Video: When and What Cert to Take – Planning for IT Learning | CompTIA Certs

In today’s workplace, employers expect job candidates and employees to be proficient in basic computer skills. But going beyond basic computer skills by developing essential IT skills can help someone in a non-technical field become the ideal job candidate or take an established career to new heights.

Thinking about getting IT certified is the first step to becoming a more competitive and competent worker. The next three steps include:

1. Learning – Exploring IT through official learning materials.
2. Deciding – Determining if an IT certification would benefit you and deciding when to get IT certified.
3. Choosing – Selecting the right IT certification for you.

Remember Pranita, the CompTIA intern who filmed a video series outlining her journey toward obtaining a CompTIA certification? She completed each step, beginning with choosing the IT certification most supportive of her goals: CompTIA A+.  

What IT Certification Should You Get?

Different information technology certifications work for different individuals, depending upon their needs. However, it’s ideal to start with a foundational certification that imparts foundational IT skills. For Pranita, this was the CompTIA A+ certification, which qualifies individuals to get hired in entry-level IT jobs or simply become more tech savvy and effective in their current non-IT roles.    

How a CompTIA Intern Decided When to Get IT Certified

Time is valuable, and deciding when to get IT certified can be tricky. Pranita solved this problem by determining how many hours of study the CompTIA A+ exam would demand and how many exams the certification required (two).

Pranita discovered that the average study time for each exam was 64 hours and that she had about 9 hours each week she could invest into studying for each exam. This meant she would take each exam after two months of studying.  

CompTIA A+ Test Prep Materials: What They Are and How to Use Them

Properly planning for IT learning is essential to passing a CompTIA certification exam. To effectively prep for her A+ certification exams, each week Pranita wrote out what she wanted her study schedule to look like, what chapters she wanted to get through in the A+ test prep eBook, the Official CompTIA A+ Study Guide, and how much time she wanted to spend using CompTIA CertMaster Practice.

CertMaster Practice is an adaptive knowledge assessment that determines what learners have already mastered and what they need to improve upon. It helps to increase confidence and knowledge retention before a CompTIA certification exam.

“CertMaster Practice was the most reassuring part of the test-prep process, and very tailored to what I understood,” Pranita says in the video.

Read more about CompTIA certifications to find out which certification is right for you.