Comments  (45)

• Mike 07 Nov

  This going to make it even harder to pass, two things harder to pass is a good thing but many  students may go and take other course that are not Comp TIA thats a bad thing.

• Mayboy 08 Nov

  This is the best way to learn. Many people can past the test. And, some of those many, can't complete their jobs. I say for me, troubleshooting and command prompts is rather difficult sometimes.

• charmaine 09 Nov

  I agree this is going to be more harder and paying for it again will be challenging

• Robert 15 Nov

  Hands on is an excelent way to learn, but in a live envionment it is not the way to go.  In the training and study we will need tools that simulate the working environment. I hope CompTIA will provide some online learning tools that have a hands on feel. I really learn best when I can see what mistakes I make and learn from them as well as my successes and knowing how I arrived at the destination.  Learning is different for everyone and having performance based questions will weed out the non-performers and help us that have a hard time memorizing terms, numbers, and sad-dis-tics to show our strengths.

• Gregory Patterson 16 Nov

  Changing the culture of the exam should require that training programs offer better instruction techniques which emphasize more hands on simulated working scenarios and not just the routine mechanical PC training so many programs employ today.The problem here is the fact that catch 22, you need real world experience to effectively gain proactive knowledge about the IT environment, but most employers want certified candidates to start with, plays a critical role in getting the proper tools to be a good IT technician.More importantly, most companies do not offer internships. This does not help matters either.  

• wendy woods 19 Nov

  I'm would like to see the practice of 801 and 802 thank you

• bodinejkl 23 Nov

  The exams seem difficult to me because of the lack of precise course curriculum available. I have looked at numerous programs & settled on one. None cover the objectives well. The practice exams never match the course work... I mean out of 30 questions on a CompTIA exam, it seems that 10 aren't in my course work & others that are weren't covered in a comprhensive manner. The training materials available leave a lot to be desired.

• Jeremiah 30 Nov

  The only way to go is to have passed the 701 and 702 exams before August of next year.......

• keith__ 05 Dec

  I'd welcome any changes that do more to test experience over memorizing acronyms.
  I'll be more impressed when they think of a reliable way (maybe facial recognition or proctor) to take the test online (home or a local library) like Brainbench does.

• Chris 11 Dec

  I think it's a good idea. I may be hard pressed to do well now, though. Don't mistake what I'm saying. I have plenty enough hands-on, in the trenches experience. But, I've been out of the field and working a couple dead-end 9 to 5's since then. I'm rusty, and this makes me worry even more.

• Motsikoro Masakale 12 Dec

  I think what CompTIA is doing is fantastic. It will really make one sweat before they achieve any of their certifications. I mean these are professional level qualifications so one should be experienced before taking the exam. And as Robert commented this will indeed weed-out the non-performers and the inexperienced.

• Judith 13 Dec

  Hands-on is the best way to learn a subject like computer repair. It makes sense to see that we know how to respond to scenarios in a simulated environment before granting certification. Certification in a hands-on field needs to equate to we can do the job. Some candidates can simply memorize the material and pass the test, this does not mean they can do the job. Hands-on training and testing will ensure that we can do the job.

• mp 18 Dec

  Keith said:
  "I'll be more impressed when they think of a reliable way (maybe facial recognition or proctor) to take the test online (home or a local library) like Brainbench does."
  
  Local libraries can become authorized testing centers. Our local library is a Pearson VUE (and Certiport) center. I'll be taking the second part of my A+ there tomorrow. Ask your library to check into it. (We also have some community colleges in our area that are testing centers.) :)

• Ray 21 Dec

  700 series before it expires and after that there is much better certifications out there . They look much better than CompTIA . And they are not as much expensive as CompTIA exams . The other certifications look better on your resume . Meanwhile , employers do not care about performance based questions . We will see less CompTIA certified people in the future . CompTIA helped other companies with this last (performance based questions) move .

• Asavela Mteto 25 Dec

  Perfomance-based Question are definately the way to go than these multiple choice questions, but also relavant study/training tools must be made available

• Wayne 27 Dec

  That's nice but who still uses command line finctions anyway?  GUI based performance questions sure....  but I have not used a command line in so long I really don't remember or want to remember them.  I think for the entry level person (A+) this is somewhat going overboard and just discouraging people from even trying to GET the certification.  Many companies would much rather see a Microsoft  or CISCO certification on your Resume.  The CompTIA certs were always more of a broad based general knowledge type certification not quite so specific as knowing command line instructions, expcially for multiple Operating Systems.

• remaras 27 Dec

  There nothing like hands-on experience when learning a hands-on occupation.
  
  Ron Maras: AAS (PC/LAN), A+

• Lucia 29 Dec

  Ray, could you tell clearly, please, which exactly certifications out there are better than CompTIA? Then, maybe, I would think about doing those that are better. Please, advise some if you know them, for someone new to IT.

• Rodney 04 Jan

  I agree that this is a good thing in the that a certification should require knowledge to obtain. But an A+ certification is usually what people need to get an entry-level job to gain experience in the first place. The way things look like they're headed, you're going to need an A+ cert to get into the IT field, but you're going to have already worked in the IT field to get an A+ cert. Certifications like this are for general knowledge for computers. No one expects you to be a network guru if all you have is an A+; A+'s are usually required to prove you know the basics enough to get started in an IT environment. Curious to see the numbers of people bothering to go for an A+ after the changes and how it affects the field.

• dmw-0113 09 Jan

  I agree. I agree. I agree. I agree and REITERATE... CompTIA are you listening to your people... that this is a good thing in the that a certification should require knowledge to obtain. But an A+ certification is usually what people need to get an entry-level job to gain experience in the first place. The way things look like they're headed, you're going to need an A+ cert to get into the IT field, but you're going to have already worked in the IT field to get an A+ cert. Certifications like this are for general knowledge for computers. No one expects you to be a network guru if all you have is an A+; A+'s are usually required to prove you know the basics enough to get started in an IT environment. Curious to see the numbers of people bothering to go for an A+ after the changes and how it affects the field

• Hh 13 Jan

  I couldn't agree more ... and REITERATE The way things look like they're headed, you're going to need an A+ cert to get into the IT field, but you're going to have already worked in the IT field to get an A+ cert. Certifications like this are for general knowledge for computers. No one expects you to be a network guru if all you have is an A+; A+'s are usually required to prove you know the basics enough to get started in an IT environment.
  

• Ray 15 Jan

        Dear CompTIA org . Is someone out there listening to this ? are you aware of your pricing policy ? Let me remind you once again , talking about A+ certification . To be able to get this CompTIA A+ certification someone has to pass 2 exams . You have increased the price to each exam , now it is 183 US dollars . Which means , you are as an organization offering an only " entry level " certification and selling it for 366 US dollars .
         Am i right by far ? an entry level certification for 366 US dollars ? (after your last price raising) . From where i stand let me tell you how it looks like , microsoft and cisco exams 125 $ - 150 $ . Compared to CompTIA you would agree that they worth much more . So how did you come up with 366 dollars ? could someone please explain it to me ? An entry level certification 366 US $ .
          What you are doing is so wrong . You have a name and you are misusing it . This CompTIA A+ certification must be around 50 US $ . If you are an organization . you mention on your web site , 900.000 people CompTIA A+ certified . Is someone out there making the math ? 900.000 * 366 dollars . Dont forget the ones failing the test and retake the exam or exams . What kind of organization is this ?    
           As an individual in IT industry , i will never support CompTIA because of their exaggerated pricing policy .
           I would like to write more but this is not the right platform to talk more about this . You make sure i will be talking a lot about CompTIA on forums . 
          No one i know will take any CompTIA certification because they are overly priced .   
           Yes i agree , performance based questions are good ( i know it is costly to prepare an exam with performance based questions ) , but it is not 366 dollars . its nothing more than 50 dollars . 
            On the other hand let me remind you something else , you mention that average CompTIA A+ salary is more than 50.000 US $ . Please show me those people who makes more than 50.000 US $ because of CompTIA A+ ? Yes there are some people out there making more than 50.000 US $ but because they have other certifications such as Microsoft , Cisco , Citrix etc .. You can not tag a person making more than 50.000 $ because he or she has CompTIA A+ . Its because his / her Cisco certification or Bachelors degree or Mba . An average CompTIA A+ certification gets you somewhere between 9 US $ - 20 US$ for an hour ( 20 dollars if you are lucky ) ..
            For example ; if i say i am high school graduated and i make 200.000 . Sounds little bit strange right ? but thats the tip of the iceberg , because i didnt mention that i gradutaed from Harvard ( which is not true ) . Just as an example .
          What CompTIA does is the same thing , taking an Harvard graduted person as an example and promoting as : Person X is CompTIA A+ certified he makes more than 50.000 dollars every year . This isn't the right think .
           I do not believe this comment will change something , probably will be deleted before publishing . At least i hope someone in CompTIA organization will read this .
           I am not going to renew any CompTIA certification , when i will be looking for new employees i will never ask for CompTIA certifications . I will never recommend CompTIA certifications to anyone as long as CompTIA keep this pricing policy . 
           You may be think that it is only drop in the ocean but it is not . For 2 days 4 CompTIA certification attempt changed their path . This is only for 2 days !!!
           I wish you change your pricing policy , decrease your prices to their real values . Between from 50 dollars to 100 dollars .. 
           There is an old saying " bad neigbor makes you home owner " ..    
           With all due respect ...

• IT Instructor 19 Jan

  Though I agree with Ray's language-impared rant about having two tests for one cert (I understood this when Hardware was one test, and OS the other), and I agree that the test costs are a little excessive, I think that CompTIA certs will be the benchmark most businesses will use when selecting candidates who will get an interview, AND I think that performance-based tests will add to the credibility of the certifications. It gives the test taker a chance to prove their analytical skills. I find this much more relevant than being able to memorize the number of pins on a DIMM of DDR3 or the socket of a Core i7 9xxx. Most of the specs required for certification are not used often by techs, and can be googled when needed. An entry level certification would be more valid if it was more like an entry level job, testing soft skill and troubleshooting scenarios. I work closely with Dell Pro Support to train my students for JOBS, not just be able to vomit up a book full of info that can be found in 10 seconds with a browser.

• wootyflake 05 Feb

  Increasing the difficulty and adding to the credibility of the certifications are all good, but I wish they'd change the name of the certification or test so there is a way to distinguish who took the more credible exam, and who memorized a brain dump and got a lifetime membership 5+ years ago.

• CBTO Tech 05 Feb

  Couldn't agree more with IT Instructor above. I may not be able to remember pin-outs or MHz ratings of specific RAM modules all the time, but I'm a consistently faster and more efficient troubleshooter then the vast majority of my certified and/or degree-holding coworkers.

• Clement Dupuis 09 Feb

  Has anyone seen any of those performance questions?
  
  Security+ being an exam that's vendor neutral what type of questions could they ask?
  
  I am curious if there will be an update to the objectives with tasks.
  
  Clement

• E!iteT3©H 16 Feb

  This is directed towards the posters who denigrate CompTIA and are 'going to other certs' because of the 'Performance Questions'.  (btw, I am CompTIA certified, and have taken courses for numerous Microsoft, Cisco, and other vendors' courses.)
  
  1.  These other 'more desirable' courses (Cisco, MS, etc.) are usually entirely 'Performance Based'.  Dropping CompTIA out of anger and going to a major HW/SW vendor will not solve your real-word experience inadequacies...  It will only exacerbate them...
  
  2.  Other vendors' tests may only cost $100, rather than $175, but you often need 4-6 modules to receive a certification – not 2.  ([$100 x 5] = $500 > $350 [$175 x 2]).  Do your research before directing undue anger at CompTIA.
  
  3.  It seems to me that all the disparaging remarks come from people who have yet to achieve any certification whatsoever.  Are you angry because you can no longer pass the test by going to a 'fly-by-night' school for a $100 'training-course'?  You don't 'need an IT job' to gain the experience necessary to pass 'Performance-based Testing'.  You have a computer don't you?  Tear it down, rebuild it, dual-boot, play with various OS', ad nauseam.  PRACTISE...
  
  I understand your frustration with the price increase and internal exam-structure changes, but don't take it out on CompTIA.  You want your cert to be worth something don't you?  They are only doing what EVERY credible cert vendor has been doing for a decade or more.
  
  Do you realise that Cisco, Microsoft, and virtually every other Cert vendor is 'first-party'?   That is they certify on their own products – products that generate revenue.  They can afford to take a small loss on their cert program to ensure 'quality control' on their product base.  CompTIA CANNOT do that: they sell no product, except for their certifications, which cost MILLIONS in R&D to stay Relevant and Sought-After.  If you want your cert to mean something, welcome to the club.
  
  Direct all the vitriolic comments you want towards CompTIA, but in the end, you are only damaging your own potential, while the rest of us welcome the changes that make CompTIA certifications as recognisable as Vendor certs – at half the cost or less...
  
  P.S.  CompTIA lets you renew your certs for virtually free, if you subsequently pursue vendor certs.  Good luck asking a Vendor to renew your cert because you got a competitor's cert...
  

• Jem 16 Feb

  Would love to see an answer to Clement's questions. I would like to know more about performance questions. I am getting ready to take the exam and I'd like to know what to expect. I am a Solaris admin and was wondering how they can have neutral questions.
  
  Anyone taken the tests or can give info would be appreciated.
  
  Thanks,

• Kieth Tarint 17 Feb

   Is there any Comp TIA authorized study & training material that also have performance based activities that one could practice before taking the A+ 800 series exams?

• Pala 18 Feb

  Does anyone know if the preformance based questions are active for the Network+ N10-005 test already? Feb 2013?

• g0tn0clu3 19 Feb

  The Novell CNE was comprised of 6 test costing $75 to $125 each and they employed performance questions. for example they would ask you to setup a user account with the specified rights and privilages. The also employeed adaptive testing which ment if during the testing a weakness in your skills was detected you would be questioned in depth on that subject matter. This testing was employeed more than 20 years ago.
  
  Another example is the Encase forensic certification in which you not only take a written test but you are assigned a practicle test. You have to perform a forensic evaluation and submit a final report.
  So this type of testing is not new.

• Rdavis 21 Feb

  Keith, check out LabSim at TestOut Corporation as they provide lab simulations in their IT training for A+. Their PC Pro course for A+ 220-801 & 220-802 states they have 96 lab simulation excercises.

• Nicholas 25 Feb

  Inregards to Ray's comments.  I would rather spend the cost on an exam,some books and gain expereicnce in the industry and I am beating out kids half my age with a degree.  long of the short; Exams are a couple of dollars in comparison to slaving away  for 4 years and gaining no experience.

• Humphrey 27 Feb

  Good Day
  
  I did A+ and N+ in 2006 at Rosebank College, however I did not write the Comptia exam, is it possible to write the exam and where can I register.
  I am also interested in doing Web Design as well as MCSE (networking)
  
  Kind Regards 
  Humphrey

• Robert 11 Mar

  I have been through the server+ training. It is probably the worst training material I have used in the last 13 years.
  The simulators expect you to use their exact keystrokes and if you don't the simulator stops working. Having worked on server hardware for well ovber 10 years there are multiple ways of getting to the same place but the simulator doesn't recognise that.
  Some one the questions are beyond belief. You can have raid 0 with one disk yet this material says you need two. You don't even look to use an adaptor to use an IDE disk on a SCSI bus but you do here. They have a question about a hard disk replacement but the answer options are about cold site, hot site and clustering types.
  The mainframe engineers here are shaking their heads at the materials

• JDP 12 Mar

  Hello-
  
  In a current cybersecurity class this year and we're about to take our own SYO-301.  I am used to taking state board exams with minimum passing score of 70% or higher (or possibly 75% or better) and a minimum passing score for this is 83%??  This seems like a huge gap in skills to me.  Most of the practice exams and quizzes in class are netting me an average of 78%(which I think would be OK, at least according to the school's standards) but according to the test results we will be getting in a few short months.
  It's been suggested by our instructor to purchase practice exams, but I don't necessarily have the $$ to do this, or the proper equipment/software to practice at home.  What exactly can I do to up my chances of passing this SYO-301 Security + exam???  I am extremely worried I will flunk....and lose my sponsored financial aid!

• Turnip 18 Mar

  Although I can appreciate that this change has the potential to add credibility to the certifications it will take considerable time.
  
  People will need to demonstrate a more professional level of skill to gain the certification but the fact still remains that the vast majority of people who have taken this cert won't have had to do that. The exam might be changing but that doesn't mean the qualification will be worth more overnight since there are 900,000 people who can legitimately claim the same cert yet took a completely different exam and some of those (the guys who took it years back) might not have touched IT at all for years.
  
  This isn't just a case of sour grapes, I like the idea of a more meaningful certification. The trouble is a cert is basically a bit of paper that says "We have checked this guy out and we're happy that he can perform X function". Qualifications become used as a sort of a short-hand so that employers/other professionals know what a person is capable of, if everyone claiming a qualification has been held to completely different standards then it becomes a bit meaningless.

• mp 20 Mar

  Performance based questions are better. I'm tired of people with certs that don't know anything except how to take exams.  For you young-ins this is a good starter exam.
  
  MP
  mct/mcse/security+/cissp/ceh

• Ross 25 Mar

  Novell, as mentioned by g0tn0clu3 19 Feb,  required the individual to perform five real world tasks on a couple of users in two different servers so that they had services and privileges on both machines, but at different levels or from within different groups.  It was all performance based and their pass level was 85%.  Test time was, if I recall correctly, 2 hours.  The individual had to log on to a workstation and then access the two servers and set up both to satisfy the requirements.  The ones I had ran on Java and were slow to switch between the two servers, so I opened a second window with the second server in it (which sped things up considerably) and still ended up using the entire time.
   
  Performance based/Practical exams are more difficult, but I have more respect for someone who has passed them.
  
  RT

• Jon Weiss 30 Mar

  Indeed, the hands on method is the best for learning, sadly the certification process remains flawed.  Having passed several certification exams over the years, none has prepared me nor tested me thoroughly in real world situations.  If you pass every exam with 100% be prepared to run into things in the field which you have never before encountered.  Certification can give you a false sense of security and make you believe that you can never be stumped.  That being said, experience has shown me that nothing quite compares with having a tech manual for the hardware/OS you will be working on, and the tech support number of the OS creator or hardware maker is a way to deal with the cases which you will encounter, when you run into situations for which certification leaves you totally unprepared.

• us05 07 Apr

  I think CompTIA should offered a more reliable environment for test takers to practice performance-based questions before the exam. The 90 minutes is just nothing compare to 100 questions the exam contains. Also the exam voucher for network+ is too expensive, we should have a second chance to take it in case we don't pass it the first time. Please do a better job for test takers

• ricardo colonnelli 08 Apr

  Hello everyone, I have long time of experience about 12 years and I need do this test, but I dont write in english very well.This test need be writed the answers??whats the level of dificuly???thanks,good lucky for everyone that try it .

• Money Back 19 Apr

  I feel like they didn't release the memo about performance based questions to the companies that sell study material... I bought an expensive, in depth, study kit (Book, sim program, practice exams, AND 2 "Master Exams") for the Network+ and now I'm scheduling my test, just learning all this happened, and realizing well nuts, none of my studying, master exams and all, was preparing me for performance based questions. Now, while it doesn't really change anything for me as far as time line, I would still really like my money back from this almost worthless kit. CompTIA should just put out their own line of specific study material and make the price reasonable.

• Pat 26 Apr

  I agree with a lot of the points made. Performance based questions are perfectly fine, as are increasing the difficulty in attaining the certification. However, they should at least compensate future IT students and provide proper study material for the exam. 

• Nathan 28 Apr

  Jon Weiss has some good points.  During my internship at a computer repair store I've had situations which have required resetting the Winsock catalog, re-registering Windows Updates .dll's, how to get BITS re-installed when it's missing, and other things along those lines. 
  
  Some of the best advice I can give people is learn the .exe and .msc commands, and keyboard shortcuts.  With 4 keystrokes and typing the devmgmt.msc or compmgmt.msc command I can be in device manager or computer management in seconds while the other interns I work with are still locating the mouse.
  
  It's the little things that make you more productive and have more value to a company.