Network Management Strategies for the CIO
CompTIA certification programs are the recognized industry standards for foundation-level information technology (IT) skills. The best known of these certifications
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are the A+ certification and
Network+ certification.
While the cost of these exams varies between countries, typically these exams are expensive. To know the precise cost of the exam in your country, visit the official CompTIA A+ Exam Pricing page.
Before you sit for the exam make sure that you are prepared to pass the first time. For most exams the full exam fee is charged for each re-take so an exam re-take would have financial implications.
While the exam are expensive (but well worth it) a good understanding of various discount options can help to considerably lower the fee.
CompTIA provides discount to corporate members. If you are required to take the exam by a corporate employer, ensure that you check with the company regarding the eligibility of corporate membership discount.
Discount options are also available to individual non-member exam takers through coupons known as "vouchers." Vouchers are a convenient way to pre-pay for the exam at a discounted price. While vouchers can provide a significant cost saving, it is important to have a good understanding about vouchers and how they work. Given below are some essential facts that you should know:
- Vouchers for an exam need to be purchased and are rarely ever available for free.
- The exam may be given either at a Pearson VUE center or a Thompson Prometric center. Each
organization has it's own vouchers that can not be redeemed at the other organization. Since the
exam price is same at sites of both companies, most students prefer to give the exam at the test
center closest to their place.
- Typical saving through a voucher can be 10%-45% of the exam price.
- All A+ vouchers are pre-paid and not purchased at the test site at the time of exam.
- Much like coupons, vouchers expire and cannot be extended beyond expiration date. Be sure to
check the expiry date of the voucher before making a purchase. In general, the closer the expiry
date on the voucher, the larger is the discount offered. These high discount vouchers are sometimes
also described as "early expiry vouchers" or "short term vouchers". You MUST register for the exam
before the expiry of the voucher to get the discount.
- Vouchers may have limited geographical applicability such as some may be valid only at US and
Canadian testing centers whereas others maybe valid internationally.
- Refund or exchange is typically not permitted, so be sure when you make the purchase.
- As per CompTIA requirement vouchers are sold by vendors bundled with study products such as
study guides etc
- You can get vouchers either as a electronic copy delivered via email or as a hard copy (delivered via snail mail).
To find out deals on vouchers, check the offers and deal section of the ProProfs Discussion Forum on the exam. Also check the CompTIA store for any deals that they may have.
All in all, CompTIA exams may be expensive but is well worth money even at full price. The large number of benefits ranging from increased career opportunities to direct salary raise, make passing the exam a smart investment in both time and money!
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ProProfs Free
Online Network+ Certification School provides free study aids for the Network+ exam such as
study guides, practice exams and practice questions. ProProfs online learning center for Comptia
Network+ exam is located at: http://www.ProProfs.com/certification/comptia/network-plus/index.shtml
This was first published in September 2006
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