IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)

[Hahahaha]

Maybe I missed posts but did you take the A+? I ask because I'm looking to take a class/ program for A+/Net+/Security+ but if ITF+ something I should do first? No tech experience but I know basics. Are Microsoft certs kinda neccessary? Free study guides? I'm new as shyt for posters that see this

Unless it is free/really cheap, save your money on a class for those certs. I would self-study them through books/videos and spend your money on a desktop/laptop you can test taking apart and rebuilding. I've also literally never heard of ITF+ before you posted it. I would skip on that altogether.

My general opinion is to skip the CompTIA certs now since they are no longer lifetime and they don't provide much value outside of Security+ if you work a government job. Not saying the material isn't valuable, but the cert itself may not be worth it. If it gets your foot in the door, do what you have to do though. I would personally get a W10 OS cert and ITIL foundations if you are trying to land a gig.

 

[thaKEAF]

Maybe I missed posts but did you take the A+? I ask because I'm looking to take a class/ program for A+/Net+/Security+ but if ITF+ something I should do first? No tech experience but I know basics. Are Microsoft certs kinda neccessary? Free study guides? I'm new as shyt for posters that see this

I passed the A+ in July and Network+ in October. Both self studied. I’m not too sure on Microsoft certifications. I’ve seen people mention them here though so I’m sure there’s someone who can help on that end. I wouldn’t do ITF+..I’m sure A+ covers that and more plus A+ is listed as a requirement for a lot of jobs. Never seen ITF+ listed..

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Maybe I missed posts but did you take the A+? I ask because I'm looking to take a class/ program for A+/Net+/Security+ but if ITF+ something I should do first? No tech experience but I know basics. Are Microsoft certs kinda neccessary? Free study guides? I'm new as shyt for posters that see this

I'm always going to suggest starting with the A+ if you have no background in computers. It's an easy exam and can help you pick up some much needed knowledge in a short period. Never heard of ITF+ but from what I've read, I don't see any reason to persue that and the A+. When you say you know the basics, what do you mean? Troubleshooting basics? Installing printers? Joining a pc to a domain? I would still look into getting the A+. With a decent study plan you could pass the test in a month.

Microsoft certs are important if you are going to be working in Windows environment or looking to work in one. I would focus on the Server 2019, Azure, and O365 certs.

 

[Scott Larock]

I passed the Technical Support Fundamentals but I stopped since I got a A+ and S+ already. I figured it made no sense and I'm back on the CCNA.

I may need to just go to school, I keep on lacking and doing other things, paying money would definitely have me more focused.

I'm gonna get the new CCNA, I've been reading alot of David Bothal Videos and books but the new security aspect should be huge. I need a damn job though, haven't worked in months. fukking cacs.

 

[JackRoss]

I'm always going to suggest starting with the A+ if you have no background in computers. It's an easy exam and can help you pick up some much needed knowledge in a short period. Never heard of ITF+ but from what I've read, I don't see any reason to persue that and the A+. When you say you know the basics, what do you mean? Troubleshooting basics? Installing printers? Joining a pc to a domain? I would still look into getting the A+. With a decent study plan you could pass the test in a month.

Microsoft certs are important if you are going to be working in Windows environment or looking to work in one. I would focus on the Server 2019, Azure, and O365 certs.

Terminology is an issue. I can do basic troubleshooting and installing printers.

@Hahahaha it's a self paced course for the A+, Net+ and Security+ through ed2go. It's self paced. I found out about it through Governor's State website (local college). I'll try to get a WIOA grant.

@thaKEAF you're right about Fundamentals. I think it's for people that don't know what a computer is lol

Appreciate yall. I will have more questions. Just trying to figure out what I want to specialize in. I found something online about the different career paths for different certs but there are so damn many. I'm going to keep doing more research though. How did you all decide?

Again, thank you.

 

[JackRoss]

How important or what is the gap between having a Bachelor's vs just having Certs?

 

[xXMASHERXx]

Terminology is an issue. I can do basic troubleshooting and installing printers.

@Hahahaha it's a self paced course for the A+, Net+ and Security+ through ed2go. It's self paced. I found out about it through Governor's State website (local college). I'll try to get a WIOA grant.

@thaKEAF you're right about Fundamentals. I think it's for people that don't know what a computer is lol

Appreciate yall. I will have more questions. Just trying to figure out what I want to specialize in. I found something online about the different career paths for different certs but there are so damn many. I'm going to keep doing more research though. How did you all decide?

Again, thank you.

I would say at the very least go through an A+ book and some videos. I'm not a big fan of courses unless you are taking them for free or very cheap(some community colleges offer them).

As far as deciding path in IT, sometimes you really don't know until you are actually in the field and working with the different equipment/technology. Heck I thought I originally wanted to be a programmer and then took a programming course. One thing I will say is don't try to choose based on money. If you really know your stuff money will come as you gain experience. Choose based on what interests you and what you enjoy.

How important or what is the gap between having a Bachelor's vs just having Certs?

Both are really just to get past the gatekeepers aka HR. I hold certs in higher regard only because it tells me that you at least reviewed the material. Though there are some people who have received a cert and still have no idea what they are doing. A degree isn't always going to mean you had a course detailing desktop/server os or networking. I would say that if getting a degree isn't going to crumble you financially(going 20k+ into debt is crumbling imo) then do it. I think on a personal level there is just something about accomplishing that.

 

[JackRoss]

I would say at the very least go through an A+ book and some videos. I'm not a big fan of courses unless you are taking them for free or very cheap(some community colleges offer them).

As far as deciding path in IT, sometimes you really don't know until you are actually in the field and working with the different equipment/technology. Heck I thought I originally wanted to be a programmer and then took a programming course. One thing I will say is don't try to choose based on money. If you really know your stuff money will come as you gain experience. Choose based on what interests you and what you enjoy.


Both are really just to get past the gatekeepers aka HR. I hold certs in higher regard only because it tells me that you at least reviewed the material. Though there are some people who have received a cert and still have no idea what they are doing. A degree isn't always going to mean you had a course detailing desktop/server os or networking. I would say that if getting a degree isn't going to crumble you financially(going 20k+ into debt is crumbling imo) then do it. I think on a personal level there is just something about accomplishing that.

Damn I feel you. I'll breakdown the point later. It just gave me more questions. Does age factor into hiring? I'm 32 be 33 soon. Will that hold me back?

 

[colicolicoli]

Got my ITIL v4 Foundation (job paid) cert today and finally scheduled my Security+ for March.

 

[TRFG]

Got my ITIL v4 Foundation (job paid) cert today and finally scheduled my Security+ for March.

How along you been studying the security+

 

[Marc Spector]

So inevitably I will be taking Sans FOR572 for the military. I wont need to pass the SANS test to complete the military course but if you do pass it, you get the cert and graduate the course too. Big deal given how expensive the cert is.

Anyone here taken it? Any tips to prepare for it?

 

[ryda518]

These bonso practice exams are designed to fukk with one's head.

Did the 5th practice test for SA. Got a 72% on the dot

Check this question out


First, nikka, the only instance type i fukk with is t2.micro, cuz its free tier. T3a.medium ?
I gotta be knowing all the instance types for associate? ACG told me that was for the pro level cert.

Tbh, i figured it didn't have any bearing on my answer, however I couldve been wrong.

Second, I barely read about Elastic Network Adapter and Fabric Adapters, but I know they act like a virtual network card and you can assign multiple ips to an instance, thus improving throughput and ish. They say cost effective and I know Fabric adapters are a fancier version of network adapters, so more expensive. I'm like I got one decent option , pretty unsure tho.

Thirdly, then i see the option of Parallel sync. I've never seen that shyt before but it got all the keywords from the question, but then its probably a fully managed service so its probably more expensive than rigging shyt yourself, but then im like why would they advertise a fully managed but more expensive option that does all the shyt you might need

I choose the parallel sync option. Correct answer was the elastic network adapter.

Only thing keeping me from stressing is posts on reddit where some cats have been saying they also failed the shyts but still passed

Just did the exam 5

First I got a 43 then after the review a 95

These shyts are hard for no reason but I guess it's good to learn something that I never knew before, and based on the reviews going through the bullshyt like this will help us glide through these exams.

Like AWS Glue or Windows fsx, I don't see it coming up in the exams but it's good to know it if i need to know it in the future.

 

[Snoopy Loops]

Just did the exam 5

First I got a 43 then after the review a 95

These shyts are hard for no reason but I guess it's good to learn something that I never knew before, and based on the reviews going through the bullshyt like this will help us glide through these exams.

Like AWS Glue or Windows fsx, I don't see it coming up in the exams but it's good to know it if i need to know it in the future.

I got an 84 on the 6th one first attempt, but that one was def the easiest. That lustre and fsx shyt is just bs. Luckily I read some random cheat sheet that had it so I was somewhat familiar. Actual exam is on Saturday.

I did the first dev exam tho, got 50 .
Tbf I knew I wasn’t prepared and was hella tired. shyt made me realize I don’t know shyt about api gateway and docker. I’m not a developer so. Learning tho.

Not sure if I need to stack all 3 associates before applying so I can get the best gig.

 

[ryda518]

I got an 84 on the 6th one first attempt, but that one was def the easiest. That lustre and fsx shyt is just bs. Luckily I read some random cheat sheet that had it so I was somewhat familiar. Actual exam is on Saturday.

I did the first dev exam tho, got 50 .
Tbf I knew I wasn’t prepared and was hella tired. shyt made me realize I don’t know shyt about api gateway and docker. I’m not a developer so. Learning tho.

Not sure if I need to stack all 3 associates before applying so I can get the best gig.

Good Luck

I just got a 52 on first attempt. Second test of the day so I was rushing but I seem to get the same scores on the first try

Getting a 50 as a non dev is a small victory

 

[Snoopy Loops]

Good Luck

I just got a 52 on first attempt. Second test of the day so I was rushing but I seem to get the same scores on the first try

Getting a 50 as a non dev is a small victory

Thanks fam

I’m taking some serverless course on Udemy. It’s exposing me to the nitty gritty of lambda, api gateway and dynamo db. I think that might def improve my scores. Thinking of developing an app with that stack for my back end. shyts mad cheap compared to ECS or EC2 deployments

Edit: took the 1st SysOps practice test, got a 70. A lot of people say SysOps is harder than Dev. Can’t say I agree, at least for now. shyt like when to use snowball, snowmobile tripped me up. Monitoring is still an issue. I hate questions on redshift. I’m bound to miss them.