Apple Certified Support Professional

MagicBoy

MagicBoy

MagicBoy

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
19,372
Location
South Manchester
Just back from the test centre after the three day 10.5 course, and I passed. :D

Work decided we're going to support the handful of Macs kicking around the organisation, so as the resident Mac owner I got sent.

Tempted to ask for the server course and go for the next level up...
 
was it hard? what sort of things are asked of you in the exam?

I would like to try this exam

& well Done btw!
 
I've been using Macs at home for nearly four years so I know my way around the OS. Problem is in my experience the OS doesn't break much, I've had an OS related problem once (due to a quirky software update IIRC) and with a bit of help from the Apple discussion boards they pointed me at a knowledge base article that fixed it with some unix commands.

I've learned a lot this week about how OS X fits with the unix underpinnings, and it makes sense of what I did before. Compared to the MS courses I've been on this was a lot more enjoyable.

Exam was multiple choice. I found some of it easy, some of it required more thought after careful reading of the questions. There's some sample questions here.
 
Congrats, thinking of doing this exam myself after (or if) my contract ends.

Already ready got a book to start reading and all is good so far.

Would you recommend the courses?

:)
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Congrats, thinking of doing this exam myself after (or if) my contract ends.

Already ready got a book to start reading and all is good so far.

Would you recommend the courses?

:)
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I enjoyed the course, than again work paid for it. If it were £hundreds of my own cash it might be different. Compared to the MS courses I've done previously it was much more relevant and intuitive. Windows can have umpteen ways of doing the same thing whereas to me it appears that Apple sit down and think about it for a bit over some Mountain Dew/herbal tea (or whatever is your poison) and do a GUI way and a command line way (for ultimate tweakage).

With day to day knowledge of the OS and where and how to configure the settings you could probably pass the exam using just the book and working through the labs. Those with mainly windows experience seem to struggle a little more. I found it interesting that the MS courses I've been on all used pre-configured images setup for AD etc, whereas the Apple course dropped us in at the (post file copy) installation setup assistant and went through all the configuration from there which makes it easier to learn from the books outside the training environment.

Our instructor had some real world experience which was helpful for a real world corporate environment. Apple would rather you used OS X Server exclusively, but in reality most larger companies implement OS X in addition to an existing AD environment so we got some valuable tips and suggestions for implementation from him.
 
MagicBoy said:
With day to day knowledge of the OS and where and how to configure the settings you could probably pass the exam using just the book and working through the labs. Those with mainly windows experience seem to struggle a little more. I found it interesting that the MS courses I've been on all used pre-configured images setup for AD etc, whereas the Apple course dropped us in at the (post file copy) installation setup assistant and went through all the configuration from there which makes it easier to learn from the books outside the training environment.
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That was the main gripe I had with my previous MS/IT courses. All preconfigured images and even on presentations (which were created eg, at the time of the release - at least for the XP courses which I did) and in some cases didn't make any sense. For example it was an XP course about shooting and it showed a screenshot of the task manager open, and on the Cpu usage tab it showed Dual core CPU being utilized. :rolleyes:

Anywho, any companies for training that you recommend? Don't really know where to start for Mac stuff. :o
 
I'd also be interested to know where you took this course? Our company is looking to expand our knowledge to Mac osx and I have put my name forward as being interested in being part of that

Congrats on passing! ;)
 
wh00p nice one pal, good feeling isnt it!

Done the test myself too and got 100% :p and only with experience, a book and the internet but if the company paid for the course it could only have helped I suppose!

Thinking of going for it again in 10.6, but not to stop there and get the Server one. I *thought* about it too long and alas 10.6 came out.

icon14.gif
 
Some of the lads on the site I used to work did it, but there's was pretty much a self study course, with half a day in the classroom and the other half in the exam room.

Well done, and thanks for telling me about the course, I might do it myself of my own back.
 
Slight thread resurrection, but I am just on my way back from Manchester, having passed my ACSP in 10.6!! I am officially a Apple Certified Support Professional. :D I had convinced myself that I was going to fail, but ended up getting 87.31%. Could have done better but not too bad considering my day to day work doesn't involve a huge amount of actual 'IT' support. I am more a photography/photoshop/printing/digital arts technician.

This was the first of many. I now have a 1 week break before doing my Final Cut Pro 101, Support for Final Cut Pro (FCP400), Color 101 & Compressor 101.

Then later in the year I am hoping to do another Final Cut Studio module to make me a Apple Certified Master - Final Cut, and eventually do the OSX Server exam to take me up to Apple Certified Technical Coordinator. Oh, and once all that lot is done I'll start on the Adobe certifications :)
 
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Maccy said:
^^ There's a word for people like you. Geek :p
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:D

Or just qualified to the hilt. While work will pay for them I am going to keep adding bits of paper to my CV. Can't do any harm. Also this course was really useful and confirmed a lot of what I already knew and showed me plenty of new stuff. It also confirmed how poorly our current Macs are being managed and set up by the IT department. Good that the new facility is going off the main network into my control. :)
 
EVH said:
Why would one want these qualifications?

Genuine question.
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Same reason as to why anyone would want any qualifications. To increase career prospects. At the moment I am a Digital Arts & Media Technician, which basically bridges the IT and Arts industries. This is an area that I would like to keep working in, so gaining as much knowledge and qualifications as possible is going to increase my chances of getting the jobs I want.

At the moment work is just about to bring online a brand new HD video editing/Adobe CS/Printing facility (~36 Mac Pros) which IT want off their network (mainly due to a lack of understanding of Macs) which means I am going to be in charge of them, both from an Admin point of view and day to day running. So learning how to do things properly (Well, the Apple way anyway) certainly can't do any harm.

Your questions is like asking why would anyone want to do Microsoft or Cisco qualifications? Well if that is what you are working with on a daily basis then the qualifications may be useful.
 
Congrats dude, I did the 10.5 exam! I have been meaning to book for the 10.6 for god knows how long.

It all adds to your portfolio / cv.

:)
 
I had no idea Apple were still attempting to build servers, much less dishing out qualifications for them. If someone else is paying for them though and you gain something by having the full set then by all means go for it though.
 
ACP - Final Cut Pro. Check! Just on my way back from Manchester again after having done the Final Cut Pro 101 course and exam. Scored 94.55% so I'm pretty pleased with that.

Already knew a lot of the course content, but as I am self taught it is nice to learn that I have been doing it the right way. Also learnt some cool new tricks such as multitracking and offline editing.

Down to London on Monday to do the technical support for Final Cut Pro (FCP400) course, then back to Manchester for the compressor and color 101 courses. All good fun. :)
 
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