kylen Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 My latest scheme is to purchase some online study/test materials (budget around $100, currently researching good ones), study for a about 5 days, take the A+ exam, get an A+ certificate. At the same time in parallel I'm going to drop an application over at Best Buy Geek squad (cumputer services) and see if I can get in. Any comments (good & bad) on online study materials or Geek squad - either of those things? Thanx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Keep in mind there are two test for the A+ certs, one for Hardware and one for Software. Both test are around $140 if I'm not mistaken and if you fail then you eat the cost. I'm in the process of getting my MCSA and will be doing A+ after I get my XP Pro cert. There's more info on the A+ Cert over at CompTia\'s website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 7, 2004 Author Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks Dilligan - 2 seperate tests is how it looks alright... ED: The Core Hardware Exam (220-301) and The Operating System Technologies Exam (220-302). Good luck on your administrator cert ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Wing Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I read where geek squaders will be selling in the store when not out "geeking". Best Buy puts a lot of pressure on salespeople to sell service (extended warranties) with product. There are two theories about arguing with a woman. Neither one works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Well it looks like I'm going to use the elearning materials from ITdatacorp, they're pretty good according to the demo I tried and very reasonably priced for this kind of thing: http://www.itdatacorp.com/elearning/?module=coursecatalog Pros & Cons anyone ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Can't say anything about the geed squad but I'll never step inside a Best Buys again. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Originally posted by Dak the halls: Can't say anything about the geed squad but I'll never step inside a Best Buys again.Ut Oh...satis-fried customer - hope they didn't get ya too bad Dak ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Trust me, brother. As an ex-BB employee, I can tell you from experience that these guys are not interested in people who are honest or knowledgable, only in people that they can pump full of misinformation which they will then unleash on an ignorant buying public to push sales of unnecessary and overpriced accessories and extended warranties. I was the top salesman in audio during my tenure at BB, but management came down on me heavy because I was 100% truthful with all my customers about the quality of the equipment and the necessity/lack of necessity for the given "accessories" and service contracts. I sold the living hell out of high-end system packages, my record being something in the neighborhood of $40,000 worth of equipment to one buyer who wanted an all-out crazy system that included a custom HTPC, 50" plasma screen, 6-channel tower surround system, dual subs, DVD burner, etc, etc. My manager got on me when the sale was finally done because I didn't get service contracts on the speakers. I told him "I just made your store's revenue and profit margin goals for the next two days in one sale - I fail to see how your complaint has any validity" About a month later I quit. A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Get your A+ Assuming you already know what you are doing, don't sweat the A+ and start running your own computer service. I would rather dig ditches than work for those f-er's. You can make much more money, learn much more and grow much more doing your own thing. If you DO NOT know what you are doing, get a computer job somewhere and learn on there nickel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Originally posted by kylen: Originally posted by Dak the halls: Can't say anything about the geed squad but I'll never step inside a Best Buys again.Ut Oh...satis-fried customer - hope they didn't get ya too bad Dak !Not too bad Kyle. It was all over a return they wouldn't allow on a wireless pci card I'd purchased. Apparently it came boxed wrong or something because the barcodes didn't match. After spending over an hour putting up with a bunch of idiots they finally got the manager to come around. He was even worse. I bought one freaking D-Link card and it didn't work so I packed the pos back in the box and took it back, including all the shrink wrap. I was told that because the bar codes didn't match I must have been trying to screw them. Bastards! Over the last year or so I'd purchased a refrigerator, television, dvd/vcr players, other crap and tons of cds from them. I'd guess well over three grand. No mas! That over a freaking $40.00 pci card. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Go to a brain dump site and memorize the answers. Originally posted by deanmass: If you DO NOT know what you are doing, get a computer job somewhere and learn on there nickel.Okay, HOW do you get the job if you don't know what you are doing? We're talking computers here, not elections. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Sound Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 www.vtc.com Try these guys for video training stuff. It's only $35 a month for access to all their training materials and they do have a+ stuff. Good Luck... Valky Valkyrie Sound: http://www.vsoundinc.com Now at TSUTAYA USA: http://www.tsutayausa.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Ah - now we're gettin somewhere...the power of the People ! Dak - Griff - Gator Wing - OK good comments on Best Buy I don't have that part of the plan in cement yet...It looked like the Geek Squad fell under a different umbrella as a kind of service partner but maybe not. It's gettin very close to the time where I will not be able to make too big of a distintion between doing something good and just doin...bills you know. I'll see what I can do though - I still gotta shave in the morning deanmass - Yes I've been around computers for a while on the enterprise side but I was tryin to get some quick certs on the resume and get into this home electronics/computing convergence that is gonna feed itself till way past my retirement (I think!). I've done some consulting so I'm going to think about what you said some more - confidence is maybe it. Gotta build that thing up a bit too. super8 - the site I mentioned up there is a good training elearning site. For $127 I'm taking pretests & classes starting with A+ and will try to get Network+, CCNA+, brush up on some OO (if this other thing comes thru), just brush up. Then like deanmas mentions I can continue to build skills on someone elses dime...but you'd be surprised how many folks are out there that don't know what they're doing though. Lot's of 'em do though - I want to make sure I do too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Originally posted by Valkyrie Sound: www.vtc.com Try these guys for video training stuff. It's only $35 a month for access to all their training materials and they do have a+ stuff. Good Luck... ValkyOK thanks Valky - I'm over there looking as we speak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Kyle, other than the geek squad thing it sounds like it should work, and very well. The thought on my end is that if you have the certs and other PC ability you'd be much better off freelancing. Geek squad may be a foot in the door to extablish a customer base but I'll bet a dollar to a donut hoe there's going to be a non compete clause in there somewhere. Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wewus432 Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 HERE\'S some practice exams. If those exams are any indication I think I could pass the real exams with a little study. I averaged seventy percent on the first three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Yes - good thoughts there Dak. Wewus - thanks for the links. Looks like you've got some geek happenin too ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 "Okay, HOW do you get the job if you don't know what you are doing? We're talking computers here, not elections.?" Do YOU have a job? You bullshit your way in. Talk the talk and think fast. Have you ever spoken to a 'tech' at Best Buy? You might as well be talking to a cabbage in most cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dak Lander Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Originally posted by deanmass: Have you ever spoken to a 'tech' at Best Buy? You might as well be talking to a cabbage in most cases.No, that's turnip... Our Joint "When you come slam bang up against trouble, it never looks half as bad if you face up to it." The Duke... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT156 Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 A lot of things they sell don't have high profit margins. Extended warranties and accessories is where they can still make money. Radio Shack employees have to do the same thing. It was a bit much when they tried to sell me an extended warranty on a $69.00 cell phone. Generally, electronic gear is very reliable. I don't buy extended warranties. Best buy employee knowledge is representative of the area where you are located. Where I live, Penn State Univerity is right around the corner and they employ a number of under grads that are knowledgable, and need to work a part time job to help pay the bills. Travel 30 or 40 miles in any direction and that's not the case. Hey Griffinator, even though you're a Patriots fan, I can say that your manager was following the company line, but he was a bone head anyway. Mike T. Yamaha Motif ES8, Alesis Ion, Prophet 5 Rev 3.2, 1979 Rhodes Mark 1 Suitcase 73 Piano, Arp Odyssey Md III, Roland R-70 Drum Machine, Digitech Vocalist Live Pro. Roland Boss Chorus Ensemble CE-1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Originally posted by Dak the halls: Kyle, other than the geek squad thing it sounds like it should work, and very well. The thought on my end is that if you have the certs and other PC ability you'd be much better off freelancing. Geek squad may be a foot in the door to extablish a customer base but I'll bet a dollar to a donut hoe there's going to be a non compete clause in there somewhere.There is. I was nearly fired because I helped a friend install his HT system. Why? Because I knew that the buffoon sattelite TV people would completely botch his installation. The idiots we contracted to do HT installations barely understood how to hook up a TV using anything other than coaxial cable, never mind being able to integrate a surround receiver with a 4-track reel-to-reel, a cassette player, a DAT deck, a CD player, a TT, and several other pieces of equipment. A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Besides the Best Buy snag I thought maybe NYC Drew might have some ideas about the certificates like A+, Network+, CCNA+ and the general PC tuneup/repair business. You do a lot of hardware don't you Drew, any comments ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffinator Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I do a lot of freelancing around town as a hardware jockey. None of my clients seem to mind much that I have no certs - I do what they need me to do for their computers. A bunch of loud, obnoxious music I USED to make with friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeton Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 If i may make a small comment- Not tooting my horn, but if i had a nickel for every time i've heard something like "without an A+ or MCSE certification, the only use we have for you is cleaning bathrooms and vaccuming floors part time", i could probably open my own shop. I don't have any certs, but i've been turned down in a lot of interviews, even where it was clear that i knew the job better than the store/shop manager did. It's the breaks. Dr. Seuss: The Original White Rapper . WWND? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Kylen, certs are door openers in most cases. nothing more. In many ways, they are like a generic degree. It proves you are willing to learn. I have an A.S., a Novell Admin Cert, and expired Windows Cert. The Novell cert got me an interview here where I work. The rest was up to my knowledge and work. I have 750+ nodes, nearly 20 servers, 7 buildings and 2 techs (yes, we need more people badly). Certs are ALWAYS good to have, but as both an employee and employer, I don't put too much faith in them. A cert does not mean a person has troubelshooting/solving skills, but it is a way of thinning the heard. I personally only start looking at getting more certs when I am thinking about a job change just to have a 'door opened' that may otherwise be shut. I have also been turned down by head hunters and interviewers because I did not have a certification they were looking for, when the ad they placed did not even call for the cert OR (more frequently) the ad called for a cert that was totally unrelated to the goals they wanted to achieve, but was dictated by an HR person who did not know the meaning of the terminology being tossed around. All in all, if I had to suggest certs, A+ is an excellent starting point, followed by the Net +, Linux + and Security + stuff. I lean heavily towards non-products specific certs with the exception of Cisco, and that is because I am heavily biased against Microsoft AND won't really want to get/hire/train on more MS stuff unless I absolutely have to. O'Reilly, makers of the best uber-geeks books IMHO, offer some online stuf that looks very good, but it is heavily leaning towards *Nix platforms ... O\'Reilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylen Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Yes - that's what I'm talkin about guys. I just want to beef up the resume to open a few doors since it's a bit of a change from what I had been doing on the software side. In the market I'm in there has to be keyword match or some obvious specifically related skill to keep your resume out of the wastebasket and the potential for a phone screen and interview. A certain number of times I'll be able to slide in without it but not 100% of the time. And yes - as with anything having a certificate or degree doesn't guarantee a candidate knows anything about anything, but it does open closed doors in certain cases. Anyway all these cool classes are fun puzzles to work and very interesting - some I can get college credits for! More importantly I 'm getting tuned up and staying sharp in between contracts! Good Points Everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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