Basically. They want to be a mystery wrapped in enigma. This causes many people to over think or over shoot the test. It's not a lawyer's bar exam and plenty of room for error on the test for breathing space. Just study and rehearse lol.
Regardless of what the content was it's kind of shitty of Comptia to put small businesses like Chuck's and LTT in a position where they are losing money. Can understand they want to protect their own brand but I'm pretty sure they could survive Linus' video.
@@richardharvey586 I feel like if they really wanted to protect their brand this is the lazy way to do it. the BEST way for them to do this is to improve the test so the questions are straightforward rather than "trappy" from time to time just to make you get a lower score. some questions are good and they want to make sure you are a good technician. other questions are just trappy and they only want to make you get the question wrong even if you know what is being discussed in the question. Make the test better and stop harassing individuals to hide the fact that your test is not good. Or give us official options for learning the material. the third party stuff is like over 1000 pages of learning.
Closed book testing is dumb, In college, one of my engineering professors told us "We don't expect you to remember everything, we expect you to remember how to look it up when you need it".
I had a prod who let us replace exam questions with different ones as long as the topic was the same and was the same difficulty. He said we'd never see his problems again in life … more important was that we'd understand the concept. I still barely passed! 😂
How quaint. She is exalting Einstein’s learning behavior into her students' lives which are known to be nowhere near his aptitude and need to remember things.
This is the truth beyond truth. Even my old IT mentor was like, he had so much knowledge through a life time of experience then in his office he always had a ton of books and material with little stickies in them. What were they? Reference material.
Former IT director here. Most certifications are a scam. Some of the Cisco ones where you have to actually go in a configure a network from a pile a gear are the ones that are worth a damn.
Agree. RedHat RHCE and Oracle OCM require in-person demonstration of skills. Every other cert you can download the exact questions and answers ("dumps") online.
Did you handle the entire hiring process? If so I can see this argument. However some HR departments will weed out applicants before even handing it to IT management. And of course the job descriptions say certification X required which they screen by.
I dare you and your team of experienced engineers to take the azure 104 and see how many passed and how easy it was without at least 80 to 120 hours of study and lab time?
My entire experience studing for CISSP and ISC2 certs... test questions on subject matters you might google once in your career and then never again (grade of fire extinguisher in your data center, height of security fences) - I'll stick to vendor certs for tech like AWS or Cisco
Honestly, the A+ is a joke unless you're after your first IT job with no education/degree to get your foot in the door. If you're paying to renew it, you're wasting money that could be spent on certifications that actually mean something.
I took the A+ course in my freshman year in high school who was part of a co-op. I took that course in 2001. I'd sy that 60-75% of the info was on tech that was at least 10 years outdated and some 20+ years. Like why would they teach on 8-bit PC or AT busses and interrupts or manually having to choose your Hard Drive "type" in the BIOS, or want us memorizing things like the number of tracks on or capacities of 5 1/4 inch floppy drives. Simply put, it was vastly a retro tech course and almost no employers are holding out and keeping 10-20+ year old tech, and those who do, are not likely to entrust someone on their precious systems just because they got a certification saying they quickly read a bunch and managed to retain the info just long enough to pass a test.
My favorite from the network+ test was about monodirectional antenna in WAN applications... you'd be hard pressed to find any hardware today for retail market that wasn't omnidirectional.
Linus did not say that CompTIA A+ is outdated. He said that CompTIA A+ does not have info on products appeared more than 3 years ago, while CompTIA certificate expires in 3 years, because CompTIA claims that the certificate materials are being constantly renewed.
I left a teaching job to pursue IT back in 2019. I wound up getting my A+ right before COVID, and that led me into a job where I was able to start studying and practicing networking. That job eventually led me to getting my CCNA, and now I'm in a network admin position that's way more fulfilling than my past teaching job ever was. I still get to learn something new all the time, I get to improve our network design, etc etc the benefits go on and on. It all started with that A+ and I wouldn't change it for anything.
That's cool! I'm a teacher and slowly dying in the school system. I got my A+ a few months ago and your story is inspiring to study harder for Network+!
You found a way to make saying 1-3 sentences last over 1 hour. I have seen the Linus video after watching this video (It's been reuploaded on YT by others) and I'm not sure why you would go on about him explaining the measures like the taking photos/video etc to ensure people don't cheat. It's a tech test, anyone that can pass it knows ways to get around every measure. The questions they remade/showed where the answer were crap, were crap questions with crap answers. I've taken this and other tests... test like them are all kind of crap. But like you said they are basic entry level tests.
exactly, they had no issue with his video, the issue they had was that it gave more coverage to Linus and his negative take on it. Lost a lot of respect for Chuck for bowing down to his overlords.
Your comments on the A+ are spot on, and especially about it being on the resume getting you past the first step. I have been in IT since supporting DOS on IBM XT's. When I took A+, it was including appletalk, IPX, and setting IRQ and DMA jumpers on ISA cards, and I thought it was too outdated, but I still needed it. Customers hiring contractors, and HR departments hiring employees have a list of requirements, and if you dont have them, you dont get to be reviewed by the technical staff. A good example is that if a job posting requires "at least a CCNA", and you just put down that you have a CCIE, you are NOT going to get reviewed by anyone technical, because the HR person has NO IDEA that the CCIE is much higher than the CCNA. Your resume literally gets thrown away at the first level of review. There are tons of examples of this. You are 100% spot on. I love Linus' videos, but he strikes me as a rich kid who gets all the latest hardware and tries to push the envelope and make extreme builds of whatever. It's extremely entertaining, but it's not particularly practical for any general IT purpose, except for saying "I did it because I wanted to see if I could". I mean no disrespect saying that, and I have learned a lot and gotten lots of ideas from him, but I think your opinion is more applicable to the normal IT person in the real world.
Great video and talked about some great subjects my man! Really enjoyed the the stuff about your family and "why" you're doing all this. I have a large family myself (6 kids with a stay at home Wife) and got into IT I think for similar reasons (although I didn't realize it at the time). This live made me appreciate you more than I already did. God bless. God is good.
Ya, but in Chuck's case he said the video wasn't up for very long before anyone could download it. I would love to see that video but I won't out of respect for Chuck.
@@Darkk6969 How is not watching the video respectful towards him though? He made the video because he wanted people to see it. The only ones who didn't want it out there are the CompTia SLAPP-mafia, so your "respect" is only aimed towards them.
Home Assistant is such a rabbit hole that I enjoy. My motivation is just like the waves you described in waves. I have good ideas and often forget or get too busy to remember/have the energy to do it. But it's made my life so much better. Coming home and the lights coming on after unlocking the door, slowly turning on lights and playing music to wake me up instead of the DREADFUL phone alarm. I can't go back. I also managed to watch the video before it got taken down it was a good video for sure.
Throwing it way back to the early 2000s-my first IT certification journey was with CompTIA A+. Believe it or not, I trained using a Dilbert CD-ROM! Those were the days before RUclips tutorials and online courses were mainstream, so we learned with whatever we could get our hands on. The CompTIA A+ was my first step into the IT world, and it's amazing to see how the certification has evolved since then. From booting into BIOS to troubleshooting hardware with CD-ROMs, it's been quite a journey. If you're just starting out, know that each generation of tech pros has their own unique experience, and we all have to start somewhere!
I've been in the IT field for a long time now. You showed a video of the path that you would suggest for people going in to the IT field. I suggest that they view it, because I agree with it 100%. And the A+ is the best start on that path. I would also suggest taking the Coursera IT support course for the A+ and Network + courses. For the Security + take the Google Coursera Cyber-Security course. Combined, the certifications and the certificates give you a good foundation for IT. I would also suggest ITIL v.4 along with the suggested certification path.
Crazy good timing regarding Home Assistant and automation. I’ve been starting to research smart home devices and automations. Would love a series covering everything.
Home Assistant all the way. For me, I don't say if HA can integrate something, it's how. Homekit, ESPhome, IR blaster integration, cameras, MQTT (garage door opener and rtl433 picking up remote weather station data) and more. Endless hobby fun.
I had to learn about Token Ring for my A+. I've never seen one outside the lab. That said the classes were the most fun of my life. 20 other people that loved tech. It was a blast.
I took the A+ and Net+ nearly 20yrs ago when I first got into IT.. It was to gold standard for those of us who were getting into IT for the first time. I learned so much about hardware and how computers actually worked studying for that exam. With that said, it still has a place if you are going down support -> operations -> engineering (ie infra) route. But if you are going down networking, security, or development.. Then it will be of limited value.
Hey CHuck Frank here from the Netherlands. You are absolutely right what you say, you must first know the basics before you continue. A carpenter who is going to learn the trade will also first hammer a nail into a plank and when he has mastered that he may use the new technique like a hammer gun. But the company where he is going to work will first ask "can you handle a hammer".
Couldn't agree more about the A+ Cert. I first got into IT by stumbling upon one of your videos about the CCNA. CCNA was a bit too advanced so I took a step down and went for my A+. I not only wanted to have a certification to get a new job, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I've had two IT jobs in three years and segments of the A+ were relevant to my first job and other segments are relevant to my current job. If you are starting in IT, GET IT. You may be able to jump to Net+ or CCNA, but there may be many useful things that you may miss by skipping it.
What! You're working on an A+ course, that's awesome. I know your a Cisco guy, but from what I have seen is that A+ is part of that solid foundation on which a successful career can be built on. A+ plus is a big thing for almost any DOD IT job. It just is.
Another couple of comments I'll make is to reinforce Chuck's recommendation NOT to cheat. I worked with someone who just passed his CCNP, and so we sent him out on his first Cisco router install by himself, and an hour or two later, I literally got a phone call asking "How do you set the default gateway on this again?".. Dont be that guy. That same person also said to me once "Now that I am Cisco certified, I'll never have to study for another Microsoft exam again." A CCIE on our team heard that and said "If you are building the track, you better damn well understand the needs of the train that will be riding on it". That stuck with me. It is never bad to have knowledge and certs for technologies that you will be exposed to, even if they're not your intended primary job function. You also may accidentally expose yourself to a technology that you like better, and it could provide a path to a new job.
Home Assistant is definitely a rabbit hole. It is also a lot of fun. I especially like the HACS add-on Adaptive Lighting. Having the color temperature change throughout the day according to the position of the sun is quite nice.
Another topic for future videos. Take a deep dive into the nix package manager and Linux distribution NixOS. You basically define your configuration using the DSL - Domain Specific Language Nix which is a simply syntax. Given Nix is installed (Windows WSL2, macOS, & Linux) the configuration file(s) will ensure your system builds exactly the same every time. Sharing a config with someone else will always work. You can use Nix to build a Linux OS, bootable images, containers, Docker / Kubernetes, etc., etc., etc. One language to describe it all vs individual configuration files. Home Manager is Nix for userland, all your dotfile configurations can be managed with Home Manager. Manage multiple configs for all your machines, containers, etc.
I work as a field tech, sadly the tech range is a thing. I have places where their computers have non Qeerty keyboards that use PS2 connections while the computer is USB for periferal communication. Each unit uses multiple adapters because the tech ranges is over 20 years. I won't mention the details about last week's decomission of a phone system that was around since at least 2006 ( the phones had branding for a company bought out in 2006. Gotta love when you can be working on equipment that is older than you in the IT world.
4:22 lit! I been waiting for this type of content from you. I discovered your channel because of home assistant. I was a new user and wanted to understand my home network. Got a title for you already “Top 10 security tips for home assistant”.
The CompTIA A+ certification remains a cornerstone in the IT industry, even though some may argue that it teaches content based on technologies from years ago. At its core, the A+ cert provides an essential foundation for understanding how computers and devices function... a knowledge base that continues to be relevant despite the rapid evolution of technology
I'm not diagnosed with ADHD, but have symptoms. I made food, cleaned up after making it, ate the food, cleaned up, started the dishwasher, all with the video in the background. video isn't done yet, so now I can do other stuff while I still listen to it 😂
It screams of insecurity to me when I see a company as big as CompTIA resorting to a whole-sale takedown of multiple RUclipsrs videos instead of coordinating a response, or preparing another video to be swapped in place of the old one. I'm not saying all of Linus' criticisms were reasonable, but if CompTIA truly believe their certification provides value to this day, meeting criticism with answers does far more than a cease & desist (ever heard of the Streisand effect? This has certainly soured my opinion of CompTIA and this will likely remain in my memory if anyone else asks me about them).
I think that’s a fair point about Comptia. But also- who the fuck is Linus, except for an entertainer? He doesn’t really work in tech. He doesn’t educate. His channel just pumps out drivel and he and his people pick fights with real journalists like Gamer’s Nexus. Also, Linus Media is allegedly a shitty, toxic place to work. So he can’t even keep his own house in order.
Speaking on older tech, my business myself still uses Sandy Bridge based systems for almost everything, even my own personal unRaid server. But my personal machine, it still is behind with a Rysen 7 5700X 96GB of DDR 4 @ 3000Mhz and a 8GB RX 7600. But it works for me, and plays what games I want to play, and that's all that matters to me.
Can't say I agree with most of his takes.. 8 Years ago when I graduated college and got my degree, I started studying for A+ and after seeing how much useless information was in there I didn't bother with it. I am very glad I didn't go through with it, as I got a job without it and learned shortly after that the company doesn't care about A+ either. Almost any other IT related cert would have mattered much more than A+ would have. I have now been part of the hiring process for level ones, and the ones who took A+ dont know nearly enough for the position. I also don't know what its like in other places around the world, but where I am the college courses are very much up to date. To the point where the latest major versions of vmware and microsoft products are supplied and taught in the courses.
So I’d like to have a really good breakdown on running HomeAssistant in docker. Just a good solid review of the the correct containers and an integrated stack
When I started there was no certification and every employer informed me that adding certifications would have no effect on my salary. At the same time, one of the best ways to get into the industry is to consult and consultation firms like the certifications. You get a job working for an MSP or a large corporation as a temporary contractor. You build experience and eventually you'll get better and better jobs. Comp-TIA A+ has likely changed considerably but from my perspective it was all the computing basics a service technician would need to know. Since I was doing it since 1980, it wasn't going to teach me anything I didn't already know. If you are starting from square one making a major career change; it is worth studying for and taking the A+ exam.
I ditched Home Assistant and Alex when I got my house and switched to Home Assistant when I discovered that I could buy a Pi Pico with python script that would emulate the relay to control my HVAC instead of pay $1000 for a proprietary thermostat .... I've been using it ever since. Haven't played with the voice assistant but I heard great things about it. That being said, I'm more about automating everything and centralize all my service while remaining local. Nabu Casa is not mandatory but for the price, it's a no brainer for me to safely accessing your instance remotely while supporting the devs behind this. When I'm buying new hardware, my first requirement is that it needs to be compatible with Home Assistant (regardless of the way to integrate it). You won't regret the move !
I use LoRaWAN at home for control of devices. Most of the new nodes are energy harvesting. Relay / thermostat actuation in Class C is instant. Run the LNS locally.
Handled like a pro. I am anti a lot of things but a company has interests to protect. I have zero certs and I handle everything from government, industrial, casinos, public safety and private homeowner network and tech. Take a test if you think you need it or not. Your work will define you.
I have a masters and I completely agree with chuck. All theory . I am now going to get certificates. The thing with universities is that instead of incorporating certificates or practical skills within the frame work of the curriculum by attaining licences for software programs they instead focus on theory. In this job market, employers barely want to train , and entry-level jobs are hard to come by. This is a diservice to students in regards to the allocation of practical resources for jobs. As these universities make a lot of money. Some skills are relevant, but most are not. Also, updating curriculum to be up to date is a lot of work and a continuous effort.
Most employers do not hire the inexperienced (there are exceptions but few and far between). One of the best ways to get started in IT work would be to obtain some certifications and find a consulting firm. Many will throw you to the wolves which is good because it puts your feet to the fire. Yes you will experience 'imposter syndrome' but within a short period (if you work very hard) you'll get more comfortable. In today's world unless you got very lucky with your first employer; most will change jobs every 3-4 years. Obviously, if you land a job with a sweetheart employer it would be silly to jump ship. Working as a consultant you can make a lot of human network connections. Join some groups where you meet up with others. This can land you a job when you get a heads up from a friend / acquaintance.
Comptias 3 Year cycle for certs is ridiculous because we see tech changing quickly from a grand perspective, but it generally is 1 small section of the tech industry that has moved forward in that time frame while other things are deprecated and could have been removed from future tests. I think they should either go back to 5 years or go to 10 years.
I work as a level one support technician, but one skill that always eluded me was typing. The only way to finally get there (and i'm still going) was to set aside time (show up) and try to practice my best no matter how I was feeling. It isn't easy, but deliberately setting aside time and doing the thing will make the thing a habit. Love the book Atomic Habits too. Helped me so much
A+ is totally worth it's weight. I took it in 2010 just before it would need to be updated every few years, it gave me the knowledge of how to look up the details behind it.
I haven't taken the A+ because back in the day when I would have needed it, it was so out of date it was not worth it and most agreed, And now I have more experience than it still covers even after updates. So unless it is 100% no question required, and 100% covered by the employer, I'm not wasting my time with it. Also if an employer requires it and wont take work experience, then I will re-think working for that employer anyway since they probably are more focused on how well you take and pass a test vs how well you can adapt and overcome leaning on your past experiences...
CompTia is what I would consider entry level for getting into IT and Security. It is knowledgable, yes. Is it a hard test to take, nope. Most of it you can memorize. Its not like taking the CISSP.
As someone who has been on both sides of the hiring desk, I have never hired anyone based on their certs. I look for experience. I understand that a cert looks good to HR, but to a knowledgeable IT Hiring manager, it does not take the place of experience. Now, on the subject of exams. Many many years ago, everyone was getting their CNA. I sat in a class with a Used Car Salesman with no IT experience who was just getting his CNA to break into IT. This soured me on Certs. I was years deep into IT and sitting in on these classes with someone who had zero experience. I understand doing a career pivot, but again, experience over certs. Moreover, since IT (and the rest of the working world) is "open book", I do not understand why these people make these exams so difficult. If you get an IT job, you do not work in a silo. You will encounter problems and you should be able to RESEARCH the answer to come up with the correct solution. You should be able to ask your coworkers if they have encountered this particular issue. You learn from others experience. So, why aren't these exams open book?! Why are some of them intentionally "tricky"?
Hahaha I watched the entire video while it was still online, guess I got it in good time! I liked it, and for what its worth..I agree with most of your comments.. apart from a few! 😅
A smallish company I used to work for is still running 2002 version of AS400 in a isolated environment, because corporate tanked their relationship with the corporation that owned the software they were licensing the database for.
I have mixed feelings of the A+. After being in the industry for almost 15 years, I recently decided to take a new job that required it. I passed both tests on the first try. I did watch some videos to ensure I have terminology down and took a practice test to get a feel of the test but felt my experience gave me what I needed to pass the test. It was all mainly review. I'd say there is value if you aren't in the industry yet and want to get your feet wet and possibly obtain a cert to have a leg up on that first IT rule. Otherwise, I'd say to pass on it unless your job requires it.
I completed in this rabbit hole called Home Assistant. I have lights, sprinklers, landscape moisture sensors and all that stuff automated with HA. 100%of the smarte devices and sensors are offline. They are even seating in a vLan with no internet access. The only IoT stuff with internet access is the HA, Apple HomePod ( with I use with the HA Apple Bridge ) and the Xbox. I gave up rellaing my IoT stuff to chinese companies and cloud control. Much faster and much safer. And Yes... bring HA content. I'm still fightinh with some custom sensors and scripts. would be nice to see your implementations.
There is just one issue with cert for me... Even if you know the answer they have weird options which you won't know if you have studied there material and that part sucks.
I took the COMPTIA A+ many years ago around 2009 or so. I took it so that I could get a job doing Dell Tech Support for their XPS systems back then. A lot of the questions seemed odd or redundant. It seemed like the only way to pass was to memorize the way they wanted the question answered whether or not it makes sense or not.
Everyone who has an opinion is biased to an extent, and I don't see him acting like he's not. Yes he talks about his course (which is much better than if he'd pretended not to have skin in the game), but he also talks about some groups of people who probably won't benefit from the A+. That seems like just about the least biased way to discuss something that you actually know anything about.
@@PurplePanda1233 CCNP class was 13 classes back in the day. It was 39 hours of classroom work and 5-10 hours of punchdown panels. You actually had to do the punchdown work to get certified and show you knew what you were doing. Now you do what? Purchase cables on amazon and call an electrician? Kids these days LOL
I have high regard for both of you, but I agree with Linus… maybe not for the same reason. I believe A+ is a waste of time for most people… you could be using your time to get a certification that is more useful and definitely will pay better. A former coworker of mine knew nothing about computers, but he jumped in by getting his CCNA, and I think that was a great move for him. IMO (for what an opinion is worth), CCNA is a better use of a newbies time than an A+ cert.
Only nice to test at home if you have a nice room and set up. For everyone else test center is so much better. At least if there is any connections issues they can assist. Online they can be quite a pain.
I watched Linus's test for A+. I have also taken the A+ previously but over 20 years ago. I can say that even then the test questions were out of date. Let's be real here. the A+ for most people is outdated and many of the questions are purposely worded ambiguously so that you get them wrong. These test companies such as EC-Council, Comptia, and ISC2 wouldn't make as much money if they didn't purposely throw in questions that they require the answer to that are completely wrong. But you wouldn't know they were wrong if you didn't really know your stuff. Instead you answer on the test, the answer they give you so that you get marked correctly. If you mark the right answer, for example, something you know if right based on a higher certification it will still be marked wrong. To make this comment as short as possible. What I am saying is the companies purposely make bad answers correct, incorrect information or outdated information as a reequired answer for two main reasons. One is money, they don't make anything off you again if you pass the test. The second is testing materials, If you don't buy their materials you wouldn't know what answer they are looking for because from a logical standpoint the answer would be right. From another (more difficult) certification standpoint it would also be right but for this test that answer is considered wrong. Purposely making a test (for a certification) to fail people by making test answers wrong that any person in the field would say is correct should make the test invalid and the certification worthless. That is why less people going into IT get the A+ and Net+. Linus was also right about the questions being 3-5-7 years out of date. Also, from a journalistic approach to what Linus did, how can you justify taking your own video down showing just what is really going on. Instead you protected your $Monetization$ just like Comptia did and are just as guilty in hiding what is really going on. Shame on You and Linus for taking those videos down.
Comptia is not perfect, and it costs way too much. However, it is so nice to have a common baseline to know that people actually have a clue about it in the interview so we can ask better questions. I think companies should make a habit of paying for sucth things, but thats my opinion
I am currently in IT Service Desk, I work with people going through college, I know more having the A+ than they do having 1 or 2 semesters left on comp sci majors, if people honestly think A+ is expensive, try going to college, it's insane to me people don't make this comparsion because they both serve the same end, getting a job in tech.
@ammox4683 I agree. People crapping on Certifications being outdated and expensive. But there are people who have degrees but don't study after getting it. At least with certifications you have to be up to date on what some employers are using in their environment.
I am a ASE auto tech. I had to go to a building that was secure and it was almost like going to a airport with what's allowed vs not allowed. I was issued a locker to put all my personal belongings like my phone and keys/wallet for the duration of the test. I was given scratch paper and a pencil in case I needed it. A camera was on me at all times watching me take my exam. All about how the braking system of a car/light duty trucks works. Different designs; different ways of applying the brakes, how brakes can fail, how your supposed to make new brake lines ect...I was never given a piece of paper that I had to sign saying I couldn't talk about it or what was on the test. I think CompTIA is almost a waste of time being that secretive. It's nothing classified. If it was state secrets I would understand the secrecy. But it's not; it's talking about tech that's sometimes 20+ years old that a lot of companies don't even use anymore.
You need the Elgato foot pedal for switching cameras without using your hands 🙂 Also a HA user here... I put a IR Sensor in the bathroom, then send a message to alexa to remind my kids to flush!
Most IT training courses are out of date - it's the nature of creating curricula. They want to know (and you should want to show) that you know the basics AND you are capable of learning more -- because let's face it, if you're in IT you don't stop learning.
I found the A+ was a valuable cert because it helps establish a baseline. Unfortunately, my IT department disagreed. They have moved towards "All is cloud. Cloud is god.". They consider anything but a cloud+ or Azure certification as just a waste of time and money. Which sucked for me, because my qualifications were A+, Sec+, and 8 years experience in corporate and military IT. The IT manager looked at my resume and certs and basically just tossed it in the shredder.
I watched the entire deleted video Once the player loads and video starts , you can watch it even after 2 hours + I agree with linus, IT is shit. no one is paying $150 (as a fresher) for fixing a printer questions, or you are rich. CCNA and above is good.
I still look at A+ as being one of the certifications as a baseline IT on the fundamentals. While I passed it in 2010 and I haven't taken it since, I still think the fundamentals provided previously (at least) were good to build the foundations of troubleshooting and client system administration.
I started college while I was in high school back in 2020. The classes were mostly A+ prep classes. I started my career in security in 2024 months after graduating college. Over the next 5 years I obtained 5 security certifications from GIAC. I have never believed A+/Network+/Security+ are good certifications. The content and tests are old and outdated and generally not applicable to real world scenarios. I find there are WAY better ways of getting experience and credibility. I've worked for a college, a power company, a data marketing company, and two security consulting companies with clients from small local government to very large banks to international manufacturing companies, and now I recently left consulting to start my own computing and security business. I'm very well aware of what kind of stuff is considered outdated outside of my area because I worked with so many different companies over the last 12 years. The material A+/Network+/Security+ tests you on is generally not relevant to most businesses today.
The idea of selling a toilet sounds...dreadful...It's like, if you need a toilet, you have one. If you need a new toilet, you're driving straight to Home Depot, immediately.
lets be honest here (19:38), you didn't agree with linus at all, at least not in the first half of the video (then it got taken down). and actually you seemed REALLY hurt (not just upset) that your thoughts and ideals regarding compTI was so against linus (and the way he was making fun of it).. we all know how linus is, you should've let it be or at least be neutral and unbiased if you'll talk about it. (25:17) Sorry but your takes WERE SO BAD MAN... it's better for you for it to be taken down than being dragged down into the drama.. uff man it wasn't worth it. (32:57) - (at least knowing that you're making A+ course makes sense why you reacted the way you are.. which effects your creditability, to a degree) btw, i am a big fan of yours, really am. it's just your takes in that vid.. uff.
The fact that my own certification is still valid when i took it in 1998 and everyone else has to retake their exams every few years to keep theirs is stupid. Mine shouldn't be valid anymore if that's the case.
@@richardwilkinson77 They are called Grandfathered Certifications and they are still valid. I also got several of mine in 1998. Imagine all the kids today trying to make heads or tails of how DOS works and loaded into the CPU and memory blocks. How to configure manually the emm386 and how the commands are fetched. I just remember those parts were crazy, all I wanted to do was build a computer not start programming.
That's true for any Linux daily driver users. I have more Linux systems than Windows systems but Linux as a daily system makes no sense for me. I've done it a few times in my life but it's just not quite there yet.
I have absolutely ZERO love for that organization, given their anti tight to repair stance. Yeah, I took my A+ back in the glory days. I read that 900 page book, and went to one of those weird testing centers. My nostalgia ends there. They've become something entirely different than they set out to be.
Hey Chuck, huge fan and I really appreciate your input on this topic. About a year ago I started studying for the CompTia network plus and found your material very helpful while studying. Last august I took the exam and passed! I wondered is it still a good idea to take the A+? I'm currently studying it and think I'll be ready in a couple of months. I really love watching your videos and would like to chat sometime but I know that you have limited time, but hey I would love to hear from you. If not well take care you are a great role model.
Quantifying an individuals talent based off of certs is short sighted at best. It is hard to quantify someone, even if looking at someone's resume. Until you have an actual conversation with someone can you truly test their merit. That doesn't mean you still can't be swindled, but it helps. That being said I never took the A+, but i did take the practice test on the back of one the books many years ago when my brother was in school and got 70% correct with so much as even studying. The concern for why there is dated information in A+, or much any IT cert, one there is always new stuff coming out, and the new stuff comes out quicker than the tests can be updated, as the updated process is a process of its on that requires it's own level of validation. Secondly and more importantly, many technologies within IT build off of older technologies, and as such you can take lessons learned from those old tech and apply it to new tech. Do you see a lot of people writing code in assembly language, no that is all abstracted so you dont have to worry about where things are put in memory registers. When working in the IT space, you are most likely going to be installing the newest bleeding edge thing, and as such you nor anyone in your environment is going to have touched this new widget. Now you may have seen old widgets that the new widget is replacing, but you have to lean on knowledge learned from messing with the old widgets to get the new one up and running.
I took the A+, back in 1999. It was a waste of time for me. I had been building pc's since 1990 out of my house selling them. I got my first job in IT just out of hughschool. I didnt need the cert and it was a bunch of stress for zero gain.
I've been using home assistant for years. Also it's not HA or Alexa. All my devices are in HA and Alexa (and Google) ingest then to use. If i can find a way to use HA's voice assistant without clunky looking speakers, I'd switch in a minutes.
The A+ is just the door step. It shows that you're committed to study and you passed the basics. It does help you get the foot in the door for many remote or office entry level IT jobs otherwise barred. But I think its blown out of proportion. I've known incredible sage level IT guys that never took the A+, Network+ or Security+ and runs circles around those that do.
Back in 2001, when I earned the A+, it was required that I obtain the cert for me to work at a company, even though I had 8+ years as an IT Support Technicial at a very large accounting firm and a hardware/software QA company... Now that I have 30+ years experience I currently do not feel a need to recertify in A+...
It doesn't matter how much of a genius you are when you have nothing to show for it. That is why the A+ exists and it's great. For those who like Chuck and myself started at knowing nothing. Look where he is now and next year I become the IT director.
@@rikachiu it all boils down to how much money you have to entertain ur life. no woman is gonna get wet cause u know how to subnet ipv6 or know how transformer architecture works and never will. speaking of doctor medicine stays the same, in it you have one shit this month and another the next MD's are perceived as hot in the same manner as firemen, it guys are perceived as tedy bears that offer stability to a woman, nothing hot in that
CompTIA certs are of equivalent value to a class from DeVry University. Nobody who knows about tech for real cares if you have them. They were great like 20 years ago and now they're obsolete. It's really telling that CompTIA is trying to cling to secrecy as a way to protect their entities, mostly because if you know how they work and what they entail it's not worth the time and money. Fairness dies in secrecy, and nothing should be a secret in education.
I do understand why you get worked up by this, and everyone in tech should also be worked up by this. A small infraction like this could derail all the progress for anyone that is working and has worked hard towards a goal or career in tech. If you are doing something like that, you're not the cool person. Be helpful, but let others experience be their experience. The struggle is part of the journey that is fulfilling. It dilutes the weight of the certification or education and render it worthless. Think about it. If someone could find the philosophers stone and turn any element into gold. Gold would loose it's value. And yes. Guard your time. It is the one thing you have that when it is wasted, is gone and you can never get it back. One of the reasons I do not waist other peoples time. I really get something out of your content every time I watch you. Thank you for that.
I personally believe the CompTIA is useless in today's job market. I recently had to hire a new team member for our it team specifically for hardware and I avoided everyone that featured CompTIA in their certifications. I focused on applicants that had homelabbing or programming or Network related things in their hobbies and others interests. I did not want anyone that did not have a honest interest in the thing we were hiring them for, and I did not want someone get certifications just to get a job for the paycheck. I studied for the CompTIA approximately 5 years ago and part way through I realized how out of touch the majority of the information was, and stopped.
I should add, that the guy I ended up hiring has no official it background, he's barely out of high school, but has been his family's IT guy, run the zone home lab for learning and tinkering. And has been an amazing addition to the team.
I agree. I think it’s barely worth its credibility. I have no certs, no college degree and have never needed either. Additionally, a large majority of things in IT now are cloud based and with companies utilizing warranties, break / fix is covered, not to mention there aren’t many companies that need you to fix hardware. I could go on and on.
@@KerygmaCode that's not exactly what I said is it now? I specifically look for those interests in non work related portions of their resume. Simply put, whether they do or do not have CompTIA A+ has little to no bearing on their eligibility for an interview.
Yo, been using Home assistant for years, the evolution is awesome. With the automation make life easy, for me and the family. You're heading down the rabbit hole..👍
Now that I finished the video. How long gonna take to have CCNA course available ? I'm on the IT Industry for more than 15 years and even have some experience with Cisco OS. But I always landed System Admin and NOC jobs. I want to go with Networking Engineer opportunities and I guess CCNA would be a nice way to bring employers attention to me.
TL:DR-Chuck took his video about Linus taking the A+ test down because CompTIA asked him to
Basically. They want to be a mystery wrapped in enigma. This causes many people to over think or over shoot the test. It's not a lawyer's bar exam and plenty of room for error on the test for breathing space. Just study and rehearse lol.
because he had to much of Linus' video, in his video, and that's what CompTIA didn't want Linus having.
Regardless of what the content was it's kind of shitty of Comptia to put small businesses like Chuck's and LTT in a position where they are losing money. Can understand they want to protect their own brand but I'm pretty sure they could survive Linus' video.
thanks
@@richardharvey586 I feel like if they really wanted to protect their brand this is the lazy way to do it. the BEST way for them to do this is to improve the test so the questions are straightforward rather than "trappy" from time to time just to make you get a lower score. some questions are good and they want to make sure you are a good technician. other questions are just trappy and they only want to make you get the question wrong even if you know what is being discussed in the question.
Make the test better and stop harassing individuals to hide the fact that your test is not good. Or give us official options for learning the material. the third party stuff is like over 1000 pages of learning.
6:47 time stamp where he starts talking about the video take down
Tanks bro
thanks, dude.
Closed book testing is dumb, In college, one of my engineering professors told us "We don't expect you to remember everything, we expect you to remember how to look it up when you need it".
I used to teach network security. I taught the same. Know what you can off the top of your head and know how to find the rest quickly.
I had a prod who let us replace exam questions with different ones as long as the topic was the same and was the same difficulty. He said we'd never see his problems again in life … more important was that we'd understand the concept. I still barely passed! 😂
How quaint. She is exalting Einstein’s learning behavior into her students' lives which are known to be nowhere near his aptitude and need to remember things.
Obviously. What's the point of writing everything down if you're going to ignore it?
This is the truth beyond truth. Even my old IT mentor was like, he had so much knowledge through a life time of experience then in his office he always had a ton of books and material with little stickies in them. What were they? Reference material.
Former IT director here. Most certifications are a scam. Some of the Cisco ones where you have to actually go in a configure a network from a pile a gear are the ones that are worth a damn.
The only qualification that's still valid for me is the Cisco one.
I did server qualifications as part of my job and they weren't up to date
Agree. RedHat RHCE and Oracle OCM require in-person demonstration of skills. Every other cert you can download the exact questions and answers ("dumps") online.
Did you handle the entire hiring process? If so I can see this argument. However some HR departments will weed out applicants before even handing it to IT management. And of course the job descriptions say certification X required which they screen by.
I dare you and your team of experienced engineers to take the azure 104 and see how many passed and how easy it was without at least 80 to 120 hours of study and lab time?
My entire experience studing for CISSP and ISC2 certs... test questions on subject matters you might google once in your career and then never again (grade of fire extinguisher in your data center, height of security fences) - I'll stick to vendor certs for tech like AWS or Cisco
Honestly, the A+ is a joke unless you're after your first IT job with no education/degree to get your foot in the door. If you're paying to renew it, you're wasting money that could be spent on certifications that actually mean something.
I took the A+ course in my freshman year in high school who was part of a co-op. I took that course in 2001. I'd sy that 60-75% of the info was on tech that was at least 10 years outdated and some 20+ years. Like why would they teach on 8-bit PC or AT busses and interrupts or manually having to choose your Hard Drive "type" in the BIOS, or want us memorizing things like the number of tracks on or capacities of 5 1/4 inch floppy drives. Simply put, it was vastly a retro tech course and almost no employers are holding out and keeping 10-20+ year old tech, and those who do, are not likely to entrust someone on their precious systems just because they got a certification saying they quickly read a bunch and managed to retain the info just long enough to pass a test.
My favorite from the network+ test was about monodirectional antenna in WAN applications... you'd be hard pressed to find any hardware today for retail market that wasn't omnidirectional.
Linus did not say that CompTIA A+ is outdated. He said that CompTIA A+ does not have info on products appeared more than 3 years ago, while CompTIA certificate expires in 3 years, because CompTIA claims that the certificate materials are being constantly renewed.
Linus talking about certs??????? Seriously? It s somewhat a comedy channel
I left a teaching job to pursue IT back in 2019. I wound up getting my A+ right before COVID, and that led me into a job where I was able to start studying and practicing networking. That job eventually led me to getting my CCNA, and now I'm in a network admin position that's way more fulfilling than my past teaching job ever was. I still get to learn something new all the time, I get to improve our network design, etc etc the benefits go on and on. It all started with that A+ and I wouldn't change it for anything.
I agree
That was the foundation for me as well
:-)
That's cool! I'm a teacher and slowly dying in the school system. I got my A+ a few months ago and your story is inspiring to study harder for Network+!
What kind of mobsters run CompTIA. They got to you too.
You are stupid person.
You found a way to make saying 1-3 sentences last over 1 hour.
I have seen the Linus video after watching this video (It's been reuploaded on YT by others) and I'm not sure why you would go on about him explaining the measures like the taking photos/video etc to ensure people don't cheat.
It's a tech test, anyone that can pass it knows ways to get around every measure.
The questions they remade/showed where the answer were crap, were crap questions with crap answers.
I've taken this and other tests... test like them are all kind of crap.
But like you said they are basic entry level tests.
What a shocker that a guy who is making an A+ training course is defending the A+ 🤔
exactly, they had no issue with his video, the issue they had was that it gave more coverage to Linus and his negative take on it. Lost a lot of respect for Chuck for bowing down to his overlords.
@@mavfan1 hey, sometimes the harder thing to do is to bend the knee! 😂
Your comments on the A+ are spot on, and especially about it being on the resume getting you past the first step. I have been in IT since supporting DOS on IBM XT's. When I took A+, it was including appletalk, IPX, and setting IRQ and DMA jumpers on ISA cards, and I thought it was too outdated, but I still needed it. Customers hiring contractors, and HR departments hiring employees have a list of requirements, and if you dont have them, you dont get to be reviewed by the technical staff. A good example is that if a job posting requires "at least a CCNA", and you just put down that you have a CCIE, you are NOT going to get reviewed by anyone technical, because the HR person has NO IDEA that the CCIE is much higher than the CCNA. Your resume literally gets thrown away at the first level of review. There are tons of examples of this. You are 100% spot on. I love Linus' videos, but he strikes me as a rich kid who gets all the latest hardware and tries to push the envelope and make extreme builds of whatever. It's extremely entertaining, but it's not particularly practical for any general IT purpose, except for saying "I did it because I wanted to see if I could". I mean no disrespect saying that, and I have learned a lot and gotten lots of ideas from him, but I think your opinion is more applicable to the normal IT person in the real world.
Great video and talked about some great subjects my man! Really enjoyed the the stuff about your family and "why" you're doing all this. I have a large family myself (6 kids with a stay at home Wife) and got into IT I think for similar reasons (although I didn't realize it at the time). This live made me appreciate you more than I already did. God bless. God is good.
I was literally in the middle of that video when it suddenly disappeared
So was I.
Funny that when videos get taken down, it gets reuploaded ten times over by other people.
Ya, but in Chuck's case he said the video wasn't up for very long before anyone could download it. I would love to see that video but I won't out of respect for Chuck.
@@Darkk6969 I found it on vemeo, it was a good watch, nothing bad about what Chuck said, I believe it was the bits from LTT that was at issue.
@@Darkk6969 How is not watching the video respectful towards him though? He made the video because he wanted people to see it. The only ones who didn't want it out there are the CompTia SLAPP-mafia, so your "respect" is only aimed towards them.
Home Assistant is such a rabbit hole that I enjoy. My motivation is just like the waves you described in waves. I have good ideas and often forget or get too busy to remember/have the energy to do it. But it's made my life so much better. Coming home and the lights coming on after unlocking the door, slowly turning on lights and playing music to wake me up instead of the DREADFUL phone alarm. I can't go back. I also managed to watch the video before it got taken down it was a good video for sure.
Awesome Chuck, great to see such a large youtuber promoting Home Assistant! I agree this is honestly the best piece of tech you can find!
Took the A+ in the late 90s. It's a great entry level cert. Needed 600 to pass I got a 1075. Killed that thing.
I was really enjoying that video. If anything, it made CompTIA look good.
Taking the video down makes them look... less good
Throwing it way back to the early 2000s-my first IT certification journey was with CompTIA A+. Believe it or not, I trained using a Dilbert CD-ROM! Those were the days before RUclips tutorials and online courses were mainstream, so we learned with whatever we could get our hands on. The CompTIA A+ was my first step into the IT world, and it's amazing to see how the certification has evolved since then. From booting into BIOS to troubleshooting hardware with CD-ROMs, it's been quite a journey. If you're just starting out, know that each generation of tech pros has their own unique experience, and we all have to start somewhere!
I've been in the IT field for a long time now. You showed a video of the path that you would suggest for people going in to the IT field. I suggest that they view it, because I agree with it 100%. And the A+ is the best start on that path. I would also suggest taking the Coursera IT support course for the A+ and Network + courses. For the Security + take the Google Coursera Cyber-Security course. Combined, the certifications and the certificates give you a good foundation for IT. I would also suggest ITIL v.4 along with the suggested certification path.
Crazy good timing regarding Home Assistant and automation. I’ve been starting to research smart home devices and automations. Would love a series covering everything.
Home Assistant all the way. For me, I don't say if HA can integrate something, it's how. Homekit, ESPhome, IR blaster integration, cameras, MQTT (garage door opener and rtl433 picking up remote weather station data) and more. Endless hobby fun.
I had to learn about Token Ring for my A+. I've never seen one outside the lab. That said the classes were the most fun of my life. 20 other people that loved tech. It was a blast.
I took the A+ and Net+ nearly 20yrs ago when I first got into IT.. It was to gold standard for those of us who were getting into IT for the first time. I learned so much about hardware and how computers actually worked studying for that exam. With that said, it still has a place if you are going down support -> operations -> engineering (ie infra) route. But if you are going down networking, security, or development.. Then it will be of limited value.
A+ cerifiied since 2000! It was the standard back then, and it did not expire. Expiring an A+ cert is a money grab.
pretty much the same here , most of its was super out dated the next year , ie coax networking swaped out for cat 5 etc
Hey CHuck Frank here from the Netherlands. You are absolutely right what you say, you must first know the basics before you continue. A carpenter who is going to learn the trade will also first hammer a nail into a plank and when he has mastered that he may use the new technique like a hammer gun. But the company where he is going to work will first ask "can you handle a hammer".
Couldn't agree more about the A+ Cert. I first got into IT by stumbling upon one of your videos about the CCNA. CCNA was a bit too advanced so I took a step down and went for my A+. I not only wanted to have a certification to get a new job, I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I've had two IT jobs in three years and segments of the A+ were relevant to my first job and other segments are relevant to my current job. If you are starting in IT, GET IT. You may be able to jump to Net+ or CCNA, but there may be many useful things that you may miss by skipping it.
What! You're working on an A+ course, that's awesome. I know your a Cisco guy, but from what I have seen is that A+ is part of that solid foundation on which a successful career can be built on. A+ plus is a big thing for almost any DOD IT job. It just is.
Another couple of comments I'll make is to reinforce Chuck's recommendation NOT to cheat. I worked with someone who just passed his CCNP, and so we sent him out on his first Cisco router install by himself, and an hour or two later, I literally got a phone call asking "How do you set the default gateway on this again?".. Dont be that guy. That same person also said to me once "Now that I am Cisco certified, I'll never have to study for another Microsoft exam again." A CCIE on our team heard that and said "If you are building the track, you better damn well understand the needs of the train that will be riding on it". That stuck with me. It is never bad to have knowledge and certs for technologies that you will be exposed to, even if they're not your intended primary job function. You also may accidentally expose yourself to a technology that you like better, and it could provide a path to a new job.
Home Assistant is definitely a rabbit hole. It is also a lot of fun. I especially like the HACS add-on Adaptive Lighting. Having the color temperature change throughout the day according to the position of the sun is quite nice.
Took CompTIA A+ about 8 years ago. Completely agree with Network Chuck on everything here.
Another topic for future videos. Take a deep dive into the nix package manager and Linux distribution NixOS. You basically define your configuration using the DSL - Domain Specific Language Nix which is a simply syntax. Given Nix is installed (Windows WSL2, macOS, & Linux) the configuration file(s) will ensure your system builds exactly the same every time. Sharing a config with someone else will always work. You can use Nix to build a Linux OS, bootable images, containers, Docker / Kubernetes, etc., etc., etc. One language to describe it all vs individual configuration files. Home Manager is Nix for userland, all your dotfile configurations can be managed with Home Manager. Manage multiple configs for all your machines, containers, etc.
I work as a field tech, sadly the tech range is a thing. I have places where their computers have non Qeerty keyboards that use PS2 connections while the computer is USB for periferal communication. Each unit uses multiple adapters because the tech ranges is over 20 years.
I won't mention the details about last week's decomission of a phone system that was around since at least 2006 ( the phones had branding for a company bought out in 2006.
Gotta love when you can be working on equipment that is older than you in the IT world.
4:22 lit! I been waiting for this type of content from you. I discovered your channel because of home assistant. I was a new user and wanted to understand my home network. Got a title for you already “Top 10 security tips for home assistant”.
The CompTIA A+ certification remains a cornerstone in the IT industry, even though some may argue that it teaches content based on technologies from years ago. At its core, the A+ cert provides an essential foundation for understanding how computers and devices function... a knowledge base that continues to be relevant despite the rapid evolution of technology
At 10mins my ADHD is kicking in and I quit listening.
He did explain this in a very long drawn out way I agree.
I'm not diagnosed with ADHD, but have symptoms. I made food, cleaned up after making it, ate the food, cleaned up, started the dishwasher, all with the video in the background. video isn't done yet, so now I can do other stuff while I still listen to it 😂
btw, I know how to handle the energy, otherwise, I wouldn't be a self-taught developer/programmer with a job as one
At least he knows who owns him now.
It screams of insecurity to me when I see a company as big as CompTIA resorting to a whole-sale takedown of multiple RUclipsrs videos instead of coordinating a response, or preparing another video to be swapped in place of the old one. I'm not saying all of Linus' criticisms were reasonable, but if CompTIA truly believe their certification provides value to this day, meeting criticism with answers does far more than a cease & desist (ever heard of the Streisand effect? This has certainly soured my opinion of CompTIA and this will likely remain in my memory if anyone else asks me about them).
I think that’s a fair point about Comptia. But also- who the fuck is Linus, except for an entertainer? He doesn’t really work in tech. He doesn’t educate. His channel just pumps out drivel and he and his people pick fights with real journalists like Gamer’s Nexus. Also, Linus Media is allegedly a shitty, toxic place to work. So he can’t even keep his own house in order.
Speaking on older tech, my business myself still uses Sandy Bridge based systems for almost everything, even my own personal unRaid server. But my personal machine, it still is behind with a Rysen 7 5700X 96GB of DDR 4 @ 3000Mhz and a 8GB RX 7600. But it works for me, and plays what games I want to play, and that's all that matters to me.
Can't say I agree with most of his takes..
8 Years ago when I graduated college and got my degree, I started studying for A+ and after seeing how much useless information was in there I didn't bother with it. I am very glad I didn't go through with it, as I got a job without it and learned shortly after that the company doesn't care about A+ either. Almost any other IT related cert would have mattered much more than A+ would have.
I have now been part of the hiring process for level ones, and the ones who took A+ dont know nearly enough for the position.
I also don't know what its like in other places around the world, but where I am the college courses are very much up to date. To the point where the latest major versions of vmware and microsoft products are supplied and taught in the courses.
So I’d like to have a really good breakdown on running HomeAssistant in docker. Just a good solid review of the the correct containers and an integrated stack
When I started there was no certification and every employer informed me that adding certifications would have no effect on my salary. At the same time, one of the best ways to get into the industry is to consult and consultation firms like the certifications. You get a job working for an MSP or a large corporation as a temporary contractor. You build experience and eventually you'll get better and better jobs. Comp-TIA A+ has likely changed considerably but from my perspective it was all the computing basics a service technician would need to know. Since I was doing it since 1980, it wasn't going to teach me anything I didn't already know. If you are starting from square one making a major career change; it is worth studying for and taking the A+ exam.
This is the first time I strongly dissagree with you Chuck, None the less I wish you all the best and thank you for all the good stuff.
I ditched Home Assistant and Alex when I got my house and switched to Home Assistant when I discovered that I could buy a Pi Pico with python script that would emulate the relay to control my HVAC instead of pay $1000 for a proprietary thermostat .... I've been using it ever since. Haven't played with the voice assistant but I heard great things about it. That being said, I'm more about automating everything and centralize all my service while remaining local. Nabu Casa is not mandatory but for the price, it's a no brainer for me to safely accessing your instance remotely while supporting the devs behind this. When I'm buying new hardware, my first requirement is that it needs to be compatible with Home Assistant (regardless of the way to integrate it). You won't regret the move !
I use LoRaWAN at home for control of devices. Most of the new nodes are energy harvesting. Relay / thermostat actuation in Class C is instant. Run the LNS locally.
@@MrWookiee here a digital thermostat is at the same price at PI pico
@@shazzz_land In my case it was a Carrier (Briant) Thermostat
Handled like a pro. I am anti a lot of things but a company has interests to protect. I have zero certs and I handle everything from government, industrial, casinos, public safety and private homeowner network and tech. Take a test if you think you need it or not. Your work will define you.
I have a masters and I completely agree with chuck. All theory . I am now going to get certificates. The thing with universities is that instead of incorporating certificates or practical skills within the frame work of the curriculum by attaining licences for software programs they instead focus on theory. In this job market, employers barely want to train , and entry-level jobs are hard to come by. This is a diservice to students in regards to the allocation of practical resources for jobs. As these universities make a lot of money. Some skills are relevant, but most are not. Also, updating curriculum to be up to date is a lot of work and a continuous effort.
I took my A+ certification about 25 years ago. For me, it seemed easy but I’d already been programming since 1981 so I kinda grew up with computers
Most employers do not hire the inexperienced (there are exceptions but few and far between). One of the best ways to get started in IT work would be to obtain some certifications and find a consulting firm. Many will throw you to the wolves which is good because it puts your feet to the fire. Yes you will experience 'imposter syndrome' but within a short period (if you work very hard) you'll get more comfortable. In today's world unless you got very lucky with your first employer; most will change jobs every 3-4 years. Obviously, if you land a job with a sweetheart employer it would be silly to jump ship. Working as a consultant you can make a lot of human network connections. Join some groups where you meet up with others. This can land you a job when you get a heads up from a friend / acquaintance.
Have taken A+. It has, so far, landed me ONE help desk interview, which I failed miserably. Need homelabs and more homelabs.
Comptias 3 Year cycle for certs is ridiculous because we see tech changing quickly from a grand perspective, but it generally is 1 small section of the tech industry that has moved forward in that time frame while other things are deprecated and could have been removed from future tests. I think they should either go back to 5 years or go to 10 years.
Hi Chuck, home assistant is great ... love to see you get away from all the devices that talk to the world... and make it all internal
I work as a level one support technician, but one skill that always eluded me was typing. The only way to finally get there (and i'm still going) was to set aside time (show up) and try to practice my best no matter how I was feeling. It isn't easy, but deliberately setting aside time and doing the thing will make the thing a habit. Love the book Atomic Habits too. Helped me so much
I just started using Home Assistant, and I also have my A+. I passed my A+ in school for Network Engineering in 2000.
A+ is totally worth it's weight. I took it in 2010 just before it would need to be updated every few years, it gave me the knowledge of how to look up the details behind it.
I haven't taken the A+ because back in the day when I would have needed it, it was so out of date it was not worth it and most agreed, And now I have more experience than it still covers even after updates. So unless it is 100% no question required, and 100% covered by the employer, I'm not wasting my time with it. Also if an employer requires it and wont take work experience, then I will re-think working for that employer anyway since they probably are more focused on how well you take and pass a test vs how well you can adapt and overcome leaning on your past experiences...
CompTia is what I would consider entry level for getting into IT and Security. It is knowledgable, yes. Is it a hard test to take, nope. Most of it you can memorize. Its not like taking the CISSP.
As someone who has been on both sides of the hiring desk, I have never hired anyone based on their certs. I look for experience. I understand that a cert looks good to HR, but to a knowledgeable IT Hiring manager, it does not take the place of experience. Now, on the subject of exams. Many many years ago, everyone was getting their CNA. I sat in a class with a Used Car Salesman with no IT experience who was just getting his CNA to break into IT. This soured me on Certs. I was years deep into IT and sitting in on these classes with someone who had zero experience. I understand doing a career pivot, but again, experience over certs. Moreover, since IT (and the rest of the working world) is "open book", I do not understand why these people make these exams so difficult. If you get an IT job, you do not work in a silo. You will encounter problems and you should be able to RESEARCH the answer to come up with the correct solution. You should be able to ask your coworkers if they have encountered this particular issue. You learn from others experience. So, why aren't these exams open book?! Why are some of them intentionally "tricky"?
Hahaha I watched the entire video while it was still online, guess I got it in good time! I liked it, and for what its worth..I agree with most of your comments.. apart from a few! 😅
A smallish company I used to work for is still running 2002 version of AS400 in a isolated environment, because corporate tanked their relationship with the corporation that owned the software they were licensing the database for.
I have mixed feelings of the A+. After being in the industry for almost 15 years, I recently decided to take a new job that required it. I passed both tests on the first try. I did watch some videos to ensure I have terminology down and took a practice test to get a feel of the test but felt my experience gave me what I needed to pass the test. It was all mainly review. I'd say there is value if you aren't in the industry yet and want to get your feet wet and possibly obtain a cert to have a leg up on that first IT rule. Otherwise, I'd say to pass on it unless your job requires it.
You did the right thing by taking down your video! Business...is business. There is no need to burn a bridge over 1 video.
Morals > Money
Don't be a corporate shill.
I completed in this rabbit hole called Home Assistant. I have lights, sprinklers, landscape moisture sensors and all that stuff automated with HA. 100%of the smarte devices and sensors are offline. They are even seating in a vLan with no internet access. The only IoT stuff with internet access is the HA, Apple HomePod ( with I use with the HA Apple Bridge ) and the Xbox. I gave up rellaing my IoT stuff to chinese companies and cloud control. Much faster and much safer. And Yes... bring HA content. I'm still fightinh with some custom sensors and scripts. would be nice to see your implementations.
There is just one issue with cert for me... Even if you know the answer they have weird options which you won't know if you have studied there material and that part sucks.
I took the COMPTIA A+ many years ago around 2009 or so. I took it so that I could get a job doing Dell Tech Support for their XPS systems back then. A lot of the questions seemed odd or redundant. It seemed like the only way to pass was to memorize the way they wanted the question answered whether or not it makes sense or not.
Dude has a class coming out on A+ and acts like he's not biased
Everyone who has an opinion is biased to an extent, and I don't see him acting like he's not. Yes he talks about his course (which is much better than if he'd pretended not to have skin in the game), but he also talks about some groups of people who probably won't benefit from the A+. That seems like just about the least biased way to discuss something that you actually know anything about.
He will quit on it 13 videos in like his CCNA
@@PurplePanda1233 CCNP class was 13 classes back in the day. It was 39 hours of classroom work and 5-10 hours of punchdown panels. You actually had to do the punchdown work to get certified and show you knew what you were doing. Now you do what? Purchase cables on amazon and call an electrician? Kids these days LOL
@@williambybel2935 he made 13 10min videos lmao. He moved to click bait because it gets better ad revenue. Zip him up when your done.
@@PurplePanda1233 I don't get your comment. Can you explain it?
I have high regard for both of you, but I agree with Linus… maybe not for the same reason.
I believe A+ is a waste of time for most people… you could be using your time to get a certification that is more useful and definitely will pay better. A former coworker of mine knew nothing about computers, but he jumped in by getting his CCNA, and I think that was a great move for him. IMO (for what an opinion is worth), CCNA is a better use of a newbies time than an A+ cert.
Only nice to test at home if you have a nice room and set up. For everyone else test center is so much better. At least if there is any connections issues they can assist. Online they can be quite a pain.
I watched Linus's test for A+. I have also taken the A+ previously but over 20 years ago. I can say that even then the test questions were out of date. Let's be real here. the A+ for most people is outdated and many of the questions are purposely worded ambiguously so that you get them wrong. These test companies such as EC-Council, Comptia, and ISC2 wouldn't make as much money if they didn't purposely throw in questions that they require the answer to that are completely wrong. But you wouldn't know they were wrong if you didn't really know your stuff. Instead you answer on the test, the answer they give you so that you get marked correctly. If you mark the right answer, for example, something you know if right based on a higher certification it will still be marked wrong. To make this comment as short as possible. What I am saying is the companies purposely make bad answers correct, incorrect information or outdated information as a reequired answer for two main reasons. One is money, they don't make anything off you again if you pass the test. The second is testing materials, If you don't buy their materials you wouldn't know what answer they are looking for because from a logical standpoint the answer would be right. From another (more difficult) certification standpoint it would also be right but for this test that answer is considered wrong. Purposely making a test (for a certification) to fail people by making test answers wrong that any person in the field would say is correct should make the test invalid and the certification worthless. That is why less people going into IT get the A+ and Net+. Linus was also right about the questions being 3-5-7 years out of date. Also, from a journalistic approach to what Linus did, how can you justify taking your own video down showing just what is really going on. Instead you protected your $Monetization$ just like Comptia did and are just as guilty in hiding what is really going on. Shame on You and Linus for taking those videos down.
Comptia is not perfect, and it costs way too much.
However, it is so nice to have a common baseline to know that people actually have a clue about it in the interview so we can ask better questions.
I think companies should make a habit of paying for sucth things, but thats my opinion
It's one of the cheapest certs
I am currently in IT Service Desk, I work with people going through college, I know more having the A+ than they do having 1 or 2 semesters left on comp sci majors, if people honestly think A+ is expensive, try going to college, it's insane to me people don't make this comparsion because they both serve the same end, getting a job in tech.
@ammox4683 I agree. People crapping on Certifications being outdated and expensive. But there are people who have degrees but don't study after getting it. At least with certifications you have to be up to date on what some employers are using in their environment.
Certs cannot predict someone's success for a given role. Certs tell people that you are good at tests.
Best advice i ever took was learning how to learn, and how to study. It is something that needs to be focused on more, for every type of learner.
I am a ASE auto tech. I had to go to a building that was secure and it was almost like going to a airport with what's allowed vs not allowed. I was issued a locker to put all my personal belongings like my phone and keys/wallet for the duration of the test. I was given scratch paper and a pencil in case I needed it. A camera was on me at all times watching me take my exam. All about how the braking system of a car/light duty trucks works. Different designs; different ways of applying the brakes, how brakes can fail, how your supposed to make new brake lines ect...I was never given a piece of paper that I had to sign saying I couldn't talk about it or what was on the test. I think CompTIA is almost a waste of time being that secretive. It's nothing classified. If it was state secrets I would understand the secrecy. But it's not; it's talking about tech that's sometimes 20+ years old that a lot of companies don't even use anymore.
You need the Elgato foot pedal for switching cameras without using your hands 🙂 Also a HA user here... I put a IR Sensor in the bathroom, then send a message to alexa to remind my kids to flush!
Most IT training courses are out of date - it's the nature of creating curricula. They want to know (and you should want to show) that you know the basics AND you are capable of learning more -- because let's face it, if you're in IT you don't stop learning.
I found the A+ was a valuable cert because it helps establish a baseline. Unfortunately, my IT department disagreed. They have moved towards "All is cloud. Cloud is god.". They consider anything but a cloud+ or Azure certification as just a waste of time and money. Which sucked for me, because my qualifications were A+, Sec+, and 8 years experience in corporate and military IT.
The IT manager looked at my resume and certs and basically just tossed it in the shredder.
I watched the entire deleted video
Once the player loads and video starts , you can watch it even after 2 hours
+ I agree with linus, IT is shit. no one is paying $150 (as a fresher) for fixing a printer questions, or you are rich.
CCNA and above is good.
I still look at A+ as being one of the certifications as a baseline IT on the fundamentals. While I passed it in 2010 and I haven't taken it since, I still think the fundamentals provided previously (at least) were good to build the foundations of troubleshooting and client system administration.
I started college while I was in high school back in 2020. The classes were mostly A+ prep classes. I started my career in security in 2024 months after graduating college. Over the next 5 years I obtained 5 security certifications from GIAC.
I have never believed A+/Network+/Security+ are good certifications. The content and tests are old and outdated and generally not applicable to real world scenarios. I find there are WAY better ways of getting experience and credibility. I've worked for a college, a power company, a data marketing company, and two security consulting companies with clients from small local government to very large banks to international manufacturing companies, and now I recently left consulting to start my own computing and security business. I'm very well aware of what kind of stuff is considered outdated outside of my area because I worked with so many different companies over the last 12 years. The material A+/Network+/Security+ tests you on is generally not relevant to most businesses today.
The idea of selling a toilet sounds...dreadful...It's like, if you need a toilet, you have one. If you need a new toilet, you're driving straight to Home Depot, immediately.
Never used Home assistance but did research on it when I was considering non internet based automation.
lets be honest here (19:38), you didn't agree with linus at all, at least not in the first half of the video (then it got taken down).
and actually you seemed REALLY hurt (not just upset) that your thoughts and ideals regarding compTI was so against linus (and the way he was making fun of it)..
we all know how linus is, you should've let it be or at least be neutral and unbiased if you'll talk about it.
(25:17) Sorry but your takes WERE SO BAD MAN... it's better for you for it to be taken down than being dragged down into the drama.. uff man it wasn't worth it.
(32:57) - (at least knowing that you're making A+ course makes sense why you reacted the way you are.. which effects your creditability, to a degree)
btw, i am a big fan of yours, really am. it's just your takes in that vid.. uff.
I agree with this. Viewing from the outside in, his takes were pretty bad imo
lol right?! to shill as hard as Chuck did and then slapped down by his shill-masters, love to see it!
The fact that my own certification is still valid when i took it in 1998 and everyone else has to retake their exams every few years to keep theirs is stupid. Mine shouldn't be valid anymore if that's the case.
The renew the CompTIA A+ started in 2012 I think
comptia or another cert??
@@swagmuffin9000 CompTia yes.
Correct. Yours shouldn't still be valid. Networking tech and IT in general has moved on quite a bit since 1998.
@@richardwilkinson77 They are called Grandfathered Certifications and they are still valid. I also got several of mine in 1998. Imagine all the kids today trying to make heads or tails of how DOS works and loaded into the CPU and memory blocks. How to configure manually the emm386 and how the commands are fetched. I just remember those parts were crazy, all I wanted to do was build a computer not start programming.
02:27 always funny arch people have to announce themselves. Its like being around vegans.😂
That's true for any Linux daily driver users. I have more Linux systems than Windows systems but Linux as a daily system makes no sense for me. I've done it a few times in my life but it's just not quite there yet.
I have absolutely ZERO love for that organization, given their anti tight to repair stance. Yeah, I took my A+ back in the glory days. I read that 900 page book, and went to one of those weird testing centers. My nostalgia ends there. They've become something entirely different than they set out to be.
home assistant is the deepest darkest hole you will ever fall into. it will be worth it though. looking very forward to the home assistant videos
Home Assistant: ESPRESSIVE ::
Lighting Modes, Control & Display, KVM Multiplexing, A/V Switching, Hydroponics, Motorized Ergonomic Modes, Security/Alarm Systems, etc., ad nauseum.
I got my A+ cert in 1995. Did it do anything for me? I dunno I used it to get out of having to take a single intro computer science course in college.
Hey Chuck, huge fan and I really appreciate your input on this topic. About a year ago I started studying for the CompTia network plus and found your material very helpful while studying. Last august I took the exam and passed! I wondered is it still a good idea to take the A+? I'm currently studying it and think I'll be ready in a couple of months. I really love watching your videos and would like to chat sometime but I know that you have limited time, but hey I would love to hear from you. If not well take care you are a great role model.
Quantifying an individuals talent based off of certs is short sighted at best. It is hard to quantify someone, even if looking at someone's resume. Until you have an actual conversation with someone can you truly test their merit. That doesn't mean you still can't be swindled, but it helps. That being said I never took the A+, but i did take the practice test on the back of one the books many years ago when my brother was in school and got 70% correct with so much as even studying. The concern for why there is dated information in A+, or much any IT cert, one there is always new stuff coming out, and the new stuff comes out quicker than the tests can be updated, as the updated process is a process of its on that requires it's own level of validation. Secondly and more importantly, many technologies within IT build off of older technologies, and as such you can take lessons learned from those old tech and apply it to new tech. Do you see a lot of people writing code in assembly language, no that is all abstracted so you dont have to worry about where things are put in memory registers. When working in the IT space, you are most likely going to be installing the newest bleeding edge thing, and as such you nor anyone in your environment is going to have touched this new widget. Now you may have seen old widgets that the new widget is replacing, but you have to lean on knowledge learned from messing with the old widgets to get the new one up and running.
Network Chuck you are the man
I took the A+, back in 1999. It was a waste of time for me. I had been building pc's since 1990 out of my house selling them. I got my first job in IT just out of hughschool. I didnt need the cert and it was a bunch of stress for zero gain.
I've been using home assistant for years. Also it's not HA or Alexa. All my devices are in HA and Alexa (and Google) ingest then to use.
If i can find a way to use HA's voice assistant without clunky looking speakers, I'd switch in a minutes.
The A+ is just the door step. It shows that you're committed to study and you passed the basics. It does help you get the foot in the door for many remote or office entry level IT jobs otherwise barred. But I think its blown out of proportion. I've known incredible sage level IT guys that never took the A+, Network+ or Security+ and runs circles around those that do.
Back in 2001, when I earned the A+, it was required that I obtain the cert for me to work at a company, even though I had 8+ years as an IT Support Technicial at a very large accounting firm and a hardware/software QA company...
Now that I have 30+ years experience I currently do not feel a need to recertify in A+...
It is the only high level domain where you can earn money without a diploma. But u need to be good
It doesn't matter how much of a genius you are when you have nothing to show for it. That is why the A+ exists and it's great. For those who like Chuck and myself started at knowing nothing. Look where he is now and next year I become the IT director.
@@rikachiu it all boils down to how much money you have to entertain ur life. no woman is gonna get wet cause u know how to subnet ipv6 or know how transformer architecture works and never will. speaking of doctor medicine stays the same, in it you have one shit this month and another the next
MD's are perceived as hot in the same manner as firemen, it guys are perceived as tedy bears that offer stability to a woman, nothing hot in that
Why are you talking about women? Lol@@shazzz_land
Can't wait to see your home assistant with Tyler 😀😀
What is that music at the end of your video Bro? Did you make that? It's very creative.🎉
CompTIA certs are of equivalent value to a class from DeVry University. Nobody who knows about tech for real cares if you have them. They were great like 20 years ago and now they're obsolete.
It's really telling that CompTIA is trying to cling to secrecy as a way to protect their entities, mostly because if you know how they work and what they entail it's not worth the time and money.
Fairness dies in secrecy, and nothing should be a secret in education.
I do understand why you get worked up by this, and everyone in tech should also be worked up by this. A small infraction like this could derail all the progress for anyone that is working and has worked hard towards a goal or career in tech. If you are doing something like that, you're not the cool person. Be helpful, but let others experience be their experience. The struggle is part of the journey that is fulfilling. It dilutes the weight of the certification or education and render it worthless. Think about it. If someone could find the philosophers stone and turn any element into gold. Gold would loose it's value. And yes. Guard your time. It is the one thing you have that when it is wasted, is gone and you can never get it back. One of the reasons I do not waist other peoples time. I really get something out of your content every time I watch you. Thank you for that.
I personally believe the CompTIA is useless in today's job market. I recently had to hire a new team member for our it team specifically for hardware and I avoided everyone that featured CompTIA in their certifications. I focused on applicants that had homelabbing or programming or Network related things in their hobbies and others interests.
I did not want anyone that did not have a honest interest in the thing we were hiring them for, and I did not want someone get certifications just to get a job for the paycheck.
I studied for the CompTIA approximately 5 years ago and part way through I realized how out of touch the majority of the information was, and stopped.
I should add, that the guy I ended up hiring has no official it background, he's barely out of high school, but has been his family's IT guy, run the zone home lab for learning and tinkering. And has been an amazing addition to the team.
I agree. I think it’s barely worth its credibility. I have no certs, no college degree and have never needed either. Additionally, a large majority of things in IT now are cloud based and with companies utilizing warranties, break / fix is covered, not to mention there aren’t many companies that need you to fix hardware. I could go on and on.
What makes you think that people who get certifications have no "honest interest" in what they're studying?
@@KerygmaCode that's not exactly what I said is it now? I specifically look for those interests in non work related portions of their resume. Simply put, whether they do or do not have CompTIA A+ has little to no bearing on their eligibility for an interview.
CompTia stuff is just to get you in the door. The interviewer will look more favorably to someone that has it vs someone that doesn't.
Yo, been using Home assistant for years, the evolution is awesome. With the automation make life easy, for me and the family. You're heading down the rabbit hole..👍
Now that I finished the video.
How long gonna take to have CCNA course available ?
I'm on the IT Industry for more than 15 years and even have some experience with Cisco OS. But I always landed System Admin and NOC jobs. I want to go with Networking Engineer opportunities and I guess CCNA would be a nice way to bring employers attention to me.