Hi, I believe this is the right forum, but I'm not entirely sure, hopefully a mod will move it if I'm wrong.

Regardless, I am an 18 year old in the greater san francisco bay area. I am working on getting my A+ and Network+ certifications. I am under the impression that they are good gateways to entry-level jobs in the IT industry. I was wondering what the value of A+ and Network+ along with about 6 months of work experience and a high school diploma is, what sort of position I would be most likely to obtain with those (meager) credentials. I'm working on my batchelors in computer science, but for now those are my credentials, and I'd like to explore what options those open.

thank you,
-Dan

A+ and N+ will certainly be enough for you to get an entry level First line or Helldesk job.
WHat is most important in IT is experience, you can have certs coming out of your ears, but if you don't have any practical experience they are useless.

Cool thanks, well I have plenty of experience in networking and computer repair/maitenence, but its non-commerical... and I had actually figured the formal cert would carry more weight than experience (of course... it probably does carry more weight than NONCOMMERCIAL experience)

I forgot to mention the 6 months is non-industry experience, just general work experience

Cheers
-Dan

Hi,
If you would like a good review site for the exams, here is one of the best:
http://www.passitnow.com
I do apologize if you already know the site.

Also, a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science will open doors for you. My son-in-law has one, and is a Supervisor for a Tech Support Cell phone company. He is now applying for different jobs in IT.
I do wish you the best.

Thanks a lot, no I'd never seen that site. But WOW, that's very useful... I must say, I've not done any studying for the A+ exam, but I took the practice one for the heck of it... and it seemed really easy (or maybe more accurately, far easier than I expected), is that because I'm experienced or because the test is easy? Haha
Cheers
-Dan