Now that's a great first post.

Welcome, thanks, and I'm sure other lurkers will find this very helpful.

Don

Don,
Thank you, and I hope so.

MaXe,
Excellent advice, and I will strive to heed it. How would you recommend someone who has never benefited from self-examination begin that process?

My experience with Net+
Study Material:
Mike Meyers' CompTIA Network+ Certification Passport. Third Edition.

In my arrogance, I felt I had plenty of experience to take the Net+ test with little to no formal preparation. Fortunately, I was right. I've worked help desk and desk side support on-and-off for about 10 years. I never bothered to certify before because, to be honest, I never intended to stay in tech.

The Passport series was produced in order to create crammed little guides that had just the required information. All the fluff and extra explanation cut out, I don't really see this being useful for someone who isn't just using it as a refresher.


My experience with Security+
Study Material:
CompTIA Security+ All-in-One Exam Guide, Second Edition (Exam SY0-201)
CompTIA Security+: Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-201 Study Guide
TrainSignal CompTIA Security+ Training

My experience with Security was a bit more limited; so, I wasn't quite as arrogant. And, I think perhaps I went a little overboard. I started with the All-in-One Guide and TrainSignal videos. Then, I felt I was almost ready, but wanted to make sure. So, I picked up the Get Certified Get Ahead book. In total, I crammed for a little over a month then took the test.

Out of those, if I could only choose one, it'd be the Get Ahead Get Certified guide. The TrainSignal can be pricy if you don't have assistance from your employer, that and I find training videos tend to be too slow paced - and at best slightly more helpful than annoying. The All-in-One is absolute information overload. It breaks down the cryptography explaining the formulas behind each type... in my naivety, I panicked and started forcing myself to memorize the formulas. I'm sure that'll pay off eventually, but right now, it's overkill.



See, I told you that my feedback on how I certified would be boring. But don't despair! I've prepared something to help out those who haven't had the benefit of living through my mistakes.


A better way of going about Certifications, using Net+ as an example

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in pedagogy. This is not the best answer for all people, it'd just probably be the best for me, so I'm sharing it with you as a starting place.

Get to know the certification objectives
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Network_Plus_Certification/Objectives

No, don't just glance at them and say "uh huh," read them.
Better, don't just read them. Write them down, and answer them without reference.

Example:
1.7 Compare the characteristics of wireless communication standards.
Ummm, lets see there are a, b, g, and n... I've never really encountered a, so I'm not sure. B is 11Mb/s, G is 54mb/s, and I don't know about n.

Great! You've left out a lot of information, but taken the first step.

But wait, I can hear you whine, "~but there are 35 objectives in Net+!"

True, but I didn't say to do them all in one sitting. And you do want to get the most out of your expensive study guide(s) right? That's why you explore the objectives before you even crack a book. Take a week or two doing a little each day.

"~but I'm a complete n00b! I have no idea what I'm doing!"

Ok, check out a study guide from the library, read it - don't study too hard, just familiarize yourself with the terminology and ideas. Then take a look at the objectives. After that, get a different study guide, one you can write in.