Good way to learn?

[huggy]

I'm think ing of doing an accelerated A+ course. It will last 5 days,then I'll take 2 exams to get my A+ cert. What should be my next step? Look for work,or study some more?

[BadBob]

I would assume your talking about the sort of thing advertised in the back of newspapers etc. I must admit I don't know a great deal about A+ (in fact I know nothing) but what I do know is any course which takes 5 days and 2 exams isn't going to impress your average I.T. manager. There are releatively few qualifications outside of a degree which will have any relevance or effect in I.T. It depends on your expectation of what the job will be, this sort of qualification might get you a foot in the door but don't expect to be given a job on that alone.

[BadBob]

Sorry just did a bit or research, I was thinking of something else when you mentioned A+. However I do stand by what I said, what you really need is experience, its the same with any job but in I.T. its something you must have. I personally would say your best option is to get a job even if its low pay as this will give you the golden ticket of experience, work there for a year or so and then your on the ladder and away. I spent 2 years at college doing an I.T. qualification it served only to get me my first job since then I don't even mention it on my CV as its irrelevant when compared with even a years worth of experience. Good Luck.

[j2buttonsw]

The compTIA A+ is an excellent qualification for the IT industry. It is not easy and the 5 day course will be pretty intensive. The first of the two exams is on hardware whilst the second is more software based. It is a vendor independent exam so it is not restricted to Microsoft or Apple products. It will certainly get you a foot in the IT door but experience is also a necessity. You can always do the Network+ or the Server+ qualifications if you fancy it after the A+. Once in a job you can think of doing more qualifications based on software/hardware vendors. I am an MCSE but would never have thought of doing it if my company had not sponsored me (7 exams at �100 each and 7 courses at �1000 each: it is not cheap).