A rush of relief
Jan. 11th, 2006 10:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenmanPhew...
So, for those of you who have seen me (or haven't) for the last few days, I've been crash studying for my A+ certification. This is a basic hardware/OS certification that I should have/could have done years ago, but I just never got around to. Some companies occasionally want it, some don't care and think that it's pretty much useless. It's kind of like geometry in high school. You need to understand the principles behind how it works, but really, once you've passed the high school tests, you're rarely going to remember the theorems that you memorized while you were studying. And later in life, if you need to remember the theorems, you look them up, because they're easily accessible.
The A+ is the same way. It's mostly concerned with very basic hardware and Microsoft OS information. It gets into a bunch of specifics on things like IRQ & DMA channels, I/O addressing, various transfer rates for the different types of SCSI devices, and basic safety and troubleshooting principles on the hardware side, and basic knowlege of Windows 95 through Windows XP on the OS side. But a lot of the information that is required for the certification is stuff that unless you use every day, you're not going to remember. I haven't configured a Windows 98 workstation in more than 7 years. I don't remember what IRQ and COM ports are needed for a modem, because it's all information that is handled automatically by the OS these days. Good to know if you're actually having a problem, but easy to look up, too.
But last week, my company picked up a new client. Originally we were brought in to talk about some application work, but we were quickly brought back to help with the physical move of their site that's going to be happening this weekend. And they want two guys, all weekend (starting Friday, going through Sunday, then Tuesday and Wednesday of next week at least, plus more work down the road if everything goes well). But they specifically want two guys who are A+ certified. And nobody in my office is, because it is kind of a throw-away certification. But they want it, so everybody is crash-cramming to get it done. I've been brushing up since Sunday night, trying to remember and re-memorize all the things that I needed to know. Last night, I skipped out on going to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Company's production of "Much Ado About Nothing" so that I could do some more last minute studying. And of course, I prefer his comedies to all his other stuff, so that was the one that I wanted to see most from this season's productions.
Today, I took the tests. There are actually two tests, the Core (hardware) and the OS. I passed both. I didn't nail both, but I passed both. With about 3 days of study time, with some time off for work and sleep. I am now A+ certified, and Greg tells me (mostly jokingly) that I get bragging rights for leading the pack and getting mine first. We'll see how well others do on the tests before I see if I get any other bragging rights.
I guess now that I've proved that I can do it, I'll have to take more of them. Sigh. 8)
So, for those of you who have seen me (or haven't) for the last few days, I've been crash studying for my A+ certification. This is a basic hardware/OS certification that I should have/could have done years ago, but I just never got around to. Some companies occasionally want it, some don't care and think that it's pretty much useless. It's kind of like geometry in high school. You need to understand the principles behind how it works, but really, once you've passed the high school tests, you're rarely going to remember the theorems that you memorized while you were studying. And later in life, if you need to remember the theorems, you look them up, because they're easily accessible.
The A+ is the same way. It's mostly concerned with very basic hardware and Microsoft OS information. It gets into a bunch of specifics on things like IRQ & DMA channels, I/O addressing, various transfer rates for the different types of SCSI devices, and basic safety and troubleshooting principles on the hardware side, and basic knowlege of Windows 95 through Windows XP on the OS side. But a lot of the information that is required for the certification is stuff that unless you use every day, you're not going to remember. I haven't configured a Windows 98 workstation in more than 7 years. I don't remember what IRQ and COM ports are needed for a modem, because it's all information that is handled automatically by the OS these days. Good to know if you're actually having a problem, but easy to look up, too.
But last week, my company picked up a new client. Originally we were brought in to talk about some application work, but we were quickly brought back to help with the physical move of their site that's going to be happening this weekend. And they want two guys, all weekend (starting Friday, going through Sunday, then Tuesday and Wednesday of next week at least, plus more work down the road if everything goes well). But they specifically want two guys who are A+ certified. And nobody in my office is, because it is kind of a throw-away certification. But they want it, so everybody is crash-cramming to get it done. I've been brushing up since Sunday night, trying to remember and re-memorize all the things that I needed to know. Last night, I skipped out on going to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Company's production of "Much Ado About Nothing" so that I could do some more last minute studying. And of course, I prefer his comedies to all his other stuff, so that was the one that I wanted to see most from this season's productions.
Today, I took the tests. There are actually two tests, the Core (hardware) and the OS. I passed both. I didn't nail both, but I passed both. With about 3 days of study time, with some time off for work and sleep. I am now A+ certified, and Greg tells me (mostly jokingly) that I get bragging rights for leading the pack and getting mine first. We'll see how well others do on the tests before I see if I get any other bragging rights.
I guess now that I've proved that I can do it, I'll have to take more of them. Sigh. 8)
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no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 04:55 pm (UTC)That being said, congratulations on your new found resume padder :) May it be very useful for your career.
no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-11 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-01-12 06:05 pm (UTC)(congrats on knowing stuff!)