Comptia A+ or MCSE?

emmab1984

emmab1984

emmab1984

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26 Sep 2010
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Hi everyone,

Long shot but does anyone know which one of these qualifications are more beneficial when looking for new jobs/climbing up the ladder in IT?

ie: what one is most recognised/respected by employers?


I've got 6 years work experience as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd line technician and did a 2 year IT course at college, so there's my background.

Want to stay in 2nd/3rd line but get on more and more money.

I know they say specialising in a field is best but I prefer the idea of having a general qualification, as that's what I enjoy doing... general IT!

By the way, my work is paying for this course.

Oh and I'm aware that the MCSE has now been changed to MCITP.


Thanks x
 
Id do the MS quals personally. The Comptia A+ will probably be a bit dull for you if you have as much experience as you say you do.
 
No contest. I passed the A+ after reading a book on and off for 3 days. I've spent a few years trying to finish off an mcse :/
 
Thanks for the replies... Not such a long shot after all! :-)

The main reason I was considering the A+ is because it includes hardware, so employers will recognise that... unlike with the MCSE/MCSA?

Also, if I go for the MCSE, do I go for the MCSE or the MCITP?

In this company we run 2003 servers and that is what I am familiar with, haven't actually dealt with 2008 at all... But obviously we've got to move with the times here!

XP/2000 and server 2003 are established operating systems.
I would have been annoyed if I did some sort of Vista course, as it has flopped and we managed to avoid implementing it at all here where I work.

Hmm...
 
Most employers won't care if you've got a certificate that says you can deal with hardware. They're more bothered about the 'big' hitters such as CCNA / MCSE / MCITP:EA.

If I was doing exams now I'd head towards the MCITP route as you will have to upgrade your 2003 exams soon anyway (in fact I'm upgrading my MCSE now).

Maybe something like the MCDST would be more appropriate? I wouldn't neccessarily worry about the 'I took an exam on Vista and nobody uses it now' approach it's more about the end result.


M.
 
m4cc45 said:
Most employers won't care if you've got a certificate that says you can deal with hardware.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

We very rarely bother fixing anything to do with workstations for clients. If a part needs replacing and it's under warranty, sure, but otherwise bin the machine and order new. If it's software and not fixed with a new profile - reimage and job done. Companies don't have time to mess about troubleshooting, they just want a PC working asap. I've used nothing I learnt in the A+

Having an A+ and N+ was the reason I got offered my job interview over someone else tho - in that respect they've paid for themselves many times over.
 
That's a fair point about the hardware. Both companys I have worked for so far in IT have been small companies growing big and expanding the IT systems, so I've always been encouraged to do hardware upgrades and repairs to save money.

I think I'm going to go for the A+ anyway as it only costs about £100 and as I haven't read text books/sat in exams for 8 years I think I'm gonna struggle so I'm going to go for the easy option first haha. Then I might get the N+ depending on how well the A+ goes. And THEN go for the MCITP or MCDST (good suggestion, didn't think of this one). All company paid for!

I'm finding it all a bit daunting at the moment to be honest. I never got on well at school or college, especially with homework, my brain just shuts off when reading from large text books. Where there's a will there's a way though, I suppose.

Any more advice about what qualifications to go for would be appreciated. x
 
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