What these CompTIA Certs I see on job postings and should I be trying to get them?

Nobeard

I'm job hunting right now and a lot of job postings list these. Things like A+ Certification. Google tells me what they are but not if they are these worth going. Are they worth adding on my resume For the record I have a two year college certificate in computer networking.

Cambiata

Certifications are usually more worth it than a college certificate, yeah. A+ specifically? Well I've heard different things... HR tends to put A+ on anything vaguely technical, but I've heard people within the IT industry deride it as a joke. More lucrative ones to get are things like CCNA/CCNP and MCSE.

What I'd say is: If you can get the A+ cert without having to pack in a lot of studying, yeah probably get it. If not, there are even better CompTIA certificates than that one, like Network+ and Linux+.

Radiation

A+ is more hardware focused. Could be useful to grab, especially if that's the type of job you're going after. People who have been in the industry longer do joke about them being entry level (which they are sort of), but it's certainly better than nothing. What type of job are you looking for?
A+ can be pretty handy to have if you're going for a tech support gig in an enterprise environment. It's not too bad, if you've built a computer before you should have a pretty solid foundation. There's a study App (I can't recall the name of) and Professor Messor on youtube has a good series to help you study for it. Certs are near required in the IT field it seems, though YMMV depending on area and what you're trying to get into.

spool32

CompTIA are entry level basic certs. They will demonstrate that you didn't just make up stuff on your resume, which is nice, but they won't lever your career past help desk or junior admin.

SyphonBlue

It depends on how long you've been in your career. If you're going into entry level IT (0-3 years) they can be good to have. If you're past entry level (3-6 years), you're gonna wanna try for Microsoft certs (MCITP, MCSA, etc), Cisco certs (CCNA, CCNP, etc), or Linux certs (if that's the kind of thing you're in to). Past that (7+ years), certs become increasingly irrelevant, and it's more about your actual experience.

Calebros

Security engineer here,

A+ is better than nothing, but only really useful for IT help-desk stuff. While that position is better than nothing if it's your only option right now, it's also somewhere that is easy to get trapped in and generally doesn't lead anywhere. The Net+ and Sec+ are where I would focus your attention in the beginning. If you have to choose one, get one that lines up with where you want to actually go in the industry, but get both if you can. Professor Messer on Youtube is a fantastic teacher, and there are some good books up on Amazon you can buy.

Even for an entry-level job, I would not hire anyone who doesn't have at least one of those two (or something comparable from a different vendor.) While having a cert isn't a guarantee that someone actually remembers anything they were tested on, not going through the process of self-studying and putting your money where your mouth is to get a cert is a big red flag.

spool32

Calebros wrote: »

Security engineer here,

A+ is better than nothing, but only really useful for IT help-desk stuff. While that position is better than nothing if it's your only option right now, it's also somewhere that is easy to get trapped in and generally doesn't lead anywhere. The Net+ and Sec+ are where I would focus your attention in the beginning. If you have to choose one, get one that lines up with where you want to actually go in the industry, but get both if you can. Professor Messer on Youtube is a fantastic teacher, and there are some good books up on Amazon you can buy.

Even for an entry-level job, I would not hire anyone who doesn't have at least one of those two (or something comparable from a different vendor.) While having a cert isn't a guarantee that someone actually remembers anything they were tested on, not going through the process of self-studying and putting your money where your mouth is to get a cert is a big red flag.

And this is the difference between today's market and when I came up in the 90s... certs were what you did if you couldn't get a job based on your skill back then. They were proof you liked taking tests more than learning skills. Now they're proof you care, I guess!

Feral

We still hire people without certs at my company, but the certs don't hurt. Depends on their other experience and education.

Pretty much what spool said:

spool32 wrote: »

CompTIA are entry level basic certs. They will demonstrate that you didn't just make up stuff on your resume, which is nice, but they won't lever your career past help desk or junior admin.

Nobeard

Damn I did not know it cost money to take the test. A+ alone is a total of $422 dollars which is a lot of money for me right now. Are there ways to reduce or subsidize the cost?

mcp

Some places ask for certs and they have no idea why they're asking for them.

I've seen job postings with "Certifications preferred: MCSA, MCSE, CISSP, or A+"

Like, woah there sport. You're all over the place. And which MCSA/E would you like this person to have?

It's a thing that'll help you get past HR screening.

For me, if I see A+, it at least shows you probably studied a bit. If I had two resumes, one had A+ and one didn't, it wouldn't really make a difference. With a person in HR that knows nothing about the job they're hiring for? Might help a bit.

Straygatsby

I posted this same question in 2013 when I was looking to officially get into the industry (I'd been kicking around a mom and pop retail shop doing unsolicited tech support). I got my A+ and wiggled into a Help Desk spot at a medium sized company. Since then, I've picked up N+ and Sec+ as well. I view them as HR grease for the resume process. In addition, once you're in a job, if you're lucky to have colleagues and/or mentors who give a shit about you or their juniors, it often signals to them that you're willing to play and interested in learning and putting in the extra time and effort to do so. *This* is their true value for me. No one is ever going to look at your certs and think you know what you're doing, but they might think you're worth showing something to. That's your first rung of the ladder to GTFO of Tier 1/2 support, and the only way you won't go full Falling Down after years on a support desk.

Radiation

@Nobeard looks like there are a couple of options to make it cheaper.

https://certification.comptia.org/faq/how-much-does-the-a-plus-certification-cost
Student discount, some orgs that will help foot the bill, etc.