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Think the A+ certification is easy or worthless??? What questions would you ask or would be tough enough that if someone passed the test you believe they would know their 'stuff'??? I'll be compiling a list for the site, thanks!
[This message has been edited by WinDrivers (edited October 01, 2001).]
my opinion is that it was worth something in the past, but now it is just a token honor
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Raven
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EPOR...EPOR...EPOR
Hey Scott...my experience with it [and I hope this doesn't turn into a "cert" thread], is that A+ is relative easy if you're moderately experienced with PC's, and have basic mechanical aptitude. And it's worth a lot as far as landing corporate work, where the human resource people need some, any, form of certification and documentation. The newer adaptive testing format really zeros in on anything you don't know and hammers at it, I for one wasn't 100% confident that I was doing well until it was over!
A lot of the skill level of individuals is dependant on where they took the course. Did the course teach them what's in the A+ manual, or did they teach them how to pass the test? If you just pick up the "Exam Prep A+" manual, take a look inside at the material...well, if a guy knows that, I mean really knows that, he'd have to be pretty good!
As far as what questions would you ask? It's always a temptation to ask esoteric things...but I don't really know that you'll get a sense of their skill level.
Rather than get into specific questions, I'd present them with a "paper" problem, similar to the W2K MCSE test format, and see what they do to work it out. Finally, for new hires, I'm fond of asking IRQ related questions, i.e., "list some reasons why you would need to, and how do you reassign an IRQ...."
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"How stange it is that men are so rash as to dare to reprehend what they cannot possibly comprehend!" St. Bernard
[This message has been edited by IT Len (edited October 01, 2001).]
my biggest issue with the A+ isnt what content they DO cover...it's the stuff they gloss over...like troubleshooting as a theory. It is my beleive that the thing most lacking in entry-level techs (the A+ taget)is the ability to properly and effectively troubleshoot an issue. There IS a process to the art of troubleshooting and in most cases it is ignored in favor of silly things like cable lengths. Anybody can memorize a table of acceptable cable lengths, but the concept of D.I.R.T (Define, Identify, Replace, Test)is little harder to teach and can only be learned through COMPREHENSION and PRACTICE!!
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""in certain cases...one remains a philosopher only by being silent." -Friedrich Neitzsche "
Agree with above posts. It is easy, but it is not worthless, as far as employers like to see stuff like that.
During my interview at the shop where I am employed now, part of my interview was a staged "service". "This machine on the bench does not boot into windows. fix it if you can."
It turned out to be a bad cable, but i was later told that many interviewees couldn't Troubleshoot worth a ding dangly dong!
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Who gives a F**K about your problems baby, 'cause you can pay the rent... -G.M.
Want to hear something funny? I failed the A+ test!!!!!! The A+ test means absolutely nothing!! The things that they ask you have no real relevance to todays technology or architecture. Who needs to know what pin on an LPT port gives ground or rubbish like that. for the cost of todays components it would be more cost efficient to replace a part than to sit down & attempt to fix it. I can understand these questions 15 years ago, but today, they are a waste of time. It may mean someting if the questions were more up to date, but as it is I don't rate an A+ any higher than I do spelling your own name.
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System Specs
Abit KT7A-RAID (Rock F'n Solid!!!) - AMD Athlon 1Ghz (10x100) - 1024Mb PC133 SDRAM - ATI Radeon (AGP4X) - Maxtor ATA100 30Gb - 2 x Seagate ATA66 (RAID 0 totalling 26Gb) - Toshiba SD-1202M DVD - Plextor PlexWriter 2410A (Buy One!!!!) - Creative Labs SB Live! Value (No Pops , Hiss or Crackles here) - 20" Eizo Flexscan Monitor - Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM Final Release
As I am now going thru studying for A+ cert, I have picked up that you must fully comprehend what the problem is....don't just assume you know by hearing/reading half of the problem description. I also believe that a true "tech" knows how to troubleshoot correctly, knows what to look for first, and knows the sequence of events that may cause a problem with a computer (i.e. monitor doesn't display picture upon boot-up, check cables, then mointor, then vid. card, etc; don't assume first that it's the MB https://forums.windrivers.com/ )
Also, good, true techs know how to relate to the customer, not talking down, being patient, explaing in simple terms. I think questions concernig the ability and comprehensiveness are important. Hope this helps!
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Go big...or go home! :eek:
Things to do when bored at Wal-Mart:
Take up an entire aisle in toys by setting up a full scale battlefield with G.I. Joes and X-Men.
To me A+ is worthless, but good to have if you are looking for a job. I passed my test first shot (go me!). The thing that I didn't like about the test, for example was this one question: how do you access the task manager in windows 2000? You had to name all 3 ways. I'm just sitting there thinking, if I know one way, that should be good enough. Ask me what I'd be using it for, rather than make me name all 3 ways. Who cares? you know one way, you use it.
The reason I don't like A+ as a certification is because there once was a tech working at our store, he was A+ and the whole bit. First day of working, I told him to grab an ATX power supply. He just looked at me dumbfounded, he didn't know what I was talking about!!!!
Oh well, comes in handy when looking for a job, or talking to ignorant customers. "yep, i'm certified, your machine is in good hands" gives them a sense of security.
/|rokh
I, like Darren, thought the A+ centered too much on old technology and specifics of electronics repair, rather than troubleshooting in general. Who cares if I can solder a new capacitor onto a motherboard, if I can't figure out that the problem is the capacitor?
Some better questions would be:
"Customer's screen seems to lock when scrolling through a document or web page. What is the first action to take?"
a. Check video card, bios, and driver
b. Try a new mouse
c. Format and reload Windows
d. Reload Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer
"Customer's Celeron 633mHz machine will not power on. Which is NOT a likely cause?"
a. Dead power supply
b. Damaged CPU
c. Soft power switch defective or not connected correctly
d. Video card does not support 4X AGP
There are more, I'll head back later and give the other $0.02 worth
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1-800-GIVE-LIFE (blood)
1-800-HELP-NOW (money)
www.redcross.org
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Windows, the CE,ME,NT eXPerience...
A+ means very little.
I took the test and it asked me the most useles questions that I have never even come across in 5years being in the field. Who gives a sh*t about binary code and what all the switches are for xcopy or whatever. I'm not retarded I know how to do "/?"
Its all memorization and the test is super expensive more then any MS test. IT cost me $360 Can. Damn!
So if I had to make a test about it. I would get them to ...
No multiple choice questions
1) Explain the difference between fat,fat32 and ntfs.
2)Explain the difference between scsi and ide
3)If you turn on your computer and the floppy light is on steady. What is the problem?
4)What is the difference between 10baset and 10base2?
5)Which of these is not a video card brand.
i)diamond
ii)Creative
iii)Trident
iv)Stream
6)Which website on the internet has the best info for helping out techs around the world?
(if you say M$, autamatic fail!)
7) In windows98 what is the simplist way eliminate unwanted programs on startup
i)mssetup
ii)msconfig
iii)msstartup
iv)booyah!
8) Name the 3 types of mouse connections
(ie: serial,bus,usb,ps/2)
9)which of these is not a type of video card slot?
i)sxe
ii)pci
iii)agp
iv)isa
10) How many devices can go on an ide connector?
These are a few that I think woudld go nicely.
what do you think?
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He who can laugh at himself will never cease to be amused.
The A+ is a useful tool for getting jobs, but not a useful tool for judging people who have it.
I passed it with flying colours and I knew NOTHING about computers. I learned in three months on the job everything I needed to know--and none of it was stuff covered on the A+.
If I was hiring, I would "break" a computer and ask the short list of candidates to fix it in front of me.
Suggested problems:
-reverse floppy drive cable
-remove TCP/IP
-install an incorrect video driver
-remove the CDROM-to-sound cable
-acquire a relatively harmless virus and infect the machine with it
-set the mouse to be 'left-handed'
-disable a COM port in the BIOS
Give the candidate a toolkit and all of the computer's relevant disks, tell them to diagnose it and fix it--see if they can, how long it takes them, but more importantly, HOW they go about doing it. Do they try the simple tests first, before dismantling the machine? Do they risk the data on the machine without asking if it needs backing up? Do they take notes? Do they use anti-ESD procedures? Do they ask you if the mouse is SUPPOSED to be left-handed, or do they go ahead and 'fix' it?
The reason I love the floppy cable test as well, is if they have no experience, they won't know that testing the disk in a drive misconnected like this will ruin the disk, so even if they do fix it, there's no way to test it properly... an experienced tech is a lot more likely to know this... and to know what the light being on continuously indicates.
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In another lifetime, I USED to be known as Wayward Clam. But the Powers That Be have spoken, so who am I to argue...?
I haven't taken the A+ test. It just doesn't work for me. I likely could pass it, I have read the books. I find severely glaring errors in the books that only people that grew up with the industry would know. My first IBM compatible was an XT I repaired and added a scrapped 10 meg hard drive.I've worked with 'compatibles' continously ever since. The A+ test is severely outdated and written by people with no clue about this industry IMHO.I feel that A+ is outdated due to the fact it is based on standards that the computer industry outdated years ago, those being that it only needed to be updated every three years like schoolbooks. The writers also seem to think that there is no one left to recognize and be disgusted by the real bloopers and boners they throw into the text books just because they don't know the correct answers or the concept doesn't fit into their tiny minds. The practice questions in several of them (one being the Osborne press version) are sometimes unanswerable due to the choices given.Who writes this junk and is he too senile to remember the business?
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What's the differance between 'twisted' and 'torqued' anyways?
I think what has happened is that people are equating an A+ certified technician with an actual bench tech. While there are many of us bench techs out there that do have the cert, I think we can all agree that the cert is pretty meaningless as far as tech ability goes. There is so much involved with being a tech that it would be damn near impossible to fit it into a couple of 60 question tests. It's kind of like what happened with the MCSE certs. Lots of people saw that MCSEs were making the big money, so everyone and his Uncle was going to MCSE bootcamp. What happened? A lot of people were hired based on their cert and then fired based on their ability. Same thing here with A+ (except for the big money part https://forums.windrivers.com/ ). The only problem is, most of the so-called techs are still able to remain employed because there are so many more computers and printers out there now. Most people don't know the difference between a good tech and a not-so-good tech or down right bad tech. The main thing that separates me from a paper tech is my troubleshooting ability. It's the old K.I.S.S. method (Keep It Simple Stupid). That and a lot of experience. The A+ cert is a good starting point for the beginner tech or IT person looking for a little hardware background. The cert used to mean something, but now it only stands for a basic knowledge of computers and Windows OS, not the ability to fix them.
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In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?"
I just took my A+ Cert back in June. The test is very easy for someone who (like me) has been screwing around for years with this stuff. For someone who doesn't have a degree in any engineering field or comp sci (BA in History) ("What do you do with a degree in History?") it seems that moving slowly but surely through the certification mode is the best thing I can do.
All of the certifications have been down played by one group or another because as most of you know someone can crunch for a few hours and pass the test and then get a good paying job and give the real techs who don't have the certs something to fix. It's like the SAT's and ACT's for college, further proof that you know something.
My next step will be taking my MCSE, but I have to find a better paying job to do that, and they want MCSE's more than A+ Certs (grumble)
I Totally agree especially when they try to ask you about the pin-out of a 486 processor and ask you completely retarded things about where each pin is directed to.Quote:
<font face="Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Geneva" size="2">The things that they ask you have no real relevance to todays technology or architecture. Who needs to know what pin on an LPT port gives ground or rubbish like that. for the cost of todays components it would be more cost efficient to replace a part than to sit down & attempt to fix it. I can understand these questions 15 years ago, but today, they are a waste of time.
[/B]</font>
Although stupid the A+ certificate can help you get a job.
1. Which video card will work with and ASUS Motherboard?
a.Creative 3D blaster anihilator Pro
b.Matrox G400
c.ATI Readeon
d.ASUS V7700
e. all of above
f. none of above
add e,f to all questions.
dumb Question but if people don't know then Fail them.
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https://forums.windrivers.com/ "What works for One person May not work for Another"
God Is My Judge dLagace=DANIMAL