CompTIA A+ Study Tips That Actually Work
By: Tyler Harris
Tags: Comptia, Technology, Self Improvement, Certification, Comptia Certifications

Study Effectively — The Method

This process evolved out of my own study efforts over several months. It became developed in this form by around the time I passed the 1002 exam and began studying for the Network+ exam, which I will detail in another post. I used this method to study for and pass both the Network+ and Security+ in just under two months each. Had I done this for the entirety of the A+, I would have just passed sooner.

Using the official CompTIA material, you will know some of it already. For example, if you do not know what a mouse or a monitor does, you should probably consider doing something else with your life. Any question you get wrong or have to guess to get an answer, Certmaster will show you the right answer and why after a few questions. HAND WRITE THE ANSWERS WORD FOR WORD ON PAPER FIRST, preferably with white paper and blue ink (Yes, I know there’s a lot of hippy dippy nonsense out there about this, but there’s just something about this that actually works.).

Writing it down first word for word from Certmaster onto paper really does make the information stick much better. I have found this to be true with myself as well as all the students who apply this technique. To give a sense of scale, I had 30–50 pages of notes for each of the four exams (1001, 1002, Network+, Security+).

After about half of a major chapter (there are 5 or 6 major sections for each exam) of handwritten notes, then go type the notes in your word processor of choice BY READING FROM THE HANDWRITTEN NOTES NOT COPY/PASTING FROM CERTMASTER. Typing from handwritten notes refreshes the mind with all the memories of reading the right answers, writing them out, and now typing gives a third type of mental stimulus that helps the material stick better. Loop this process until the end of each major section.

Next, record yourself teach yourself each point from the notes. At least use some kind of audio recorder, but a screen capture with audio or video with audio is preferable. In addition to reviewing the material with another type of stimulus, you also make recordings that you can play in the background when you are alone or bored. You do not need to ever show these to anyone, but this really does help. Listening back to these recordings is another form of mental stimulus that helps you absorb the information and quite granular details. It does not have to be great; it just has to work good enough for you.

There will certainly be questions that you keep getting wrong, so loop the write it, type it, record it, listen to it method until it is burned into your mind. I had to do this process five or six times for some specific information that was giving me a lot of trouble. If it seems like a lot of work to pass an exam that is going to require several hours of dedicated study just about every day for months on end, you are 100% right.

Somewhat counter intuitively, I have discovered that this reduces the overall study time for students because it takes fewer touches for each point of material than reading and practice questions alone. Getting all the variety of methods of stimulus for the material makes the internalization process work much better. My students who stick to the method do better, pass faster, and understand the material better than those who do not follow the process.