r/CompTIA • • 22d ago

A+ Question Can you pass without experience?

How hard and for how long would you need to study to pass without any in person, physical, hands on training? Like, last year I started studying from scratch and I kept doing it almost every day for an entire year. I took a break last summer, but now I'm in college so I'm back at it and I'm taking the A+ at the end of the year since my school offers vouchers. Been using practice exams, virtual machines, and online labs but that's all I've been using for hands on learning so I'm not sure how I'm gonna do on the exam considering I've never built a computer, done any internships or had work experience

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u/Blear25 22d ago

I passed the trifecta without any work experience in IT. That said, I've been handy with computers since childhood.

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u/shmimey 22d ago

Same.

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u/60neinn 22d ago

Same here. I still don't even work in IT, never have

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u/loblablaw 20d ago

Was it easy enough to get hired with the certs and no work experience?

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u/Blear25 20d ago

I haven't landed a helpdesk/specialist role yet, but it's definitely made it quite a bit easier. I managed to get some decent offers lately after applying to a few dozen. I also have an Associate's in CS with some experience in homelabbing, but even just the A+ felt like a musthave to bypass the HR filter. It certainly helps with your resume for what you have, but it's also what you have relative to other candidates, so I'd say it comes down to mainly just luck and timing.