Dan said:

With Comptia rebranding the CASP+ exam to the SecurityX exam, (with the feedback being questionable at best, as per Login to view embedded media , Login to view embedded media , and Login to view embedded media ), and ITF being rebranded as Tech+ ( https://www.comptia.org/blog/comptia-tech-vs-comptia-itf-for-it-basics-whats-the-difference), is it time for the CompTIA A+ course to be rebranded CompTIA ITsupport+? or Support+?

I know the A+ has been around for ~30years, and has a history, but the A+ description doesn't really explain what the course does... with the other fundamentals being about Networking and Security, changing the A+ certification to be more descriptive of what the course covers, might make it more recognizable to HR recruiters and IT managers.

Just something to ponder

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CompTIA didn't rename CASP+ to CompTIA Security X. CompTIA SecurityX is part of the CompTIA Xpert Series certifications that are designed for experienced IT professionals seeking to validate their advanced expertise in essential business technologies. The series will launch with certifications in data, cloud networking, and cybersecurity.

1. CompTIA DataX
-CompTIA DataX is a new advanced-level data science certification. (think of it as advanced Data+)

2. CompTIA CloudNetX
-Cloud plus and Network plus re-branded to CloudNetX

3. CompTIA SecurityX
-CASP plus + Security plus re-branded to SecurityX

Dan said:

my students get free access to https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/, LinkedIn learning, and some other resources, as part of their enrollment in the program. Here is the list of resources I share with them, in case they want to use other resources

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Amazing resources. Thanks for sharing

Bert313 said:

I am considering hiring an A+ instructor. He received his cert back in 1999 but has other IT exoerience. . Does he need to take the course again or is the TTT sufficient?

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I know this is a necrobump, but A+ has changed quite a bit since 1999...

Would I ask a prospective instructor to take the entire course again? absolutely not! In fact, if an employer told me to take an entire A+ course, just to teach a course for that employer, I'd tell them thanks but no thanks, and withdraw my application.

the TTT would be nice, but that wouldn't be something I mandated... but it should be in the resources I profile him)

What I would do is require any new instructor to hold a current cert for the course they are going to teach (and GFL and ce certs are not the same). I'd provide the voucher so he wouldn't have to buy it himself, but no one should be teaching a course unless they have passed that exam. When I started in my current role, my director told me I needed to take the ITF exam to teach the course. I have ~20 years in IT... and passed the exam

here is my perspective: if he has 20 years of experience, and he is up to date on his knowledge, then he should have no issues passing the exam.

If he can't, do I really want him teaching a course for an exam that he couldn't pass?

You're right @Dan—experience is often the missing link for many entering the cybersecurity field. To address this, candidates should complement their certifications and degrees with internships, hands-on projects, or part-time roles to build practical skills. Engaging with professional networks and seeking mentorship can also help bridge the experience gap and improve job prospects.

my students get free access to https://www.oreilly.com/online-learning/, LinkedIn learning, and some other resources, as part of their enrollment in the program. Here is the list of resources I share with them, in case they want to use other resources

Gregory Childers said:

I've found that to be true for every CompTIA course. I get people with no technical experience taking CySA+ or beyond. CompTIA should start enforcing prerequisites. Failure to do so is doing a disservice to the students. Too many unscrupulous training companies and salespeople are telling students they can sign up for any class they want, which leaves the trainers stuck with students who can't handle the materials.

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not only that, but people think that if they pass CASP+, they can get a job in security... despite most security jobs requiring several years of experience.

These cybersecurity bootcamps and universities are doing the same thing with graduate degrees in cyber security: give us lots of money, we will give you a piece of paper, and since there is such a skills demand, you will join a growing field.... completely ignoring the fact that most new grads won't get a security role without years of experience, even if they graduated from a BootCamp or have a masters in cybersecurity.

Chris Posey said:

When students reach out and ask me for additional training materials, we often share Jason Dion in Udemy and Mike Meyers. Does anyone else have a go-to training program that they share that doesn't go against CompTIA guidelines?

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When my students ask, I recommend a few, trusted resources:

• Mike Meyers: All-in-One Certification Exam Guide
• Mike Chapple: CompTIA A+ CertMike: Prepare. Practice. Pass the Test! Get Certified
• David Prowse: Exam Cram
• Professor Messer- his website: www.professormesser.com. Encourage them to purchase the bundle with the notes and practice test. Also, better to watch from his website. If you watch from youtube.com, then you get all the crappy commercials.
• Jeff T Parker, Audrey O'Shea: CompTIA A+ Practice Tests: Core 1 Exam 220-1101 and Core 2 Exam 220-1102, 3rd Edition. The book has a great online test bank that will give you 1400 questions spread across Core 1 and Core 2 (about 13, 70 question exams, and it will track how many unanswered questions you have, how many answered questions you have, and how many wrong answers you have for the questions banks, plus give you the option of setting up which of these banks you want to use to create questions, and you can do them in exam mode or in practice mode).

My favorite of all of them are either Professor Messer, if you're pressed for time, or Exam Cram, if you've got time to spare. I recommend using them together to supplement each other, and then use the Sybex as a starter test bank, then move to Professor Messer in exam mode (where you have to time the exam yourself) as you are closer to the exam. Now, if your students use Sybex for their test bank, they will need to use their own timer, because Sybex automatically gives 2 minutes per question. That's tomfoolery. They should set their clocks for 1 minute per question and set the alarm to go off for the appropriate time. I recommend for 70 questions, because it's the most realistic. Realistically, you'll get (usually, I guess) 3- 5 PBQs. That leaves 70 questions for Core 2 and 65 questions for Core 1.

As an extra push for Exam Cram- David Prowse is my man! He is on point! And I believe you get access to his online content when you buy the book, which is excellent. He broke down those laser printers, and it was real! I just frikkin' love his book so much.

DLRoss

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Rasheed Koudmani said:

Hi James. If you mean the official exam at Pearson Vue to get the certification then the students don’t do this on the Friday they get to do it in their own time after class completion. We do however get them to do the end of course practice exam that is in the learning portal on the last day to see how much they learnt.

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Thank you. I was curious as we have our first 009 class starting the 21st.

Mark Anthony Germanos said:

We'll be looking for your playlist on Monday morning. Good day Rick.

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Well, so it begins - the beginnings of my first album, Vegas is for Losers - everything in big band jazz with a cynical tone

Congrats, that's awesome! What did you think of the exam?

Hi James. If you mean the official exam at Pearson Vue to get the certification then the students don’t do this on the Friday they get to do it in their own time after class completion. We do however get them to do the end of course practice exam that is in the learning portal on the last day to see how much they learnt.

I noticed the same lack of slides for 4.6.

Lee McWhorter said:

Think your questions was answered, but thought I'd throw this in here anyway

CompTIA Certifications

gateway.on24.com

Lee

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Thank you!

Sukanya

Lee McWhorter said:

ON24 changed a lot of stuff and links, and some were taken down. But you can still find some here:

CompTIA Certifications

gateway.on24.com

Lee

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Thank you so much! The link works perfectly. You did an excellent job teaching the series.

Sukanya

Thanks so much @Lee McWhorter for the suggestions! Hack the Box and TryHackMe are great for hands-on learning, and I'll definitely incorporate the Social Engineering Toolkit more.

Think your questions was answered, but thought I'd throw this in here anyway


Lee

ON24 changed a lot of stuff and links, and some were taken down. But you can still find some here:


Lee

All good suggestions above, I'd add Hack the box along with Try hack me and Social Engineering toolkit for more phishing stuff. The GNS3 topology I provided as part of the PenTest+ TTTs allows for hydra and attacks to be run as well and you can even view the logs on the attacked system to teach some red / blue together.

So when will they come out and what is next TTT?

Stephen Schneiter said:

Hi @Ronald, Thanks for the inquiry. There has never been any requirement to be a CompTIA Trainer or a Certified CompTIA Trainer. I would like to have one, as I think it helps trainers stand out when promoting their skills. CompTIA has always suggested that a trainer hold the certification they are teaching, which I highly agree with. However, there are no official rules for being able to teach towards CompTIA Certifications.

The CTT+ certification was geared primarily toward folks coming from industry moving into the training field. The goal was to provide skills for managing a training environment and technologies used to deliver content and engage students. While this certification was good for proving the holder had the skills required to deliver a course successfully, CompTIA never required a trainer to hold the certification.

CompTIA actually retired and dropped the CTT+ certification. It desperately needed to be updated to current training delivery technologies, and the cost to update the product was just too high compared to the overall lack of interest in the certification.

CompTIA is developing a training delivery course that, when completed, will serve as a training course for those looking to enter the training field. The course will be just that: a short training course without a high-stakes certification. I do not have any update on when this type of course will be publically available. We will definitely keep you posted on any announcements!

With that said, what are the thoughts of the community? What do you think should be offered? Do you think a stand-alone certification similar to CTT+ would be of value? Who would sit for the certification?

Looking forward to the feedback!

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Sorry, this will be long...

As a former SME for this exam (2Xs), I was very sad to see it go. In addition, the organization I work with had it as a requirement for all new instructors w/i 6mos of employment. To my knowledge there is no industry wide certification for technical instructors.

Personally I see a reason for dropping this exam being that the demand was dropping, however; I don't think having to update for different platforms and technologies, adding to the cost of the exam is really necessary.

insert My .02

I have been teaching technical courses for over a decade and a half, and I have a very brief car sales background (IKR). When I was selling cars, the sales manager once told me that a good salesman can sell anything. I believe that applies to instructors as well, to a point. If you know your topic and you can teach, you can teach it. It is a skill that you can have naturally or learn, but at the end of a day it is a skill that can be applied to any topic you have sufficient knowledge of. What is my point...

The CTT+ exam was a very good way to assess an individual's basic grasp of teaching skills. While I had an issue with some of the minutia looked for in the video portion of the Exam that were really just check the box items that you would never do outside the first day of a class ( how's the temp, lighting, ; where is the breakroom and bathroom etc) The video assessment combined with the knowledge test was a good test of the instructor. I do think one of the issues with the CTT+ exam was cost, and that could be fixed IMO by combining and averaging the two tests instead of 2 separate exams.

Let the CTT+ exam be to teach and assess an individual's teaching skills, not their proficiency with a given technology, or any new technology that presents itself. A good instructor uses technology to enhance their teaching but should never be beholden to it. I think if CompTIA could focus on teaching skills, ethics, and conduct instead of worrying about technologies It could be a VERRYYY good Certification, and a quality way to certify an instructor

Just my .02 and it may not be worth that

Rasheed Koudmani said:

Hello CIN Team,

Firstly, thank you Stephen and Don for a fantastic TTT series. I really enjoyed it.

I finally got my hands on the instructor resources for this new version of Network+ and I was looking at the pacing guide. I'm interested in the 5 day pacing which is what my academy is delivering courses to. I noticed that the 5 day sheet in the pacing guide has you doing 20 hour per day for 5 days I also noted that there were around 160 short labs for the learners to do which aren't part of the pacing. I thought the latest Sec+ (701) planner did a pretty good job of breaking things out into what to do in class and how to pace over 5 days. Does anyone have any recommendation on teaching over 5 days or is there a better planner in the works somewhere ?

Thanks
Rasheed

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Quick question are your students testing on Friday or at some later time? Or some combination of both?

precious said:

Yeah after all it's once in a while

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Yes it is @precious

Emmanuel Phakula Mandala said:

@Rick Butler Likewise, if CompTIA were to offer this, I wouldn’t hesitate. This is a big event to attend

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Yeah after all it's once in a while