Certification fun

[Callipygous]

in junior year in highschool i took a computer class that was supposed to prepare students for A+ certification, the idea being that we would take the test at the end of the year and have a good item to put on a resume for summer/college jobs. i did really well with it, computers being my area of interest.

 

now comes the part where everyone calls me an idiot.

 

i didnt bother to take the test.

 

now im living on my own and trying to find jobs that will pay rent, and ive reached the point where im ready to go back to school with the proper motivation and attitude and actually do something better than walmart. apparently computer places dont like to hire you if you cant give them anything more than your word that you know what your doing. i have found some places that offer to train you in computer certifications and even help you find jobs. these places also like to charge you somewhere on the order of $15000 for their services. since i already feel like i know most of the A+ cert information im thinking i just wanna brush up on it and find a testing place.

 

im curious if any of you know where i can find some good, up to date, practice test/learning programs for A+ certification, or any other certs for that matter. i dont know how easy the others are to teach yourself though.

[Aeternus]

in junior year in highschool i took a computer class that was supposed to prepare students for A+ certification, the idea being that we would take the test at the end of the year and have a good item to put on a resume for summer/college jobs. i did really well with it, computers being my area of interest.

 

now comes the part where everyone calls me an idiot.

 

i didnt bother to take the test.

 

now im living on my own and trying to find jobs that will pay rent, and ive reached the point where im ready to go back to school with the proper motivation and attitude and actually do something better than walmart. apparently computer places dont like to hire you if you cant give them anything more than your word that you know what your doing. i have found some places that offer to train you in computer certifications and even help you find jobs. these places also like to charge you somewhere on the order of $15000 for their services. since i already feel like i know most of the A+ cert information im thinking i just wanna brush up on it and find a testing place.

 

im curious if any of you know where i can find some good, up to date, practice test/learning programs for A+ certification, or any other certs for that matter. i dont know how easy the others are to teach yourself though.

 

I don't really know anywhere you can find out about certification but have you considered volunteering at some local IT firms in the area to gain some references and so on. I'd imagine real work experience and the references to back that up would go a long way and some of the firms you volunteer for might turn around and hire you if something comes up, although I understand that if you are working anyway, it can be hard to find the time.

[-Demosthenes-]

The college I go to offers certifications for Programming and Network Administration (working on programming, all the classes required are needed for my degree anyway ). So you can check at a local college I suppose. I know w3 schools offers "certification" tests you can get on the net, doesn't sound very good though. I don't know much else beyond that.

[Callipygous]

im not too worried about finding the actual test. i was thinking like a computer program designed as a practice sort of thing. my teacher from that class gave me a couple but i think they might be out of date by now. i have like 3 cds with a+ practice test programs.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

Practically every large bookstore I've been to has a computers section with multitudes of books on A+ certification. Just look through the stacks and find one that looks good.

[-Demosthenes-]

This seems promising: http://www.simulationexams.com/, first hit on google (there seem to be many).

 

Where do you take the A+ certification exam?

[Callipygous]

i dont know exactly, i know there was a place to do it in my hometown. id have to do a search to find a place here. in a city as big as indianapolis im sure there is one somewhere.