A step-by-step certification roadmap for landing a first IT job with no experience — which exams to take, in what order, and what they cost.
Nobody interviews you for your first IT job because of what you have done — you have not done anything yet, professionally speaking. They interview you because of what you can show, and for people with no work history, no relevant degree and no referrals, certifications are the most legible thing you can show. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median wage for all computer and IT occupations at $105,990 (May 2024 data) against $49,500 for all occupations, which is exactly why the entrance is crowded and why an unstructured pile of online course completions rarely gets past a recruiter's first scan.
This is a roadmap for that entrance and nothing beyond it. It covers the certifications that help a complete beginner land a first support-desk or technician role, the order to take them in, and what each realistically costs. What happens after you are hired — specialising, advancing, moving towards security or cloud — is deliberately out of scope; once you hold A+ and a job, your next decision is covered in what certification to take after CompTIA A+.
Before naming exams, it helps to be clear about the job a certification does at this stage, because it is different from what certifications do later in a career.
An entry-level certification has to do three things. First, get you past automated and human CV screens that filter on keywords — "CompTIA A+" appears in support-role adverts often enough that CompTIA itself claims A+ features in more tech support job listings than any other IT credential (that is CompTIA's own marketing claim, but the adverts in your local job board will let you verify the pattern in an afternoon). Second, give a hiring manager confidence that you can be let near a ticket queue without a month of hand-holding. Third, give you structured knowledge to talk about in the interview, because "walk me through how you'd troubleshoot a PC that won't boot" is coming whether you have a certificate or not.
What it does not have to do is impress specialists. Chasing an advanced certification before your first job usually backfires: exams aimed at practitioners assume experience you cannot fake, and hiring managers know it. Several respected credentials — CISSP and PMP among them — carry formal experience requirements measured in years, so they are not on this roadmap at all.
If you have genuinely never worked with computers beyond everyday use, CompTIA Tech+ (FC0-U71) is the pre-career starting point: a maximum of 70 questions in 60 minutes, no prerequisites, US retail $129 as listed by CompTIA's authorised resellers in June 2026. It replaced the older IT Fundamentals+ (ITF+) exam, so ignore any guide still recommending ITF+ — that exam retired in 2025.
Be equally clear about what Tech+ is not: a hiring credential. Almost no job advert asks for it. Take it only if A+ material feels over your head on first contact, or skip straight to Step 1 — most career changers can.
CompTIA A+ is the closest thing the industry has to a standard first certification for support roles, and it anchors this roadmap. The current version as of August 2026 is the V15 series: Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202), both required, taken in any order but from the same version. Each exam runs to a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes and mixes multiple-choice with performance-based questions that simulate real tasks. The passing scores differ — 675 for Core 1, 700 for Core 2, on a 100–900 scale — a detail that trips up more candidates than you would expect.
There are no prerequisites. CompTIA recommends 12 months of hands-on IT support experience, but "recommended" is doing light work in that sentence: the exam is designed to be studied for, and career changers pass it from home labs and structured self-study constantly. Budget roughly $274 per exam at US retail as listed by authorised resellers after the June 2026 price increase — about $548 for the pair, with legitimate discounted vouchers around $238 from authorised resellers, and prices varying by country. The certification is valid for three years and renews through CompTIA's Continuing Education programme.
Why A+ and not something narrower? Because your first job is almost certainly generalist. Help desk and desktop support work spans hardware, operating systems, mobile devices, basic networking, security hygiene and troubleshooting method — which is precisely the A+ syllabus. If you want to see how support-desk employers weight A+ against other credentials when hiring, our guide to the best IT certifications for help desk jobs examines that from the employer's side.
Once A+ is banked — or in parallel, if you study well under load — CompTIA Network+ (N10-009) is the credential that separates you from the other entry-level applicants who stopped at one certificate. It is a single exam: maximum 90 questions, 90 minutes, passing score 720, US retail around $399 after the June 2026 rise, again with regional variation and cheaper authorised vouchers.
Networking is where beginner knowledge most visibly runs out. A candidate who can explain DNS, DHCP, subnets and what actually happens when a user "can't reach the internet" interviews dramatically better for support roles than one who memorised hardware specifications. Network+ also keeps every later door open, because networking underpins both the security and cloud tracks you might follow after hiring — a decision this article leaves to its sibling guides.
CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) appears on many "get into IT" lists, and for one audience it belongs there: candidates targeting employers that require it at the door, most visibly US government and defence-sector environments, where Security+ is widely used to meet Department of Defense workforce requirements. If those employers are in your target list, Security+ (maximum 90 questions, 90 minutes, passing score 750, roughly $439 US retail as of June 2026) moves from optional to essential.
For everyone else, treat it as a fast follow-on rather than a day-one requirement. CompTIA's recommended profile for Security+ is Network+ plus two years in an administration role, and most first-job adverts outside the government orbit ask for A+ or Network+, not Security+. Take it early only with a clear reason.
Course-based credentials such as the Google IT Support Certificate occupy a different niche from certification exams: they teach as well as assess, which makes them a reasonable on-ramp if you need structured teaching before attempting exam-style study. Employer recognition, cost and completion terms are set by Google and its course platforms rather than by an exam body, so check the current details on Google's official programme pages. A practical pattern many career changers use is course first for the teaching, A+ afterwards for the widely screened credential — the two are complements, not rivals.
A realistic plan for someone starting from zero while working full-time elsewhere:
Total certification spend for A+ plus Network+ comes to roughly $950 at 2026 US retail — meaningfully less with authorised reseller vouchers, and different again outside the US, so always confirm current pricing on comptia.org. On timelines, be sceptical of any source promising you a pass in a fixed number of weeks: CompTIA publishes no official study-hour figures, and preparation time varies hugely with background. The recommended-experience lines on each exam page are the honest calibration tool.
One money-saving rule beginners learn the expensive way: CompTIA retakes cost full price unless you bought a retake bundle, and while there is no waiting period before a second attempt, a third attempt requires a 14-day wait. The cheapest exam is the one you only sit once — which is an argument for benchmarking honestly before booking, not for booking hopefully.
Certifications get you screened in; what gets you hired is evidence you can apply them. Since this roadmap assumes no work history, manufacture the evidence:
If your worry is that no employment history of any kind will sink you before the technical screen, the strategies for that specific situation — and the credentials that best substitute for a track record — are covered in our guide for first-time job seekers. Similarly, if you are weighing certifications precisely because you have no degree, the ladder of well-paid, degree-optional credentials is mapped in best certifications for people without a college degree.
Collecting instead of finishing. Six half-finished study programmes signal nothing. One completed A+ signals follow-through — arguably the trait a first employer cares about most.
Studying by memorisation. Performance-based questions exist specifically to punish this: they put you in a simulated scenario where a memorised answer key is useless. Practice questions are study aids for testing whether you understand the objectives — analyse which domains you get wrong and why, and re-study those, rather than re-attempting the same questions until the answers stick. When you can pass a timed simulation you have never seen before, you are ready; ExamPractice's free sample questions are a no-cost place to run that check per exam, with fuller timed simulation available to subscribers.
Studying for a retired exam version. Second-hand study guides are cheap for a reason. As of August 2026 the current codes are 220-1201/1202 for A+ and N10-009 for Network+; the older 220-1101/1102 series retired in September 2025. Check the code on comptia.org before buying any materials.
Treating salary tables as promises. Salary surveys report what current professionals earn, driven heavily by experience, role and location. For calibration only: BLS data puts computer user support specialists at a median $61,860 and computer network support specialists at $76,220 (May 2025 OEWS, US) — first-job offers in your market may sit below those medians, and that is normal for year one.
Skipping the application stage until "ready". The certificate roadmap and the job hunt run in parallel, not in sequence. Every interview you do not get still teaches you what your local market screens for.
Yes — entry-level support hiring is the part of IT where this is most true, which is why this roadmap targets it. A certification alone is rarely sufficient, though: pair it with lab evidence, service-sector soft skills and persistent applications. No credential guarantees an offer.
No. CompTIA enforces no prerequisites on any of the three; the sequence in this article is a recommendation based on how the knowledge builds, not a rule. Candidates with existing networking knowledge sometimes start at Network+ and skip A+ entirely — a defensible choice if your target adverts ask for Network+.
Yes. CompTIA exams are delivered through Pearson VUE either at test centres or via OnVUE online proctoring, so remote candidates are not disadvantaged.
It depends on your market, your employer and how quickly you add the next credential — there is no verified average worth quoting. The progression question itself, including whether to go towards networking, security or cloud, is the subject of what certification to take after CompTIA A+.
The shortest honest version of this entire article: pick A+, finish it, start applying, and add Network+ while the applications run. Before you book each exam, confirm you can pass a timed practice simulation cold, confirm the current exam code and price on comptia.org, and confirm that the certification you are about to pay for actually appears in the job adverts you want to answer. Entry-level IT hiring rewards candidates who look finished, current and deliberate — and a two-certificate roadmap executed completely beats a five-certificate wishlist every time.
Exam facts in this guide were checked against official certification-provider pages on . Fees, exam codes and policies change — confirm on the provider’s own site before you book.
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