Passed the A+ this week! Sharing the index and categorized notes I made that helped me clear the test in a couple of weeks.

Find the notes here guys: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1roVoc4Y5UGFo3X6JQTifdxMKClVmU-dE?usp=sharing

Particularly proud of the 'Protocols and Ports' notes! For the Linux notes, focus on the shell commands and the file permissions.

Resources used: Dion's 6-practice tests for each exam, did each exam two to three times before attempting the respective certification test.

Total time spent on prep: Close to two weeks total, one for each part of the test.

My background: I'm a long time hardware nerd and enthusiast, been building custom PCs since the late 2000s. Also hold a Computer Engineering degree and a Masters in CS. Have worked as a cloud developer at Oracle for nearly 5 years. Total industry experience of 6 years.

Despite the above, I was taken aback at the sheer breadth of topics covered by the A+ and actually learnt a bunch! Was definitely underestimating it going into it but came out humbled and also brushed up on many topics!

Reason for obtaining the A+ cert: Recently immigrated to Canada, job market sucks, hoping to get a technician/help-desk gig to tide over this time but many places ask for this cert first, so thought I'd wrap it up in a couple of weeks. Also hoping to transition into cybersecurity so thought A+ and Net+ would serve as good refreshers before diving into the Sec+ and other cloud security/architect and CISSP certs.

Hope the notes prove helpful to folk here! Cheers for a happy weekend and best of luck on your cert pursuits! On to Net+ for me!