This is an interesting article on A+ Cert, which is the lowest level and honestly if you have the knowledge already you don't need to take any courses, just the test
http://content.monster.com/articles/...1/default.aspx
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Nick Henderson, for instance, was a truck driver when he decided to take the leap into the world of computers. "I could no longer do anything without being surrounded by computers," he says. "I knew I had to deal with it.
Henderson, 45, returned to school for his GED, quit his job driving 18-wheelers, and took courses with New Horizons. "I didn't know hardware from software," he says. Eventually, he earned his A+ certification, which he views as a starting point into the world of IT jobs. He later earned Network+ certification, another CompTIA-sponsored credential, and landed an $18-per-hour job as a field technician for VoiceStream Wireless in Wichita, Kansas. He is looking to continue his IT education by studying other areas, such as the Unix operating system and
Cisco technologies.
"There's no limit to what you can do in this field," Henderson says. "You set the pace.
No one would argue with that. But A+ isn't for everyone. Mike Sweeny, managing director/project staffing for
TWC, a strategic staffing consulting firm in Audubon, Pennsylvania, points out the expense of many training programs leading to certification. Should A+ be viewed as the only route to an IT career? It should not, though some people may think it is. "They're misled by all the advertising that these schools do," he says. "It's light years away from getting a computer science degree.
In other words, consider your options and your expectations. Are you looking to enter the field as a service technician, and then move up? Or do you want to jump-start your career at a more advanced level, or in another area of IT, possibly by learning Java, networking or some other arena? The choice is yours.
At least I don't have to put up with them when they really lose it.
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