How to pass your CompTIA A+ Exams

Currently I’m studying for my CompTIA Network+ certification at whilst looking back on my time studying for my CompTIA A+ exams I realized how many mistakes I made. For that reason, I’m going to share how I studied for my CompTIA A+ certificating, and what I’m doing differently for this next exam.

Certification Overview

First, I would like to go over the certification and its objectives.

CompTIA A+

Core 1 Objectives

1.0 Mobile Devices                                 15%

2.0 Networking                                                 20%

3.0 Hardware                                                    25%

4.0 Virtualization and Cloud Computing         11%

5.0 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting  29%

Core 2 Objectives

1.0 Operating Systems                                 31%

2.0 Security                                                   25%

3.0 Software Troubleshooting                     22%

4.0 Operational Procedures                         22%

As you can see the certification is split into two separate exams. Though the exams are numbered there is really no order to take the exams as the topics do not have much of an intersection. However, I felt that the Core 1 exam was much easier than the Core 2 exam, so I feel it’s best to take the exams in order.

Motivation for Getting Certified

I think that it is important that you know why you want to complete this––or for that fact––any goal you’re working towards. It takes a lot of time and effort to learn this material so it’s important that you understand why you’re doing this before you start. Remember that it doesn’t matter if your motivation is intrinsic or extrinsic just that you have a reason to continue even when it’s hard. 

Personally, I wanted to get this certification as a backup in case my degree didn’t work out for me and also just because I’m a nerd, so I find the material pretty cool.

Resources for My Exams

When I first started to study for my CompTIA A+ certification I didn’t have any plan but to just start. After doing a bit of research I found the following resources and set off.

Resources

Professor Messer Video Series      (free)

Exam Compass       (free)

Jason Dion Practice Exams       (paid)

Now the most important thing when use any resources to study is to decide if you like them and then stick with them. Don’t feel stuck using a resource if you instantly decide that you hate it; however, I think that once you found something that works––you don’t have to love it––stick with it!

I felt that both Professor Messer’s videos and Exam Compass were great resources to prepare for the exam and importantly they are free. However, I can also recommend the Jason Dion Practice Exams as they were slightly more difficult that the exam question so you know you are ready if you can pass his exams. Usually, you can find his practice exams on sale on Udemy; however, I wouldn’t buy them if they weren’t on sale.

How I Studied for My Exams

As I would recommend, I took my exams in order, so I only started by studying the for the first exam. I would break my process into the following parts: 

Learning Process

         Research Stage ~ 40%

                     Lecture Videos + Notes

         Review Stage   ~ 60%

                     Flash Cards                         ~ 25%

Practice Tests                             ~ 25%

                     Brain Dumps & Mapping   ~ 10%

Research Stage

First, I worked through all the Professor Messer lectures, making sure to take notes throughout. The point of taking notes is not to write down all the material as much as to make sure that you are actually paying attention. Remember that your notes don’t have to be perfect! Remember when taking notes that you shouldn’t focus on being pretty, writing every possible thing down, or having a complete understanding. Instead, just focus on absorbing the material.

There are many different styles of note taking that people use, I don’t think that any one is better than the others but personally I’ve always used categorical notes. Also, I don’t think that you should force yourself on using a particular style of notes as different styles are suited for different types of material and personal preferences. The one thing that I would recommend is to never type your notes as it’s shown to be inferior to handwritten notes and it limits your ability to freely draw and annotate on the page.

And that was all I did in terms of researching the material. Remember that you don’t have to use multiple books and lecture series, it’s more important that you build a strong foundation with the material that you need before moving on as you can always fill in any gaps later on.

Review Stage

After I finished researching all the material for the exam, I started by making flash cards for all the acronyms and vocabulary words that I could. For this I used Anki which is a digital flash card app and platform. You can either download someone else’s flash card pack or––what I would recommend––you can make your own flash cards. This is probably the only time you should ever reread your notes, remember that just rereading your notes is useless!

Though I used Anki, I would use regular flash cards in the future, as you have to physically write and draw on them which helps with learning. However, the most important thing is that you use spaced repetition. This means that you try to learn the material little by little and consistently. There’s a little more to it than that but, if you don’t already know what it is you can research that on your own.

In addition to flash cards, I also used a something called brain dumps and mapping. For brain dumps you start by getting a blank piece of paper and simply writing down everything that you know about a certain section of the exam. Then right afterwards you pull out your notes check if you were able to correctly recall all the topics for that section. Mapping is similar to brain dumps yet you simply try and relate and organize as many topics together as you can. Remember to only use your notes once you can’t draw any more connection to verify that you correctly mapped all the possible relevant topics.

Finally, there are practice test, these are by far the most important review method as it allows you to review the material and check if there are any gaps in your knowledge. First, I used Exam Compass for practice tests, then after learning any information that I was missing and reviewing over what I forgot, I used the Dion exams. It is important that you review over your answers right after finishing the exams as you the quicker that you can get feedback the better. This was something I struggled on as the last thing I want to do after taking an exam is to review over the exam but is it essential for understanding your mistakes and knowledge gaps.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Studying

Like I mentioned there is no one way to go about studying; however, not all paths are equal. There are many times that I see people swear by bad study habit and bad study methods which may work at the cost at a lot of time and energy.

Good Study Habits                                                         Good Study Methods

         Dedicated study environment                                        Practice test

         Consistency                                                                        Note taking

         Time management                                                             Brain Dumps

         Sleep                                                                                         Mapping

        Distraction free environment                                        Flash cards

                                                                                                         Spaced repetition

                                                                                                         Labs

                                                                                                         Teaching others

Bad Study Habits                                                                      Bad Study Methods     

         Cramming                                                                              Passive review     

         Perfectionism                                                                        Rereading notes

         Listening to music                                                                   Highlighting

         Distracting environment                                                    Route memorization

I’m noting going to say that these study methods don’t work because they absolutely can. However, that is at the cost of a time of, and I mean a lot of time. Though the good study methods are harder they require much less time meaning that your able to learn the material better with less effort and time. I just want to caution those who believe that these study methods are a good use of time and more importantly effort. Below I have also listen some good study methods that rely on either recall or recognition memory.

Time Management & Consistency

By far the most overlooked aspect when doing any self-studying is time management and consistency. Remember that you have no grades, no professor, and no peers to push and motivate you so your success relies on yourself. Also, you may also have lots of other things going on in your life so it might be difficult to find the time and––more likely––the energy to study.

Personally, this was the most difficult aspect for me as it took a little over a year to complete the certification. During this time, I was working and attending school full time so I would often study very inconsistently throughout this time. I think that it is important to understand that it may take a while to obtain your certification and that it is better to be slow and consistent than the quickly burn out.

Final Notes

Remember that this is a very difficult and long process to undergo to don't beat yourself up too much if you are studying at the pace that you like or if it takes a couple of attempts to pass your exam. I hope everyone that is reading this will be able to incorporate some of the advice and learn from my mistakes as I got my certification.

Good luck to everyone!