IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[emerald]

Mmeyes..... that's what I used over 6 yrs. ago for my A+....but to be honest, either one will probably do, the A+ is not hard at all. Just do the following:

* use notecards and carry them with you. Randomly read them throughout the day
* watch youtube clips( youtube wasn't really popping when I took the A+, so you have an advantage already)
* Take your computer apart and put it back together. If you have the $$$, upgrade a couple of things on your computer.
* Browse Newegg and become comfortable with all of the specs/terms.


If you are like me and what to know more than whats on the test, I highly recommend this book


Most importantly, chill out, the test is pretty straightforward....heck my 9yr son homework confuses me more than the A+....

Nah I don't have the luxury of half stepping and just focus on passing the exams. I need to actually know exactly what I'm doing. I have 2 old laptops that don't work so I could practice on those. Unfortunately I'm broke and unemployed so I don't have the money to fix and upgrade them right now but that would be nice to have 2 computers to practice PC repair and upgrades on while in school i could even get a camera and a tripod to make videos of myself working on the laptops

 

[Chris.B]

just found techexams

8 years ahead of you ...

 

[Chris.B]

http://my.safaribooksonline.com/video/certification/ccie/9780133412697

Just got these CCIE voice tutorials....let's see how far we can get.
I'm doing a lot of routing and switching lately at my job ever since one of our engineers quit for a government contract...

 

[HabitualLineSteppa]

Brehs...

First off I am in my senior year of the BS IT/ISS program at UoP...I rarely say much about my accomplishments but with everything I've been through in the last 3 years (suddenly loss of my moms, lost employment then found employment way outside of what I want to do, income changes, ect), I can honestly say, I'm proud of me.

That said, I just started my database concepts course today. 5 week long course, I have 6 chapters to read before Friday, I work full-time M-F, I have a lady with my first child on the way (), and I am proactively trying to get my foot into the IT door as a tier I tech or analyst. I don't want to say (or own) that I am overwhelmed but I got a lot on my plate.

Anyway, I feel as though I am not retaining the information fast enough. I know most of you guys say you study for about 6-8 months and boom, #certlife, but I'm struggling today.

Any tips on how I can retain this information faster/implement better time management so that I can continue on my road to that oh so coveted IT Coli Life ?

Btw (I know I'm late as fukk) @bdizzle on your recent accomplishments fam...Truth or not, your story (among others) is inspiring to a young brother...Keep gettin' them

 

[FreshFromATL]

Jesus Christ my Visual Studio 2012 done crashed and I don't know how to fix it

 

[Blessings]

not really IT
Currently an Oracle Supply Chain Management/Manufacturing Functional Consultant
long term goal is to earn my CSCP...has anyone studied for it or took it yet?

 

[Data-Hawk]

Brehs...

First off I am in my senior year of the BS IT/ISS program at UoP...I rarely say much about my accomplishments but with everything I've been through in the last 3 years (suddenly loss of my moms, lost employment then found employment way outside of what I want to do, income changes, ect), I can honestly say, I'm proud of me.

That said, I just started my database concepts course today. 5 week long course, I have 6 chapters to read before Friday, I work full-time M-F, I have a lady with my first child on the way (), and I am proactively trying to get my foot into the IT door as a tier I tech or analyst. I don't want to say (or own) that I am overwhelmed but I got a lot on my plate.

Anyway, I feel as though I am not retaining the information fast enough. I know most of you guys say you study for about 6-8 months and boom, #certlife, but I'm struggling today.

Any tips on how I can retain this information faster/implement better time management so that I can continue on my road to that oh so coveted IT Coli Life ?

Btw (I know I'm late as fukk) @bdizzle on your recent accomplishments fam...Truth or not, your story (among others) is inspiring to a young brother...Keep gettin' them

The best way to retain the info is to do it everyday. spend more time doing and less reading about it. Its the only way you'll ever get good at it. I always think about it like this, if you wanted to be a better basketball player, do you read about it or actually go out and play?

Ive also found that when you spend time frustrated and finally solve the problem, going back and reading on the topic makes alot more sense. also if you are a visual learner, hit up youtube that go over the topic you are interested in. Spend time on tech forums, so the lingo can become casual to you. minimize TV as much as possible.

If you can, try to fit in 1/2 hr to an hr of reading before work. I have to be at work 6:30am. so i'd try to get there by 5:15 and watch a couple of programming videos. Speaking from experience try to work as hard as you can before the kid gets here, becaue they will take up alot of your time, but you will find that they will also motivate you.


In the end though, its not about retaining the info, but your problem solving abilties, and you really wont know how good you are at that until you are in the real world.

 

[↓R↑LYB]

Brehs...

First off I am in my senior year of the BS IT/ISS program at UoP...I rarely say much about my accomplishments but with everything I've been through in the last 3 years (suddenly loss of my moms, lost employment then found employment way outside of what I want to do, income changes, ect), I can honestly say, I'm proud of me.

That said, I just started my database concepts course today. 5 week long course, I have 6 chapters to read before Friday, I work full-time M-F, I have a lady with my first child on the way (), and I am proactively trying to get my foot into the IT door as a tier I tech or analyst. I don't want to say (or own) that I am overwhelmed but I got a lot on my plate.

Anyway, I feel as though I am not retaining the information fast enough. I know most of you guys say you study for about 6-8 months and boom, #certlife, but I'm struggling today.

Any tips on how I can retain this information faster/implement better time management so that I can continue on my road to that oh so coveted IT Coli Life ?

I was in a similar situation when i was coming up, but all I did was just shut out the world and focus on my studies. Sunday to Sunday, all grind. You in a different situation since you gotta seed on the way, but you might need to have that convo with your shorty to let her know what your plans is and what you're trying to accomplish. Let her know you're grinding now so that in a couple years y'all will be financially set, and ask her to support you in any way she can....not sure how that'll go over with a pregnant woman and her hormones raging, but good luck with that convo.

For time management, I made a schedule and just stuck to it. Mines was be home by 5, eat by 5:30, have an hour of down time, then study for the rest of the night (I'd usually go to sleep around 2-3AM). Then wake up and do it again.

For study tips, use flash cards. Question on 1 side, answer on the other. That always helped me for some reason.

Btw (I know I'm late as fukk) @bdizzle on your recent accomplishments fam...Truth or not, your story (among others) is inspiring to a young brother...Keep gettin' them

No breh #FactsOnly

I'm still not happy though, I can do better

By this time next year, I want to be making 40k/mo. Mark it on you calendars breh, it's gonna be a hot summer

EDIT: This is my motivation right here. Penthouse overlooking the city. Mortgage would be about 10k/mo

 

[Phantom]

Does anybody work as a tech in a public school setting? I'm going to take an district support tech exam on friday, does anybody know what I could expect?

 

[Phantom]

i don't know which a+ study guide to buy. sybex or meyers?

I used a bit of this http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/com...m-david-l-prowse/1108361744?ean=9780789749710 and little bit of professor messer

I used a lot of http://www.examcollection.com/comptia_exams.html
The exam dumps are user created and many of them are VERY accurate, even if a test taker does shyt on the all simulations they should still be able to pass if they do good on multiple choice questions. The thing is the software used to take these practice exams cost $30 but if one were to do a google search . . .

 

[patscorpio]

so without CERTS i wont be able to make good money with my CIS degree? computer info systems

breh I have no certs..just a bachelors in computer science and a MBA in MIS and I make 105K now....the thing that makes IT great is that they're many avenues within it that can get you to 6 figures but you have to put in the work

 

[Data-Hawk]

Uhh...errrr I really hate dealing with vendors. feel like im talking to a car salesman.lol

 

[Data-Hawk]

Jesus Christ my Visual Studio 2012 done crashed and I don't know how to fix it

Did you load any new 3rd party plugins? I installed UnityVS and every time I would open VS it would crashed. Uninstalled it, problem resolved.

Also you can try and rebuild VS cache :

Clear VS 2012′s extension cache.

1. In Explorer, navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Visual Studio\11.0\Extensions.
2. Delete any extensionSdks.*.cache and extensions.*.cache files, where “*” represents your culture (in my case, “en-US”). These files will be recreated the next time you start VS 2012.

 

[FreshFromATL]

Did you load any new 3rd party plugins? I installed UnityVS and every time I would open VS it would crashed. Uninstalled it, problem resolved.

Also you can try and rebuild VS cache :

Clear VS 2012′s extension cache.

1. In Explorer, navigate to %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Visual Studio\11.0\Extensions.
2. Delete any extensionSdks.*.cache and extensions.*.cache files, where “*” represents your culture (in my case, “en-US”). These files will be recreated the next time you start VS 2012.

Yep . I ended up fixing it though, breh. I was trying to install some extra shyt in Visual Studio and next thing I knew, VS started crashing and my computer would freeze . I think it had something to do with my SQL Server connections getting fukked up in the mix somehow. shyt got so bad, I had to uninstall SQL Server and Visual Studio and re-install them, . I couldn't even run the repair function to see what was wrong.

 

[NamelessPimp]

I'm trying to read through this thread...basically I graduated with an English degree but I was looking to get an IT cert. which one would be the most beneficial to start out with?

I'm looking to go into security for the most part. I have a criminal justice minor which is actually kind of concentrated in security technology (alarm systems and stuff)