I wasn't prepared for how much learning to build a pc, and this sub by extension, prepared me for CompTIA A+ certification.
Posted by LilaTheMoo@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 24 comments
At the moment I work in a call center doing customer support but what I really want to do, for numerous reasons, is get into IT. Looking around I've noticed a lot of jobs require CompTIA A+ certification and so I've started doing some courses online to prepare for it. I'm sure there's still a lot I need to learn, but so far a lot of the stuff I've been shown is stuff I've just learned in the process of building, and upgrading my own PC, and PCs for others over the past several years.
I know I have a lot to learn still, especially given I still have dozens of hours of stuff to go through, but starting out and seeing so much of this stuff being familiar and things I already know from years of practical experience as a lifelong geek has me feeling more confident in this being something I can grow into and start as a career.
WoodsyBrisGig82@reddit
Ive been in IT for 6 years and still don't know everything. IT is good like that. You learn something new everyday hopefully
m4tic@reddit
19 years, im the sole engineer for systems of a couple big companies (not super huge parts). imposter syndrome
MISPAGHET@reddit
Working in IT you just have to remember that at least 9 out of 10 non-IT people you interact with will think you're a wizard for just using a keyboard shortcut.
LowSkyOrbit@reddit
Someone saw me do CTRL-Z and didn't comprehend it. Computer skills are severely lacking these days. We somehow went backwards.
murgador@reddit
Mobile enshittification and "easy access" tablets and devices thrown to kids instead of navigating a mouse and keyboard. Computers you had to navigate to get what you wanted. These days a literal idiot cam smash their way through a phone.
We had typing classes in elementary that gave me exceptional typing skills. All my peers were on par.
The older and younger generations though had jack shit.
Juno_1010@reddit
Hence why I am putting my young kids on windows laptops/machines
Juno_1010@reddit
I saw a 19 year old ask what a file path was yesterday. Goddamned iPad generation. We are getting dumber.
tspangle88@reddit
We did, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It means computers have become much easier to use, opening them up to millions of people who never would have been able to.
I'm an old guy who grew up with 8-bit Ataris and Commodores, then graduated to MS-DOS. Command lines were all we had, and you needed a passing familiarity with BASIC to do a lot of things. When GUIs first came along, I didn't like them because they weren't what I was used to. But I've come to appreciate and depend on them now.
Anyhow, the fact that you don't need to be a hardcore nerd to do this stuff anymore is a net positive. And, as a bonus, if you do want to learn the nuts and bolts, it's easier than ever.
LilaTheMoo@reddit (OP)
Honestly, one of the things I'm really enjoying is that in going through these courses I'm learning things that I've had passing curiosities about but had no real motivation to learn about until now. It's kind of exciting because here's something I've been around and casually engaged with for like 30+ years, but now it's got this extra incentive of potentially providing for me and my family in a way my current and past jobs haven't while utilizing something I've been invested in for most of my life.
Like, I know there's going to be frustrations with stuff, but I either already deal with similar ones in a job that doesn't fulfill me or with the people in my life who already didn't appreciate the effort I put into helping them with similar problem, so moving into it as a profession makes so much more sense than just letting it be a hobby.
And it's exciting me in a way I didn't expect.
Difficult_Bit_1339@reddit
I've been doing it for nearly 30 years now and it is still fresh and exciting.
The thing about tech, which is both a blessing and curse, is that there is so much that changes every year. You can hyperspecialize in one field and still have to learn new technologies every year.
Not to mention the existing things changing. Microsoft loves to hit shuffle on the location, name and capability of the various admin tools and menus with every Windows release.
System Tray? Nope, now it's the 'Notification Area', Control Panel? Nah, it's Settings and no, it doesn't have the ability to do the thing you're looking for, you have to find the button or Run command to launch the OLD menu in order to get the functionality that you're after. I think there are 3 different legacy ways to manage sound devices in Windows now.
I'd highly recommend learning Linux system administration if you're enjoying tech in general. It's a breath of fresh air when it comes to things like stability. Both the system itself and the workflows that you use have been polished by decades of highly motivated programmers. Unless you're a gamer or work in graphic design (mainstream video and photo editing software can have issues) you can use it as a daily driver and it is MUCH more capable and customizable than a Windows desktop.
PrisonerV@reddit
I installed a new HDD the other day and couldn't see it. A quick Google search and I'm back in 1990, running a dos command to initialize the drive. Come on Microsoft. There's still way too much old crap in Windows.
pkinetics@reddit
Was it not showing up in Disk Manager?
PrisonerV@reddit
Don't know. It was showing in bios. I swear back in the day HDD came pre initialized.
Difficult_Bit_1339@reddit
They couldn't sell all of those MCP courses if every version of Windows followed the same design principals or menu layout, now could then? :P
Lucky-Tell4193@reddit
Go for it and don’t sell yourself short
Mrloudvet@reddit
Didn’t finish studying for my A plus but I still remembered some of the course material when I built my pc last week. I payed someone to take my sec+ tho
AllAboutYourBase@reddit
I used to be an IT Director: -COMP TIA is useful, certainly doesn't hurt. Congrats. - I used to have to manage fleets of computers for a living and I never had the granular knowledge of where performance comes from and how to tailor component selections to the desired use case until I started hanging around this sub.
rdldr1@reddit
Come with me and you'll be, in a world of pure imagination.
Antarioo@reddit
i saw the LTT video about this cert before it got nuked.
what a load of BS that thing is. forget everything it tries to teach you after getting the piece of paper cause it won't help you.
LilaTheMoo@reddit (OP)
I'm familiar with the failings of it, but companies are stupid and want to see the certification to
JG-Vulcan@reddit
Congratulations dude! CompTIA A+ carried me through the start of my career and I've never even renewed it, it's definitely worth going for. You also have call center experience which is needed for the start of a IT career as you will likely be in Level 1/2 support handling tickets and customers directly, good luck with the career man wish you all the best!
Just commented as it's awesome to hear stuff like this, so thank you for sharing.
LNMagic@reddit
I got my A+ years ago along with my IT degree.
I've definitely learned more about hardware from this sub than those two.
posterv3@reddit
Building a computer teaches you a lot about how systems of all kinds work.
PiotrekDG@reddit
Troubleshooting when something doesn't work teaches you even more.