[petekjohnson]

I am interested in getting some of Apple's certifications. I've looked through the Skills Assessment Guides on their certification web site, and feel pretty comfortable that I already know a good portion of what I need to know, but I don't want to waste the money taking exams until I'm sure I will ace them.

Several years ago, I got a book called "Mac OS X Administration Basics", part of t he Exam Cram series from Coriolis publishers. This book is specifically for preparting for the exam 9L0-500 and covers basic topics but was published during the days of 10.1. I have searched and searched and cannot find any updated titles anywhere that are geared for preparing for the current line-up of exams.

There are three "IT" certifications offered by Apple:

- Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist (ACHDS)
- Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC)
- Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA)

Of these, I would prefer to go for the ACSA because it appears to be the most advanced and would encompass the other two.

Does anybody have any suggestions for where I can find some resources for exam preparation? I'm not in a position to drop $1500-2000 for the official training, which would be a waste since I already know 75% of the material with my hands behind my back.

Please write me directly at pete_johnson@mac.com

Thanks,

Pete

[CatOne]

Originally posted by petekjohnson:
I am interested in getting some of Apple's certifications. I've looked through the Skills Assessment Guides on their certification web site, and feel pretty comfortable that I already know a good portion of what I need to know, but I don't want to waste the money taking exams until I'm sure I will ace them.

Several years ago, I got a book called "Mac OS X Administration Basics", part of t he Exam Cram series from Coriolis publishers. This book is specifically for preparting for the exam 9L0-500 and covers basic topics but was published during the days of 10.1. I have searched and searched and cannot find any updated titles anywhere that are geared for preparing for the current line-up of exams.

There are three "IT" certifications offered by Apple:

- Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist (ACHDS)
- Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC)
- Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA)

Of these, I would prefer to go for the ACSA because it appears to be the most advanced and would encompass the other two.

Does anybody have any suggestions for where I can find some resources for exam preparation? I'm not in a position to drop $1500-2000 for the official training, which would be a waste since I already know 75% of the material with my hands behind my back.

Please write me directly at pete_johnson@mac.com

Thanks,

Pete

There aren't any 3rd party preparation guides that I'm aware of. And documentation on OS X Server is a bit sparse.

Best advice I can give is to get the preparation guides from Apple's site, and make sure you can answer pretty much 100% of everything. And at a detailed level. Because the ACSA questions are pretty direct, and VERY specific. Meaning they really can be "word for word" from the training guides.

I have an ACSA based on the 10.2 materials, and the tests were pretty specific on things like firewall rules, etc. So be *sure* to read those guides on training.apple.com or wherever it is.