How about A+ cerftification for my disabled friend? Recommend online program?

I was talking with the IT guy for our school about my disabled friend and he suggested a computer cert. You IT guys out there, do you think getting an A+ cert would help him find a job in computers somewhere? Even if an A+ cert got him just a humble job at Fry's or Best Buy, it would at least give him a job. He's pretty good with a computer. Would his poor vision be a road block?

If that might be a good idea, is there an online program you might recommend? Low cost would be important because he is extremely poor.

For those of you who have not read previous threads, my friend is visually impaired. He can see well enough to work on computers though I think.

 

A+ is a starting place. He might also need some type of experience to write down. Maybe even volunteer someplace to gain experience. One way I recommended people gain experience is to volunteer at a place like the Humane Society. They get computers and electronics donated to them and many times do not have a person that will test them/fix them to make them available for resale. When I was in school for my Microsoft certs a group of us formed a "company" and offered to do free work for non-profits (churches and other small organizations) to gain experience. It never really got off the ground. Just some ideas.

As far as training, read a few good books like Exam Cram and buy an old crappy computer to take apart and put but together, reimage the drive, load drivers, etc.

 

Exactly what I was thinking, good idea. He could go for the Alison cert to see if it's interesting to him.

 

I earned my A+ about 9 years ago; walked in and took the test cold.

It did help me land my first IT job. So I agree it's a starting point.

 

I just found that our local CC offers a 3 class, online test prep for the A+. I'm going to pitch this idea to him tomorrow. Certificate Prep Classes - OCC Community Education Cost is $110 for each of three classes. So $330 seems like a good price if it can make him pass the test.

 

I commend your drive to get him some education but keep in mind, he also needs to want it. You can lead a horse to water and all that ...

The $330 seems expensive for 3 classes he needs to actually attend, you had concerns about him finishing an online exam he could take from home. I'd get him to take more Alison exams (IT, etc.) to start and see how those go.

 

I just called him and suggested exactly that. Alison does offer an IT cert, I told him to give that a try to see if he can hack it. You are absolutely, pretty soon I'm going to give up leading this horse to water if he does not drink.

 

Just a wake up call about certifications. I built my first computer in 1990, got my first job selling software in 1992, worked as a computer tech from 1993-1998 and finally got an MCSE cert in 1998. I interviewed for an entry level job at a big company as a desktop support tech and was told that due to my MCSE, I was overqualified. Sad but true.
I ended up switching to software development and the rest is history.
I think that the A+ should accompany an appropriate amount of experience. So maybe he should look for a job at Best Buy in the geek squad or a local small computer store. I know I learned a lot my first two years. After that it was a plateau but I focused more on customer service and understanding the business.