Question about keeping my A+ certification

I got my A+ back in 2002 when it was an adaptive test and was supposed
to NEVER expire. Fast forward to now and I find out that my A+ will
expire every 3 years. The CompTIA website says that if you have multiple
certifications through them, that you only have to take the hardest
test to keep the others current. So does that mean that if I go take the
Network+ test, that my A+ will renew for another 3 years?

 

CompTIA deserves a class-action lawsuit.

Just last year CompTIA’s FAQ stated:
Question: Will I ever need to renew my certifications?
Answer: No, CompTIA certifications are lifetime certifications.

Now CompTIA, on a whim, has reneged on their agreements with hundreds
of thousands of certification holders.

 

But there was always the suggestion that you
keep them current if you really work in the
industry. And if so, doing so shouldn't be
a big deal. You're in it every day. It's
computers--it changes that fast. I originally
took a course that used 2003 study materials
but had to pass the current test. The 2003
materials didn't properly prepare me, but my
experience and practice testing pulled me
through.

My feeling is that employers should decide.

If they want you to stay current, they should
pay for the tests and at least some of the formal
preparation. And that's how it'll probably work
in most cases.

Imagine someone who certified in the days of
DOS and Mac and resource allocation memorization.
They simply aren't current anymore. They should
retest if they (or their employer) want to say
they are current.

Of course I agree that some of it is CompTIA
greed. It's their only business--how else are
they going to bring in new money?

The way I see it, my A+ is a lifetime certification.
I passed it when I passed it--that can't be taken
away--but it can be minimized. If it's old, it's
outdated and insignificant.

We always do what the employers want. If the
employers decide that we need to be current with
CompTIA, then that's what we'll do.
--

 

But, if you don't have an employer and are looking for a job, then the
whole onus is put on you. And, with unemployment for income, you may not
be able to afford more training and testing fees. I hate to say it, but
someone who took the A+ in DOS days and is working in the industry has not
stagnated and not learned anything new and still using only DOS. Give me a
break. It's just a way for someone to make more money. Let's be realistic
here.

Patty
A+ certified 2006

 

The class I am 'doing' my A+in [1]is also the class where I did my ECDL
(and advanced) I did it on Office 2003 . There are people in that class
who are doing there ECDL but with Office 2007 sometimes I feel I should
redo my ECDL using 2007, but at others I think 'no it shows you can work
with office suites it is not healthy to worry too much about
versions/platforms etc' . The A+ I am doing uses XP as the new cutting
edge O/S, what no Vista no Win 7 (linux Unix et al do get passing
mentions), but XP is the one they concentrate on (and 2000 to a limited
degree).

[1] The A+ I am doing is open learning but the tutor allows me to use
the class for practise/learning.

 

Yes, you'd better be current if you're looking
for a job. But again, it depends on the potential
employer. An old cert and a resume with a timeline
of current relevant work experience is just as good.
Probably better really when compared to a newbie
with a shiny new cert. If an employer wants a
current cert, and is a decent employer, they will
work with you. For example, you get the job but
will need to prove performance and update your
cert in some amount of time--say 6 months or a year.
Some employers have their own tests. You're screened
based on resume, cover letter, interviews, and then
you take their test. Civil service jobs and jobs
with larger companies are often like that.

That's true. Depending on where you live, training
may be free. At the very least, large libraries
always have current A+ books and disks (all the
study materials you really need). But you will
have to come up with the money for the tests.

I agree. They should be able to re-up their
cert easily. Further, as explained above,
their resume should speak to the fact that
their skills are current.

Yes, let's.

I have a good friend who earned an A+ and an
MSCE around 2000. He was already an established
welder. He worked in IT for a couple of years
then landed a great job with a military contractor.
At first it was about IT, but later, when they
learned of his welding/metal fabrication background,
it morphed into that kind of a job. His IT skills
stagnated to the point where he was having trouble
troubleshooting his own home desktop machine.
He actually called me and casually bounced the
symptoms off of me looking for direction (he has
a lot of pride so he wasn't direct). So here I
am telling an MCSE (God) how to solve a computer
problem.

Sure, some of it is CompTIA trying to make new
money off of old clients, but it's not just that.

Bill
A+ Certified 2009

 

As usual, "what does the employer want" is the question.

We always cater to the employers.

They never say it's cutting edge.

XP is what you'll mostly see--that's
what's important. You'll see a lot
of 2000 boxes too. Right now the
best Microsoft operating systems are
2000 and XP. They got those right, and
many companies that will be your clients
use them. At work it's not about leading
edge at all, it's about what works well
without any major headaches.

They say it's because of netbooks and
the atom processor, but I think there's
more to it, but XP is going to be supported
until 2014. Think about that. Imagine
an operating system that's so good it's
viable for 13 years. In IT time that's
centuries.

XP is my favorite operating system.

Daily I work with a number of operating
systems. OS9, OSX, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000,
XP, Vista, 7, Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu,
Puppy, DSL, yet I still like XP the most.

Good luck
--

 

True. Cutting edge was the wrong phrase for me to use. I do agree that
XP is THE system most places use just now, but I wonder how many places
will still use it by the time I get this qualification (eek it isn't
very long at all:final exams in June). As you say though it depends
what employers are after and if you 'get' your A+ on XP systems
adjusting this for Win 7 shouldn't be that much of a leap, and it shows
you can work with/know your way around a system.

Thanks for the good wishes

 

Although in a twisted way it's true.

I could be wrong, but other than Direct X 10
XP is still current, or leading edge, in every way.
Am I wrong? Others reading this feel free to chime in.

With the popularity of netbooks and Atom processors,
Microsoft has decided (or been pressured) to support
XP until 2014. All things considered, it'll probably
work out to be a good PR move.

Hell, where I work we're a Community Microsoft
Authorized Refurbisher. And I'm the one that jumped
through the hoops to make that happen. My real
name is on the agreement. It's me on the hook.
We're legally allowed to install 2000 Pro, XP Pro,
Office XP, Office 2003 Standard and the 5 Microsoft
Digital Literacy courses that lead to a certificate
on the boxes we refurbish and give away or sell.

I work at a place called Computers for Everyone.
http://www.computersforeveryone.biz/

In that regard the A+ is right on.

The reality of it is as a tech you may still see
DOS based and early NT based operating systems.
Most companies don't care at all that they're
IT stuff is not up to date. At some point they
paid big for what they got and they're not going
through that again until they have to. In other
words, they stick with what they have until there's
a compelling reason to change. Some geek saying
"your stuff is old" isn't enough.

I agree. Vista and 7 are just NT-based operating
systems. NT (New Technology created by Microsoft)
was a hassle until Windows 2000 came along.
It and XP really perfected it in my opinion.
Vista (from service pack 1 onward) and 7 are
riding the coat tails of 2000 and XP. Both look
great (if you have strong enough hardware), but
have no new true underlying base technology.

Think about it. The refurbishers get the best
for cheap so they can help people and organizations.
The rest is marketing. Don't believe me? Make
a 2000 box and try to update it. You'll be
surprised at how far Microsoft goes to continue
to support 2000. The latest crap stuff like
Internet Explorer and Media Player aren't offered,
but security fixes all the way to date are.
Interesting for an operating system that they
don't support anymore.

In the final analysis, 2000 is a rockin' operating
system. Clearly the best Microsoft operating
system for older equipment. I just put a system
into the field that was an AMD K6-2 running at
300MHz with 128MB or SDRAM. Normally people would
say you have to run a super efficient Linux distro
like Puppy or DSL for that system to be useful.
They're wrong. 2000 worked fine on that box.
And XP is even better and will work well on
equipment that is almost as old. The only real
difference between XP and the top-of-the-line
Linux operating systems is that you still have to
pay for XP.

Where I work we refurbish equipment and sell it
reasonably (we used to give it away but can't
survive doing that anymore). The primary operating
system is Debian Linux. It's free and comparable
to XP in every way. We also use Puppy Linux or
DSL (Damn Small Linux) on older equipment. The
office suite is Open Office which is also free.

And now that we're a Community Microsoft Authorized
Refurbisher, some of our boxes are getting XP Pro
and often some other Microsoft software. And 2000,
because it isn't traced through validation can be
put on anything along with Office 2000. Both are
still competent. Keep that in mind if you have to
work independently. The 2000/2000 combo is useful
as it's more-or-less free and will work efficiently
on old and new hardware.

You're welcome.
--

 

What a total joke.

1) The issue is not whether or not it's a good idea for certs to
expire, it about business ethics. If I pay for a lifetime cert, then I
expect to get a lifetime cert - period. If I feel that my certs need
to be renewed, then I can chose to renew.

2) Since when has that material on compia exams ever been current?
Comptia still tests on ms-dos, windows 3.1, config.sys, 80286s,
Decnet, and Appletalk.

The stuff actually done day to day has nothing to do the material on
comptia exams. Comptia exams are just arbitrary trivia.

CompTIA *still* tests on DOS and 80286s.

It will be interesting to see if being so brazenly dishonest brings in
more money. I happen to prefer dealing with companies that are a
little bit honest.

Now that CompTIA exams are no longer good for life, what advantage
does comptia have over other exams?

CompTIA exams have always been too expensive, now we are expected to
pay a $49 a year extortion . . er, "maintenance fee" I think there are
better deals out there.

Want to do helpdesk? The Microsoft Certified Desktop Support
Technician (MCDST) is better and cheaper than an A+/Net+.

Want to do security? The Sec+ has no advantages over the SSCP.
Although the CISSP is what employers really want.

Want to do networking? Cisco puts the Net+ to shame. Why spend 0ver
$200 (plus maintenance fees) for the net+ when you can get a CCENT for
$125? Much more important: with CISCO you can start with an entry
level cert, and use that entry level cert to build to higher level
cert. Once you finish the net+, you have no where to go. All comptia
is entry level.

Want to do Linux admin? The Linux+ is a joke, go with RHCE or LPIC.

 

My personal feeling is that fewer people today are working towards getting
CompTIA certs and thus, CompTIA has decided to try to get money out of the
folks who already have their certs. How do I know this? In my area, no
schools offer any training or education in CompTIA certs since the demand
for them has dropped off to next to nothing.

I too felt that I was getting my certification and it was going to last
forever. If I'd decided to become an attorney and took my bar exam, do you
think I need to do that again to stay an attorney? I think not. If I had
decided to be a CPA and took the exam to be certified for that, do you
think I'd have to do it again to stay certified? I think not.

I think this is just an excuse for CompTIA and all the folks who provide
the learning materials to continue to make money in an area that seems to
be losing ground. Where I live, certs don't mean much, but a college
degree does.

Patty

 

Re:

If I'd decided to become an attorney and took my bar exam, do you think
I need to do that again to stay an attorney? I think not.

If I had decided to be a CPA and took the exam to be certified for that,
do you think I'd have to do it again to stay certified? I think not.

********

Well, what you think is partially wrong.

Virtually all professional certifications (including Law, CPA, Real
Estate, Insurance, etc.) have some form of "continuing education"
requirement in order to be able to continue practicing. And that's what
CompTIA has done. You do NOT need to retake the exam ... NECESSARILY.
You can get "credits" for various activities (even attending trade
shows) that show ongoing involvement in the industry (and, presumably,
at least exposure to updated knowledge of the industry and field).
Taking the exam again is one way to renew your certificate but it's not
the only way. NOTE: The details of what counts and how you get the
credits have not yet been agreed on or posted. This is expected to made
available in the 3rd quarter of this year. However no older
certificates will expire until December 31, 2011.

ALL OF THAT SAID ....

I agree with the sentiment that even if having some form of "renewal" is
a good thing, it is also an ILLEGAL unilateral modification of a
contract "after the fact", by one party. And I won't be surprised if
there is a class action lawsuit against CompTIA over this matter before
all is said and done. They may want to do it, it might even be a good
thing, and clearly they can do with respect to new applicants, but with
respect to those who got the certificates when they were "good for life"
.... I don't think that they have a legal right to do it.

 

This is a good point. Past all the bitching/crying/arguing/
sniveling about certs, a computer science degree is always the
real deal/best.
--

 

Does it? I better get back to the books then, as I know naught of DOS
or 286s.

BTW the current A+ deals with Pentium 1 and later processors (does do a
bit on AMD etc but the main stream seems to be Intel processors) so 286s
& 386s are not covered. The earliest O/Ses dealt with seem to be Win
2000/NT/XP(yes Linus et al are mentioned in the passing but generally
Windows versions seem to be the main O/Ss dealt with).