Comptia A+, N+ and Security+

[dD3]

Hey Guys.

Where is the best/cheapest route to get these certifications ?
Ideally i would like Security+ but requirements state that i need to have N+.
And N+ states i need to have A+.. is this all true ?

 

[the_don46]

I did my A+ & N+ and what a waste of time..

I'll sell you mine so you can do your Security+

 

[dD3]

I did my A+ & N+ and what a waste of time.

Seriously ? :/

what other ways are there to get certified towards security, mainly web application security

 

[Slayeruser]

I did my A+ & N+ and what a waste of time..

I know how you feel, I had a better understanding on a lot of areas than my instructers.

dD3, maybe what you can do is look for the A+ & N+ books, work through them and go and write the exams only. They are about R1500 each.

It wil save u quite a few bucks if you can do it that way, and secondly will not take so long as to attend all the clases.
My 2c anyhow

 

[ponder]

Those certs are a waste of time unless you nothing at all.

 

[dD3]

okay

thanks guys.

 

[Mike_De_Lange]

I wouldn't say they count for nothing. I wouldn't hire anyone who doesn't have their A+, MCSE or MCITP. They basically show you know what a pc is and how to use it. If you know what you doing they easy to get...I would recommend those....

 

[the_don46]

Yes they are easy to get, but if you know what you doing, you can prove it in a job interview. Besides, I would hire someone with no qualifications over "white paper" qualified guys.

I would just make sure a 3 month probation is in place so that if the "unqualified" guy can't do the job, you can weasle him out.

 

[schumi]

For those who say its useless, what will you suggest?

 

[syntax]

Yes they are easy to get, but if you know what you doing, you can prove it in a job interview. Besides, I would hire someone with no qualifications over "white paper" qualified guys.

I would just make sure a 3 month probation is in place so that if the "unqualified" guy can't do the job, you can weasle him out.

and what do u think gets u the interview? its those certs...

For those who say its useless, what will you suggest?

i can almost guarantee someone will say get a cisco ccna....and its fair enough, the exam is fairly technical, and demonstrates some idea of networking knowledge....
I would say for me it holds more weight than an A+/N+

 

[schumi]

and what do u think gets u the interview? its those certs...



i can almost guarantee someone will say get a cisco ccna....and its fair enough, the exam is fairly technical, and demonstrates some idea of networking knowledge....
I would say for me it holds more weight than an A+/N+

Im planning to add MCSE and later do ccna

 

[eclipsedx]

Hey Guys.

Where is the best/cheapest route to get these certifications ?
Ideally i would like Security+ but requirements state that i need to have N+.
And N+ states i need to have A+.. is this all true ?

I would suggest looking over perhaps the A+ books and doing the CCNA certs. If you want to get into networking Cisco is the best first step. Take your ICND1 exam and you woud see how much you learn in a small amount of time.

 

[Jabberwocky]

How about microsoft certifications like MCSA? Are they also frowned upon?

 

[poffle]

i did my N+ and security+. I think its a good point to just start out and learn the basics, do not rely on it to get you anywhere in a job interview but i do think it provides a good starting platform if you just starting out. You dont need to goto classes and stuff, rather just study from the books and pay for the exam.

 

[eclipsedx]

How about microsoft certifications like MCSA? Are they also frowned upon?

I dont know hey but im personaly looking at doing MCITP even thou im a Network Engineer and have done alot of work on Windows Servers and Desktops its always key to make sure your up to date with the current back end systems.

 

[adielh]

The fact of the matter is that you wil still be under paid , not close to market related salary , thats why its a waste my.
I got A+ N+ MCSE, Business information systems. All of this waste. Even Comptia cannot help you

 

[homeboy]

i did my A+ but never wrote the exams its too expensive. but now i know more about pc than before. so i recommend go for the course, if you have a good instructor you get good tips. at the time i went to a few pc repair shops to get some experience and no-one wanted to help me. i told them you don`t have to pay me! so i bought a pc and practise on that, and consult my manuals, but that was win`98 manuals.

 

[eclipsedx]

Its depends what your end goal is and where you are in your career. If you are starting out I would say(this is what I did) get an Internhip/learnership work as a workshop tech the get some a book even a old one on A+ read it and use what you learn in your day to day work after a year you should have an Idea where to go. I when the Networking road but didnt do the N+ as i believe the CCNA course is more complete.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

i did my A+ but never wrote the exams its too expensive. but now i know more about pc than before. so i recommend go for the course, if you have a good instructor you get good tips. at the time i went to a few pc repair shops to get some experience and no-one wanted to help me. i told them you don`t have to pay me! so i bought a pc and practise on that, and consult my manuals, but that was win`98 manuals.

Will agree with you here. Did my A+ in 2001 as I knew jack about hardware even though I was coding since '85.

Actually going to be teaching the maids 13yr old son A+ content this year - will even get the latest books for him. All A+ dose is say you have certain foundations (back in 2001 they benchmarked the A+ against 6 months on the job experience for the most junior IT tech level in USA)

 

[stroebs]

I want to study IT when I have passed Matric --> Mostly interested in hardware and networking. I am really interested in PCs, and have a thorough understanding of them and have quite a bit of technical knowledge having made plenty mistakes and learned from them with PCs at home. Also having assembled machines and testing installations of Windows Server 2k3 as well as doing IT at school (a combination of theory and practical - programming work).

I now see everyone saying these certs are useless but I see in job requirements that one would require x years of experience here and y qualifications, but how are we as juniors supposed to get into the industry when there is so little need for inexperienced IT folk and such a high demand for skilled professionals? Does it become a case of knowing the correct individuals in order to get a placement in a job which will teach you more and give you the experience you need?