Anyone else think this is a good offer???

As far as I know there is more options to do the exam outside Dublin with Thomson Prometric (otherwise known as the Driver Theory Test Centers)

Like the original poster I too don't work directly in IT but would love to get some qualifcations under my belt. Comptia seems to be the way to go. In my workplace our IT Dept is based over 100 miles away so yours truly is in the firing line to be the eyes and ears for the probems. However the gas thing is I'm findong myself telling the IT Support staff how to fix the problems rather than the other way around....:rolleyes:

Snake Plisken

Just to clarify A+ has been updated to A+ Essentials, which has all updated technology & OS's & a second exam based around what you want to end up doing either IT Technician, Depot Technician & Remote Support Technician.
If you have a real genuine interest in PC's and have built & repaired them, with some knowledge of Networking etc then you should have no problems, I recommend you pick up Mike Meyers A+ Books and work on them yourself, so your ready, try test exams like certblaster and also go to proprofs forums (www.proprofs.com) for some more tests and hints tips from people who take these exams daily and advise on areas to focus on.

Raekwon

goodlad wrote: »

Im currently doing A+ two nights a week with ashfield college in tempelogue. Ashfield have a 70% funding from FAS so the cost came to 616 euro. I had looked around a lot of places that ran it, about half the places had fas funding.

Are FAS still running their 70% funding deal???

bill_ashmount

Raekwon wrote: »

Are FAS still running their 70% funding deal???

Yes

bbability

signed up with CMIT. Got 10% off the course. All in all looking forward to it!

Barlow07

bbability wrote: »

signed up with CMIT. Got 10% off the course. All in all looking forward to it!

Where are they located or where did you sign up for this?

bbability

Barlow07 wrote: »

Where are they located or where did you sign up for this?

On the web. http://www.cmit.ie

mensreas

im currently doin A+ in wexford at the mo and i find this study guide is pretty good best of luck to all who are about to start!

http://www.cramsession.com/certifications/exams/a-technician.asp

newbusiness

How much is it to the exam/s on their own? (ie No classes)

mensreas

newbusiness wrote: »

How much is it to the exam/s on their own? (ie No classes)

My tutor said about €210 per exam and he is a registered exam centre so id imagine it would be similarly priced around the country

Snake Plisken

mensreas wrote: »

My tutor said about €210 per exam and he is a registered exam centre so id imagine it would be similarly priced around the country

Wrong its 177 euros per exam and you need to do two to get the qualifications everyone does the essentials and one of the Electives so it comes to 354 euros to get the A+ qualification. I'm taking the exams in New Horizons in Strand Street Dublin.

Sounds like your tutor is creaming off some extra profits from you Mensreas, I'd pull him up on that!

mensreas

Interesting but for the sake for €33 hardly worth the bother considring he is very good and he's the only one doin it in this neck of the woods bar FAS and his pass rate is very good

newbusiness

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Wrong its 177 euros per exam and you need to do two to get the qualifications everyone does the essentials and one of the Electives so it comes to 354 euros to get the A+ qualification. I'm taking the exams in New Horizons in Strand Street Dublin.

Ouch! For a pair of exams...

Nice one on the info though. I better get studying.

mensreas

best of luck to you in your exams!!!!

Zorba

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Wrong its 177 euros per exam and you need to do two to get the qualifications everyone does the essentials and one of the Electives so it comes to 354 euros to get the A+ qualification. I'm taking the exams in New Horizons in Strand Street Dublin.

Sounds like your tutor is creaming off some extra profits from you Mensreas, I'd pull him up on that!

So it cost me 600 odd quid for the course materials and now it's gonna be another 354 yo yos for the exams :eek::eek: Glad work are paying for it that's all i can say, jesus at that price i better pass the feckers !!

Snake Plisken

Zorba wrote: »

So it cost me 600 odd quid for the course materials and now it's gonna be another 354 yo yos for the exams :eek::eek: Glad work are paying for it that's all i can say, jesus at that price i better pass the feckers !!

What the hell did u spend 600 yoyo's on?

mensreas

I paid somewhere in the region of €1500 for my A+ but that includes exams, material, labs etc plus i think it was worth every cent the tutor bends over backwards to accomadate you, small class (was only me for the essitanals class:D and theres 9 in the techinans course which is apperantly normally bigger than he would take.

Lazarus2.0

If youre going DIY on the preparation for this exam instead of taking a course then really there is little to it that a course wont cover for a lot less bucks . Familiarise yourself with opening up a machine and swapping parts (HD , RAM , CMOS battery , etc ) - if youre going alone on the prep you'll be fairly familiar with this in any case , i expect . Get your hands on a laptop and mess around a bit with its innards so you know the basics of pulling it apart . Set up a network , even if it's only 2 machines . Try it wired and wireless . Having practical knowledge of the aforementioned wont guarantee you pass but it will get you very close .
Meyers Comptia A+ book is very good if you have the diligence to work through it and the tests at the end of each chapter give you a good idea on whether you got the gist of the topic or whether you need to work on it a bit more . There are loads of quizzes/tests to be found online if you want to assess how you are doing .
There's a big emphasis (even in the Essential exam) on handling the customer - Meyers covers it but it's pretty obvious really . Tell the idiot he's not an idiot , dont babysit their kids when you got your head stuck in their PC , listen to the customer politely as he explains how his computer was working fine til the cat must have stepped on the 'format this hard drive' key ..... and his pron is none of your business .

I took the exam (essentials and it tech 602) last october and applying actual experience and commonsense re customers saw me through very comfortably . That's in hindsight , of course . I was sweating when I clicked the'End Test' button !

I still have a few freeware resources on disk somewhere - PM if you want them , folks .

To stay on topic Prometric run tests out of FAS in Loughlinstown , south Dublin

Zorba

Snake Plisken wrote: »

What the hell did u spend 600 yoyo's on?

For the course from Kilroys college, which consists of the course on 2 cds basically, one specialist and one essentials not sure which i'm meant to be studying but they seem to have all the same topics on them !

Kur4mA

Hi folks! I am thinking about getting A+ certified and was going to do the course work via www.ecollege.ie which is basically FAS online. The cost of the course is 120 Euro and from looking at some of the other sites this seems very low. Has anyone done it there before?

mensreas

kyub wrote: »

Hi folks! I am thinking about getting A+ certified and was going to do the course work via www.ecollege.ie which is basically FAS online. The cost of the course is 120 Euro and from looking at some of the other sites this seems very low. Has anyone done it there before?

I done the fas online A+ for a while about two years ago and what i found is they just tell you everything about everything and its up to you to sift through the bs that is never going to be asked. In saying that it was the old course (hardware and software) so maybe they have changed it. I currently have 9 massive A4 folders full of info and i didnt even complete the course!!!!!

Kur4mA

Do you reckon using the sample papers would allow me to sift through the BS a bit better if the fas online one is still the sameish?

mensreas

kyub wrote: »

Do you reckon using the sample papers would allow me to sift through the BS a bit better if the fas online one is still the sameish?

BIt of a loaded question really depends on the quailty of your sample papers ie how relevent they are to the exams. This is the crowd that we get our books from and they are very good might be worth a look! http://www.gtslearning.com/

I have a dose of questions on the esstinals course if your intrested pm me.

Snake Plisken

wouldn't bother with GTS as found them pretty crap books, go with Mike Myers and get CBT nuggets videos and you'll be fine, I passed my IT Tech exam today got 900 out of 900 on this exam and 850 out of 900 on the essentials so will be getting my Cert posted to me in a couple of weeks onwards to Network+ now will sit that in May/June timeframe. I'm doing it through FAS fulltime course.

Kur4mA

Do you reckon I should go for the All-in-One guide?

Snake Plisken

kyub wrote: »

Do you reckon I should go for the All-in-One guide?

yes I would go for the Mike Meyers All in One guide, if you read the reviews on Amazon.com or Proprofs nearly all recommend it. It comes with some practice tests on a CD as well.

Kur4mA

Brilliant! Thanks for all the help guys.

Barlow07

Snake Plisken wrote: »

wouldn't bother with GTS as found them pretty crap books, go with Mike Myers and get CBT nuggets videos and you'll be fine, I passed my IT Tech exam today got 900 out of 900 on this exam and 850 out of 900 on the essentials so will be getting my Cert posted to me in a couple of weeks

Congraulations on passing, now go have a drink before you start N+.

Michael Meyers book you recommend, is this the one?
A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Sixth Edition (A+ Certification All in One Exam) (Hardcover)
thanks

Snake Plisken

Thanks its a great relief to get both A+ exams done and in the bag

Yep thats the one its on Amazon.co.uk http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0072263113/ref=s9_asin_title_3?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=19AX4AACZVND76EH95Z3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=139289791&pf_rd_i=468294

Barlow07

Snake Plisken wrote: »

Thanks its a great relief to get both A+ exams done and in the bag

What are you doing at the moment work wise? I would suggest you try get a part time job working with PC's if you havent already now you have A+, may need to start at the bottom but you will quickly work your way up.

Kur4mA

I just bought it. I'll see how I go self-studying with this and the forums you guys linked to.

Snake Plisken

Barlow07 wrote: »

What are you doing at the moment work wise? I would suggest you try get a part time job working with PC's if you havent already now you have A+, may need to start at the bottom but you will quickly work your way up.

Well I'm doing this on a full time FAS course at the moment, after I've finished the N+ we do some work placement for 12 weeks, really want to get into a company who will provide decent training on networks etc, so hopefully I"ll find a good company.

Barlow07

Good luck with N+, i plan on doing that after A+ once i get my act together.

The Michael Meyers A+ book, did you buy that yourself or did your tutor in FAS recommended it to help you with the A+ course? The reason i ask is i am thinking more of signing up with a college instead of self study course or online, but i'm thinking it would be no harm in buying the book and reading through it myself.

What would you think?