The truth about the CompTIA Trifecta.
Hello Everyone,
As someone who considers themselves a novice in the IT world, I am always online reading forums about new technologies, equipment, jobs, homelabs, tutorials and everything else related to IT. A topic that you will always find people talking about in the IT world is certifications.
Are certifications worth it?
I have officially completed my CompTIA ‘Trifecta’. For those who aren’t up-to-date on the certification lingo these days, this means I have my A+, Network+, and my Security+. I am very excited to have passed all my exams on the first try, and thankful that I can take a break from studying. Even if its for a short time. Now that I have wrapped up CompTIA’s Entry level cert path, I'm here to tell you is it worth it?
Absolutely.
I would 100% and go back and do it over again. For context, I have been in the industry for about a year and a half now. Previously, I was a mailman. Shout out to the United States Postal Service. Arguably one of the least technical jobs around. I manually placed paper into metal boxes for 8 hours. All that being said, I had close to 0 IT knowledge getting into this, and not a lot of relevant experience. What I did have going for me was a passion for not only technology, but learning in general. While I think the CompTIA Trifecta has helped me tremendously, I think people look at certifications the wrong way.
The Wrong Mindset
Many new people looking to get into IT find it appealing because a college degree is not required to land a high paying job. They do some research and find that they can acquire certifications to gain the relevant knowledge needed to do certain jobs, and they can study on their own time. The companies selling the certifications, along with A LOT of ‘Influencers’ online will sell you on the fact that people that have this certification are working at this cool company or they are making this crazy amount of money. Painting a reality where all you have to do is pass your Security+ and you will be in a six-figure cybersecurity role in no time. Obviously this appeals to most people, making a lot of money in a new and exciting industry sounds great. The truth is this, that is not the case for the majority of people, there are more variables than that. Certifications are just a part of the picture. Certifications, degrees, projects, experience, security clearance, and your online presence along with much more is the full picture. If you think getting a few certifications will be a fast track to a high paying job think again. It may be quicker than a 4 year degree, but you will work just as much in my opinion.
Should you get these certifications?
If you have no IT experience, absolutely. These certifications will definetly stand out when applying for entry level IT jobs. Don't just stop there though, start doing projects at home. Build a homelab. Show people that you are interested in this field. Another mistake is to wait to have X certification before applying. I got my first help desk job only having my A+.
What if I'm already going to college for IT? Absolutely. I still recommend getting these certifications. If you feel that you have a good grasp of the topics that these certifications cover, look for more advanced certifications in the field your interested in. From my experience, just having a degree wont cut it for anything other than entry level jobs. You didn't go to school for an entry level job. You need to pair that up with projects, internships, blogs, and/or certifications to be really be competitive.
What do you learn from these certifications?
CompTIA A+: The A+ exam cover a lot of topics in the IT world. So much so that its split into 2 exams. These exams cover the basics of just about anything you will come across in the IT industry. From motherboards to SecureShell. You won’t be an expert on any one subject, but you will be familiar with whatever you run into in the field. I like to say this exam is ‘A mile wide and an inch deep.’ meaning, it covers so much, but none of it in-depth.
CompTIA Network+: Unlike the A+ exam, this exam specializes more. Instead of this exam being ‘A mile wide and an inch deep’, I would say this is ‘Half a mile and 3 inches deep.’ to keep up the analogy. It focuses on everything networking. You will earn about the OSI model, network equipment and protocols, and network troubleshooting. Nowadays people will tell you to go head and skip this exam in favor of the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA). Unless you are already working in a networking heavy role, I would advise against this. The CCNA is an intermediate certification in my opinion. If you would like to get into a networking focused role, get the Network+ then the CCNA, again just my opinion.
CompTIA Security+: The Security+ is an interesting exam compared to the 2 previously discussed. It has a very large scope of content like the A+ exam, but the required depth of knowledge is closer to the Network+ but not quite. This exam covers the basics of all things cybersecurity. Similar to the A+ exam, you wont be an expert on any one topic, but you will at least know what your working with. You will learn about Encryption to Bollards. This certification can open more doors than the other exams, due to this being a DoD 8570 requirement.
For those of you who are curious, the Security+ exam was the toughest for me personally, followed by the A+ Core 2 exam. The content’s complexity wasn't the tough part, it was retaining the amount of information required for the exams was the difficult part.
Closing
This was my first opinion(?) type blog, switching it up from the tutorials I have been putting out lately. Hopefully this helps some people looking to get into IT or people new to IT looking for some sort of guidance.
