CompTIA ITF+ – A Gateway to your IT career
The CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+) is considered to be the most basic certification you can ever get. If you are thinking about learning one of the famous IT skills in the market or joining one of those most expensive boot camps to kick start your IT career, STOP! we would suggest you try this certification first. You may be a fresher just out of college looking to start your new career or you could be one of those frustrated professionals looking for a career change in IT, CompTIA ITF+ certification focuses on all IT essentials and basic concepts that will help you decide whether you want to pursue the career or not.
Why should you go with CompTIA ITF+ certification?
Firstly, CompTIA is one of the most recognized certification bodies among employers in the world. And, most of them might advise you to start with CompTIA A+ certification instead of ITF+. You should know that the CompTIA ITF+ certification actually teaches you about the basics of IT Infrastructure, Applications, Software, Database, and Security, whereas the A+ deals with more advanced topics like Operating systems, Networking, Cybersecurity, etc.
To earn CompTIA ITF+ certification, you need not have any prior knowledge or experience in IT. In fact, IT-based organizations recommend their Sales, Marketing, and Finance professionals complete CompTIA ITF+ certification to have a basic knowledge about their business operation. With this certification, you learn different branches of IT that will further help you to decide on which role you want to pursue – Networking, Application / Software development, Database management, or Information security.
After completing this certification, if you are still looking to start your IT career, you would have definitely decided which way you want to go. This is where you can decide your own career track and boot camps.
What do you learn in CompTIA ITF+ Certification?
The CompTIA ITF+ exam covers the following topics and concepts:
- IT Concepts and Terminology – Illustrate the basics of computing and processing.
- Infrastructure – Explain the purpose of common internal computing components and basic networking concepts.
- Application and Software – Explain the purpose and proper use of software and methods of application architecture.
- Software Development – Compare and Contrast programming language categories.
- Database Fundamentals – Explain database concepts and the purpose of a database.
- Security – Explain methods to secure devices and best practices.
From the above topics, you can start learning from what is a computer, its hardware, software, network infrastructure for communication, databases that run, storage units that store data, and different equipment supporting the entire process. From there, with all these cyber crimes going on today, you should also learn about securing all these items from malpractices.
With all these topics, you are given with an introduction of entire field of Information Technology from which you can then choose which part you want to learn.
How can you obtain CompTIA ITF+ certification?
The CompTIA ITF+ certification can be obtained by attending a certification exam that comes with an exam code FC0-U61. The exam consists of 75 multiple-choice questions that are mostly based on real-time scenarios and case studies. You have to complete them in 60 minutes and the passing score will be 650 on a scale of 900. Further, this exam can be attended either online or in a designated Pearson VUE testing center available near you.
The exam will cost you $130 USD and once completed, it is considered to be valid for life. You can find more details regarding available exam centers and other details about the exam on CompTIA’s website.
Where can you prepare for CompTIA ITF+ certification?
You can find hundreds and thousands of training programs, reference material, practice questions, discussion forums, and ebooks online. However, some of them are the most trusted and preferred sources.
CompTIA itself offers its own practice material, Exam prep bundle, and eLearning bundle for preparing CompTIA ITF+ certification, at different pricing options. They have been one of the most effective ways to prepare for the certification. However, there are other options available for candidates who are looking to train themselves at lower or no-cost options.
Online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Whizlab, Edureka, EDX, Khan’s Academy, and many more are available that offer interactive self-learning programs, instructor-led classes, hundreds of practical case studies, and wide community forums for useful interactions between the candidates.
In addition to these online platforms, social media platforms such as Youtube, LinkedIn, Quora, and Facebook offer learners a free learning option where industry experts present tutorial videos and material free of cost, just as a means to share their knowledge.
How can I prepare for CompTIA ITF+ certification free of cost?
Some of the Youtube channels offering free training programs in CompTIA ITF+ certification are Master IT Certification Training, Tech Gee, ITProTV, and many more. Some of the well-known Facebook pages offering this training are New Zealand Skills and Education College, V Academy, GlobalKnowledgePhilippines, SkillsCampus, and Micro Corporate Training.
If you search any of the social media platforms with the keyword of “CompTIA ITF+ certification”, you can find hundreds more at your convenience. It is also a fact that a candidate can learn more effectively when a person is taught in his / her own language and accent. So, you also have a choice of opting for some of the training programs even in your own regional languages.
How can you approach preparing for this certification?
You can easily prepare for any exam, whether it is CompTIA ITF+ certification or any other certification if you carefully devise your plan and strategy. Let me provide you with some useful tips to prepare for the certification.
- First of all, you should have that passion to pursue this career. This will drive you to achieve anything in your life.
- Read the complete exam details on the CompTIA website, and understand the complete list of topics covered in the exam. This will help you understand the scope of the exam.
- A practical approach is very important when learning about the technology. So, learn the concepts thoroughly by considering their practical application and not merely as a concept.
- Design a suitable study schedule accordingly to your learning speed, time of the study, and the environment required for learning.
- Select your training tools and reference material that suits your learning process. Even the accent and difference in the teaching speed of an instructor can affect your learning process.
- Solve as many practice questions and tests as possible to have a grip on the question models and understand the real time scenarios used in the questions.
- While practicing with model question, you will find certain topics to be difficult or you may score lesser marks. Find those topics and concentrate more on them by practicing questions in those topics in particular.
- If you need help in understanding certain topics, find help from friends, colleagues or anyone who might be an expert in the field.
- In addition, join online communities and forums to discuss any doubts you may have. And, you can also find new preparation tips from the candidates who have already cleared the certification.
- Relax between the topics during your preparation.
- Rest well, keep cool on the exam day, and log in for the exam before the scheduled time so that there are no last-minute problems.
What are certification dumps and can you use them?
The certification dumps are the list of questions and answers that were asked in the previous exams. If you search for question dumps in Google, you can find a number of links offering CompTIA ITF+ certification model questions and questions shared by candidates who have already appeared in the previous exams. All these dumps shared by people online are free of cost. In addition, practice test question dumps are also offered by online learning platforms like Udemy, Whizlab, Ucertify, cbtnuggets, and packtpub.
However, we strongly recommend that candidates should first prepare themselves with all available training and reference material. Once when they are trained and ready to appear for the exam, the above question dumps can be used to further practice for the exam by using these questions as mock exams before the actual exam date. In this way, candidates can learn about the question types and tricks. Further, when you appear on the real exam, you will be ready with a plan in advance.
On the other hand, there are certain websites like prepaway.com, examdumps.co, dumpsgate.com, certkiller.net, certbolt.com, and braindumps.com that offer CompTIA ITF+ certification question dumps for a certain cost. These questions are generally considered to be obtained from illegal sources and using these dumps is considered to be illegal by all means.
We do not recommend any candidates use these types of certification dumps. If a candidate is caught to be appearing in an exam after using these types of dumps, the candidate could be banned for life. After all, you are learning this certification only to start a career.
Conclusion
Now, you know Why you study, What you study, Where you study and How you study the Comptia ITF+ certification. At the same time, it is also a fact that the certification exam is not that difficult to pass. After completion of this certification, if you are still wondering which skill to proceed with in the future, simply have a look at the CompTIA ITF+ exam mark sheet. You can simply go with the topic in which you have scored the most.
