Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Enterprise, Apple
An Introduction to Apple Certification
I spent three days in a class last week learning about Leopard. It probably sounds a little strange that a guy who works day in and day out on "nothin' but Macs" would be taking a class to learn more about the Mac operating system, but I did it for a reason - I am an Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) and I need to keep my certification current. Within a few weeks, I'll be taking a certification exam to prove that my brain absorbed some of the course content and my years of Mac experience really have turned me into a Mac guru.Not many people know about the certifications available to Apple professionals. Certification has a number of benefits to independent consultants and wage slaves alike, including recognition of professional competency, credibility with clients and employers, and the ability to publicize your certifications on Apple's website. For those of us who are Apple Consultant Network members, we can have clients referred to us by the Apple Stores.
Over the next few weeks, I'll post several articles about the different types of certifications available to you, how to become certified, and why you might want to consider getting certified. Read more after the break.
Apple certifications currently come in four delectable flavors:
- Pro Applications
- Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server
- Hardware
- Apple Certified Trainer
If you're the type who likes to fix or tear apart Macs, become a Apple Certified Macintosh Technician and you can work for Apple Authorized Service Providers. Finally, if you have a training background and would like to teach others about Pro Apps, Mac OS X, and / or hardware, the Apple Certified Trainer certification gives you the necessary credentials to train and test other candidates.
I'm of the personal opinion that eventually Apple will have an iPhone certfication path as well for those techies who need to deploy large numbers of these devices in enterprise surroundings. After all, Exchange and MobileMe synchronization, remote administration and "killing" of iPhones, and administration of hardware and software on thousands of widely deployed handheld workstations isn't easy!
That's the background for you - in future posts, you'll get the details on each one of the types of certifications available, the training and tests necessary to achieve the certification, and what you can do with that certification to advance or create your career.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Aaron said 3:07PM on 6-12-2008
I am currently studying for the Hardware certs and I'm curious if there is a better method for learning rather than the pages with m i l e s of text? I feel like a self-paced method isn't the best especially on such a hands-on field.
Reply
Josh Wardell said 3:44PM on 6-12-2008
I must admit the Hardware certs are tough, especially when you start, and walk into a 3rd party facility and try to take the test without any materials. They are designed to use all of the available service manuals (and therefore re-certifications are simply just a lot of quick research), but you don't have any of that on your first exam. Despite knowing macs inside and out like the back of my hand, I just barely passed. One of the crazy ones was what was the part number of the motherboard of some G3 tower that was at the time several years old. There are some questions on the other end of the spectum as well, but the best advice is to really learn the just-before-current generation of macs very well...scour the service manuals if you've been given them.
ryan10ad said 3:28PM on 6-12-2008
Is there a package for education. Maybe like a starter qualification?
Reply
Steven Sande said 3:38PM on 6-12-2008
No such luck. Many of the people I see who are getting the Mac OS X ACSP, ACTC and ACSA certifications are from the educational market. The "starter" cert is the ACSP (Apple Certified Support Professional), and you work your way up from there.
TUAW Steve
ryan10ad said 3:28PM on 6-12-2008
Is there a package for education. Maybe like a starter qualification?
Reply
ryan10ad said 4:10PM on 6-12-2008
Thanks Steve. It was just a thought. If Apple's education market picks up then maybe later.
macsosguy said 3:37PM on 6-12-2008
Hi Steve,
Just curious why you've excluded the Apple Certified Systems Professional cert from your list (ACSP), formerly Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist (ACHDS)?
http://training.apple.com/certification/acsp
Thanks for the much needed publicizing of the ACN network!!
Thanks,
—Steve
Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist
ACN Member
MacS.O.S.
Reply
Steven Sande said 3:40PM on 6-12-2008
Hi, other Steve!
I'll be talking about the ACSP, ACTC and ACSA certifications in a forthcoming post. Here I'm just grouping all of those certifications into the "Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server" heading.
Expect to see an unpaid advertisement for the Apple Consultant Network in that article, too! :-)
TUAWSteve
tukan said 3:36PM on 6-12-2008
I'd love to become an Apple Certified Support Professional, but the 3-day course is £950 at amsys.co.uk - not really what I can afford :)
btw do you need to be one say, to work at an Apple Store (at the Genius bar especially)...
Reply
Steven Sande said 3:49PM on 6-12-2008
Hi - I'm not really sure what the requirements are to work at an Apple Genius Bar. Can any "genii" provide enlightenment?
Yeah, the classes are expensive. If you don't want to pay that amount, get the class textbook and do self-study. The book that is used for the ACSP textbook is Peachpit's Mac OS X Support Essentials (http://snurl.com/2ggvv). You don't get the course workbook or the three days of hands-on experimentation, but if you fully understand the book, this can probably get you the ACSP certification.
TUAWSteve
Sy said 4:15PM on 6-12-2008
No you don't Apple retail has their own internal certification path.
I have the ACMT (8 day) and the ACSP and am doing the server essentials next month to get the ACTC.
I have done them all at amsys. Yes they are expensive but they are worth every penny.
I have been using macs for a while but since taking the ACMT I went straight in to my 1st job in IT as a bench technician.
As others have said, they way that mac and other apple products sales are growing there is going to be a need for people to support them all
Xcess said 12:15PM on 6-13-2008
When you are hired to be a Mac Genius, you are flown out to Cupertino for 2 weeks of training. You become an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician, but since you work for Apple you cannot be a part of the Consultants Network and when you leave Apple the certs become null and void.
Former Genius said 5:50PM on 6-12-2008
i used to work at the Genius Bar - but I quit almost 5 years ago so be warned the situation has changed a great deal. At the time it wasn't required to get any certs beforehand. Apple certs are very rare anyway, so most places won't require them. What got me the job was prior experience in Mac support. They sent me to a 2 week training course for MGs. I think eventually I had to get the Apple Certified Desktop Technician, so that may be required now.
I would caution anyone against thinking it's a "dream" job. I'm a fan of Apple stuff as much as the next guy, but working there was still retail. The hours are standard retail, and customers scream at you all day. It looks really good on a resume if you want to work in Mac support, and you will learn a ton. One of my friends quit the job with zero notice, just essentially said "f this" and walked out.
The other problem is there is limited potential for advancement. Unless you move to an area where Apple has a corporate office, there is no tech position above the MG to graduate to. I ended up quitting and getting a job at a help desk and never regretted it.
Kyle said 6:12PM on 6-12-2008
Saying that Certs become null and void when you leave Apple is just plain stupid.
As a former Genius and a current manager of a 3rd party repair center I can say that your certs are valid for 12 months regardless of employment. There is a lot of terrible info being passed around these comments.
Yes you do need to be certified to work as an Apple Genius, however Apple has training programs and paths available for them. You do not need to be certified to be hired as a Genius but you can not work as one till you are certified.
You can get get all the info you need at certifications.apple.com
or by emailing certifications@apple.com
Most of the stuff I am reading here is either just plain wrong or outdated.
Fritz Laurel said 3:50PM on 6-12-2008
Actually, what sounds strange is that there's a 3-day class on Leopard...
Regardless, I appreciate hearing more about the Apple's "certification" process.
Reply
joey said 3:51PM on 6-12-2008
As soon as 10.6 was announced I immediately emailed the training people at apple asking about the upgrade course. I am hoping there will be an upgrade path unlike the switch from 10.4 to 10.5
@tukan: just get the books from peachtree. If you have a mac and are familiar with leopard the book will help you pass the test. I took no hands on class. Just the book, reference material on apples cert site and studied on my own.
But you will have to be discipline enough to read and re-read the book a couple of times. The test are administered via computer and are multiple guess type questions.
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tukan said 4:05PM on 6-12-2008
@joey and Steven
Thanks for the recommendation - I just ordered it from Amazon and hopefully, I'll get through it during holidays :D
I just hope the book is good on its own as well. I might end up not doing the test, but the book will stay ;)
FoundInTheFlood said 4:17PM on 6-12-2008
I'd also like to know what kind of qualification an apple genius bar guy has to have, because soon the first apple stores will arrive in germany and i'm thinking about not following my teacher carreer but to work for apple....is it a qualified job with a bit more money or is it paid as bad as normal retail jobs that require no qualification? (well, no official qualification, but they demand a lot knowledge etc...)
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Jash Sayani said 4:07PM on 6-12-2008
Well, I am into the field of Software Development and would really like to know more about the certifications. In terms of..
1. How are they beneficial - main concern.
2. Online tests available ?
3. Are they permanent or they have to be renewed ?
Thanks a lot !
Reply
joey said 4:19PM on 6-12-2008
1. How are they beneficial - main concern.
Depends if you already work in IT with a Apple users base. You still have to remember Apple computers are still very few and far between in large corporate settings. If you are debating between MCSE or Apple cert for a livelihood I would opt for MCSE.
2. Online tests available ?
No practice test are available online. There are study guilds and 10 sample test available for download on Apple's cert site. Also the cert book from Peachtree includes quizzes at the end of each chapter.
3. Are they permanent or they have to be renewed ?
If you are interested in being certified for each version of OSX then you will have to retake exams. For instance ACHDS was for 10.4 so if you dont feel the need to support 10.5 then no need to take it. But if you want to be more marketable then you would need to certify for 10.5
More information can be found here
http://training.apple.com/certification/
Best of luck!