-: Congratulations, you made it to the end of the course.
Now throughout our time together,
we have covered everything you need to know
in order to understand all five domains covered
by the CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1101 Certification exam.
Let's review those five domains
one more time at a high level.
Now I know we didn't cover these domains
and their objectives in a linear or sequential order
as we went through the lessons in this course
and that's okay.
I covered all the material from them
but I rearranged it to hopefully make it easier
for you to learn everything you need to know for the exam.
Now I can tell you from over 20 years
of personal experience taking CompTIA exams,
CompTIA is not known
for ordering their domains or objectives
in the most straightforward way sometimes,
and the objectives aren't designed to be taught
in the order listed in the PDF of the exam objectives,
but I promise we did cover all of those objectives
and every bulleted item underneath them in this course.
Now if you need to go back and review
any specific objective,
you can always look back at the title of each video
in this course because I clearly labeled them
with the relevant objective
in parentheses after their name.
Now as we look at these,
we have first domain one.
Domain one was all about mobile devices
and it makes up 15% of your exam questions.
This domain was focused on your ability
to install and configure laptops
and other mobile devices
such as smartphones, tablets, and wearables,
as well as your ability to support applications
on these various devices
and ensure connectivity for your end users.
Domain two is networking
and it makes up 20% of your exam questions.
Now this domain is focused on your ability
to explain the types of networks
and connections available in your workplace
including TCP/IP, Wi-Fi,
small office/home office equipment and configurations,
and other things like that.
As we went through that domain,
we were focused on your ability
of both looking at the internal network known as the LAN,
as well as your external network connectivity,
things like your cable modems, fiber modems,
and other types of internet connections.
Next, we had domain three, which is hardware,
and it makes up 25% of your exam questions.
This domain was focused on your ability to identify,
use and connect hardware components and devices
including how different devices
are going to be used to support a remote or hybrid workforce.
When you think about this domain,
remember to think about motherboards, processors,
memory, storage drives, expansion cards,
and all of those other hardware components
that are combined to create a functioning computer,
workstation or server.
Then, we had domain four
and domain four was virtualization and the cloud
and it makes up 11% of your exam questions.
This domain was actually the shortest domain
and smallest one on the exam
but it's still critically important
in today's modern enterprise networks
because so many organizations
place heavy emphasis on migrating into the cloud
and getting away from their own servers and data centers.
You're going to be expected to be able to compare and contrast
different cloud computing deployment and delivery models,
as well as your ability to understand virtualization
and how it works to support these cloud-based architectures
come exam day.
The final domain we had was domain five,
which is hardware and network troubleshooting,
and it's going to make up 29% of your exam questions.
This domain was actually focused on your ability
to troubleshoot real-world device and network issues
quickly and efficiently
using the CompTIA troubleshooting methodology
and applying your knowledge
from the other four domains we covered
in order to answer questions
about how to solve a given problem
or identify a root cause
that's being experienced by an end user.
So as you can see,
this is all stuff we covered as we went through the course
and took our time going through it together.
Now I truly hope you enjoyed my approach
of starting out with hardware,
then moving into virtualization,
the cloud, networking, mobile devices, printers,
and then finally troubleshooting
because I really do believe
this is the best way for you to learn this
as you're trying to get ready for your A+ exam.
Now I know we covered a ton of information in this course
and you're probably excited to schedule your Core 1 exam.
Take that test and complete your first of two tests
to become CompTIA A+ certified.
But before you do,
I recommend that you stick around
until the end of this lesson
where I'm going to give you my top five tips and tricks
for raising your score on the A+ exam
and getting certified on your first attempt.
After all, this exam can be expensive for a lot of people
and you probably don't have to pay for it twice.
Speaking of taking the exam,
how do you sign up and schedule your exam?
Well, you could take it
at any Pearson VUE Testing Center worldwide
at a local testing center.
Personally, I've taken exams all over the world
including North and South America, over in Asia,
and even in the Middle East at local testing centers.
These days though,
you can also take your certification exam online
from the comfort of your home or office
if you want to use the Pearson VUE OnVUE testing system.
To do this, you must be in a room where you can be alone,
have a good internet connection
and a webcam so the live proctor can see you
during that exam to ensure there's no cheating going on.
Personally, I've taken a handful of exams
using this service as well
and it works pretty good most of the time.
Now to take the exam,
you do need to purchase an exam voucher.
And then, you can schedule the day and time
that you want to take your exam.
You can buy the exam voucher directly through Pearson VUE
when you schedule your exam at pearsonvue.com
or you can buy it directly at the CompTIA webstore
at store.comptia.org.
If you do either of these options,
you are going to pay the full retail price
for that exam voucher based on the location
where you're going to be taking the exam
because CompTIA uses different pricing
based on different countries around the world.
But if you'd like to pre-purchase your exam voucher
before scheduling your exam with Pearson VUE,
you can actually save 10% off the retail price
by going to diontraining.com/vouchers.
From here, you can select the voucher you need,
which country you're going to be taking the exam in,
and then purchase your exam voucher directly from us
if we carry the voucher for your particular country.
Currently, we carry vouchers
for over 50 countries around the world,
so it's worth taking a look at diontraining.com/vouchers
to see if we carry one for where you live
and see if you can save yourself some money.
Now as a CompTIA Platinum delivery partner,
we receive a special discount rate on these exam vouchers
and we pass those savings onto our students.
When you order the voucher from our website,
you're going to receive a unique one time use voucher code
and you'll also get free access
to our fully searchable library of CompTIA videos
to help you with any last minute studying you have
as you're getting ready for that exam.
Now once you have that code,
you'll then go over to pearsonvue.com
and you can schedule the exam for any day
and time that you prefer
and pick whether you're going to take it
at a local testing center
or online using the OnVUE system.
So if you're willing to take one extra step
by going to diontraining.com/vouchers first,
you're going to save 10% or more
off the cost of your exam voucher
and get free access to our searchable library as a bonus.
All right, now as promised,
here are my top five tips to increasing your score
on the CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1101 exam.
First, use a cheat sheet.
Now, you're not actually allowed to carry anything
into the exam with you,
especially if you're going to a local testing center,
but they are going to give you a whiteboard or dry erase sheet
that's a size of about a piece of printer paper.
Now if you're taking the exam online,
they're going to give you access to a digital whiteboard
that you can use for the same purpose.
Now as soon as the clock starts,
I want you to brain dump stuff like ports,
terms or anything else that you might forget
by the time you get to question 66 and beyond.
I recommend that you use the first one to three minutes
of your exam time
writing things down on the whiteboard they give you.
It will come in handy on the exam later on,
I promise you.
Second, skip the sims.
Simulations or performance-based question,
as CompTIA likes to call them,
are usually going to be your first three to five questions
on the exam.
Now most students find these
to be the hardest questions on the exam
and the most time consuming.
Now my recommendation is that when the exam starts,
you simply mark those for review, skip them,
and do all of your multiple choice questions first.
Then at the end,
you can go back and do those PBQs or simulations.
When you're going through the exam the first time,
I don't even want you to read the simulations.
I just want you to mark them for review,
skip them, and move on.
By doing this, you're going to gain confidence
during the multiple choice questions.
They're going to help you during the simulations.
Once you finish
going through all those multiple choice questions,
then go back to the simulations and do them.
Students who use this technique
tend to see their score rise by at least 5%
over those who don't.
So please skip the sims.
Third, take a guess.
If you're in doubt, just take a guess.
There is no penalty for guessing wrong answers.
So when you're in doubt,
try to eliminate as many choices as possible
and guess between the remaining choices.
Multiple choice questions only have four options, right?
So if you can figure out that one or two of them
simply can't be right because they're just distractors,
you've already exponentially increased your chances
of guessing the right answer from the remaining options.
So guess when you're in doubt.
Fourth, pick the best time for the exam.
Are you a morning person or a night person?
Pick the time of day that's going to work best for you.
Don't try to squeeze the exam in
after working a long day at the office either.
Personally, I like to schedule my exams around 10 AM.
That way, I can take the day off of work.
I don't have to wake up super early
and I can avoid rush hour traffic
if I'm going in person to a testing center.
Also, schedule it so you have enough time
to relax before the exam.
There is nothing worse than getting to the testing center
exactly at 9:59 when your exam is scheduled for 10 AM.
Be at least 20 to 30 minutes early.
Get comfortable at the facility.
Use the restroom if you need to.
And then, go take the exam.
It will help increase your score, I promise.
A quick side note here,
if you're taking the exam online,
that online proctor is not going to let you use the restroom
once you start the exam,
so make sure that you go
before you log in for that exam.
Otherwise, you could end up taking the exam
with your legs crossed
and that'll be a really long 90 minutes for you.
My fifth and final tip is be confident.
You've got this!
When you're walking into that testing center
or your home office if you're taking it online,
you shouldn't be wondering yourself,
hmm, am I going to pass?
No, you know you're going to pass.
You're already confident about it.
You should have already studied
all the information in this course.
You've watched the videos.
You've taken the quizzes.
You've downloaded the study notes and reviewed them.
If you're not confident right now,
then wait a few days before you schedule your exam.
And in the meantime,
take a bunch of high quality practice exams.
In this course,
I've included multiple full-length practice exams
that'll help you determine
if you're ready for the real thing.
Take those practice exams.
If you're not scoring high enough,
re-study those areas that you missed
by rewatching the corresponding lessons.
Then, take the exam again.
If you're still not confident,
go and take some more practice exams
from a good authorized source or textbook.
This course does require that you pass three practice exams
to complete the course
and be eligible for your 60-day 100% pass guarantee.
But those three practice exams
are actually made up of questions
from my practice exam database
that contains over 600 questions.
Each time you take the practice exams,
you're going to get a different mix of questions
so that you can make sure
that you're really ready for the exam
and you can continue to use them for additional practice
even after you've passed it three times
because we keep your highest scores only.
Now when you take a practice exam,
your goal is not to memorize the answer key.
After all, I wrote all of these questions,
and CompTIA writes the official exam questions.
That means you're not going to see any of my questions
on their exam word for word
but the same concepts are going to be on the exam,
and I try my best to mimic the way
the real exam writers write those questions
so you'll be well prepared.
So please, do yourself a favor
and don't try to memorize my answer key as A, B, C, or D
and expect to pass the real exam.
Instead, you need to understand
why the right answer was right
and the wrong answers are wrong.
If you could do that,
you're going to be able to pass
no problem come test day.
Wen you review your practice exam result,
I've provided you with detailed explanations
for every single question in our practice exams.
Take the time to read those and learn from your mistakes
and you're going to do great on the real certification exam.
All right, if you follow my five tips,
you are going to be ready to take and pass
your CompTIA A+ Core 1 220-1101 exam
on your first attempt.
Now I know you're going to do great on the exam
so keep studying.
Take the exam and let me know when you pass.
Notice I said when not if.
I am confident in your ability to conquer this exam.
And when you do, I want to hear about it.
Post about it on Facebook or LinkedIn and tag me in it.
Share your success story in our Facebook group
or go ahead and post it in the Q and A for this course.
Your fellow students and I
want to hear about your success
and what worked for you,
and I know you're going to be super excited
when you receive that passing score come test day.
So once again,
congratulations on making it to the end of the course.
Let's go ahead and put all your new found knowledge to work
in the practice exam.
Good luck and I hope to see you again in a future course
as you continue to climb the ladder
in your cybersecurity career.