Are entry level certs not worth it anymore?

Look, I’m going to level with you right out of the gate. You’re probably here because someone on Reddit, or a LinkedIn thought leader with “10x Growth Mindset” in their bio, told you that entry-level IT certifications are dead. That CompTIA A+ is worthless now. That nobody cares about Network+ anymore. That you’d be better off just building projects and slapping them on GitHub like some kind of self-taught coding wizard.

Here’s the thing: they’re making a point that has some merit, but they’re also oversimplifying in ways that could hurt you. Sweeping declarations from people who haven’t been in a hiring manager’s chair in the last five years tend to miss the nuance. The truth is messier, more situational, and way more annoying than a hot take that fits in 280 characters.

So let’s dig into this. Are entry-level certs still worth it in 2026? The answer depends on where you’re starting from and what you’re trying to accomplish.

The Case Against Entry-Level Certs (And Why It’s Not Totally Wrong)

Here’s the argument you’ve heard a thousand times: entry-level certifications don’t prove you can do the job. They prove you can memorize definitions and pass a multiple-choice exam. Employers want experience and portfolios. They want to see that you’ve fixed something, built something, then broken it again at 3am while questioning every life choice that led you to that moment.

And yeah, that’s fair. A CompTIA A+ doesn’t mean you can troubleshoot a printer that’s possessed by demons. A Network+ doesn’t mean you can configure a router without Googling half the commands. These certs test foundational knowledge, not battlefield competence.

The other complaint? Saturation. Everyone and their cousin has an A+ now, and what used to be a differentiator is now just table stakes for getting past the HR filter. Some hiring managers see it and shrug. Some actively roll their eyes because they’ve interviewed twenty people with A+ who couldn’t explain what DNS does without reading it off a flashcard in their brain.

So if you’re coming into this thinking an entry-level cert is going to land you a $70K help desk job with zero experience and employers fighting over you like you’re the last slice of pizza at a LAN party, I’ve got bad news. That’s not how this works anymore. Maybe it never was.

The Case For Entry-Level Certs (Which Nobody Wants to Admit)

But here’s what the “certs are dead” crowd conveniently ignores: most people breaking into IT don’t have a portfolio or a home lab. They have a retail job, a degree in something unrelated, and a burning desire to stop working weekends for $14 an hour.

For those people, entry-level certifications are still the fastest, most structured way to prove you’re serious about making the jump. Not because the cert itself is magic. Because it shows you can commit to something and demonstrate baseline knowledge in a way that’s universally recognized.

HR systems are still filtering resumes by keyword. Applicant tracking systems are still looking for “CompTIA A+” or “Network+” in the text. Recruiters who don’t know the difference between a subnet mask and a ski mask are still using those terms to decide who gets a phone screen. You can hate that reality all you want. It’s still reality.

And let’s talk about the knowledge itself for a second. Yeah, you can learn everything in an A+ course for free on YouTube. Absolutely. But will you? Or will you watch two videos, get distracted, forget to come back, and six months later still be at the same dead-end job wondering why nothing changed? A certification exam gives you a deadline and structure. It gives you a reason to finish what you started instead of letting it drift into the “someday” pile with learning guitar and reading that book everyone says you should read.

The cert isn’t the knowledge. The cert is the forcing function that makes you acquire the knowledge and then prove it.

Where Entry-Level Certs Still Open Doors

If you’re trying to break into IT from a completely unrelated field, entry-level certs are still one of the most reliable ways to get that first conversation. Not the job offer, but the phone screen and the chance to explain why you’re switching careers and why someone should take a risk on you.

Help desk roles still list A+ as a requirement or strong preference. Desktop support jobs still want to see it. Managed service providers, especially smaller ones, still use it as a baseline filter because they need people who can handle the basics without constant hand-holding.

Is it a guarantee? No. Will it get you past the resume black hole on its own? Also no. But combined with even a little bit of relevant experience, a decent cover letter that doesn’t sound like it was written by a bot, and the ability to not completely bomb a behavioral interview, it moves the needle.

And here’s the thing nobody talks about: entry-level certs give you the vocabulary. They teach you how to talk about IT concepts in a way that sounds competent even if you’re faking half of it. You learn the terms and the troubleshooting methodologies. That matters in interviews. It matters when you’re trying to explain why you want to work in IT and you need to sound like you’ve thought about this for more than five minutes.

The Certifications That Still Matter (And The Ones That Don’t)

Not all entry-level certs are created equal. Some still carry weight. Some are basically participation trophies at this point.

CompTIA A+ is still the gold standard for help desk and desktop support. It’s been around forever, employers recognize it, and it covers enough ground that you’ll learn useful things. Is it exciting? No. Will it make you a networking genius? Also no. But it’s a solid foundation and it still shows up in job postings constantly.

Network+ is in a weird spot. It’s useful if you’re aiming for anything network-adjacent, but a lot of people skip straight to Cisco’s CCNA now because it’s more respected and covers similar ground with more depth. If you’re going to invest time in a networking cert, CCNA is the better long-term play. Network+ isn’t useless, but it’s not the must-have it used to be.

Security+ is the one entry-level cert that’s increased in value over time. It’s required for a ton of government and DoD jobs thanks to the 8570 mandate. It’s also become a baseline expectation for security-adjacent roles even in the private sector. If you’re even remotely interested in cybersecurity, Security+ is worth it. Full stop.

Linux+ and Cloud+ exist, but they’re not as widely recognized. You’re better off going straight to something like AWS Cloud Practitioner or a Red Hat cert if you’re serious about those paths.

What Replaces Entry-Level Certs (If You’re Skipping Them)

If you’re going to skip entry-level certs, you need to replace them with something that proves you’re not just winging it. That means projects. Not “I followed a tutorial and spun up a WordPress site.” More like “I built a home lab, set up a domain controller, configured VLANs, broke everything twice, and documented the whole process.”

It means contributing to open source projects and writing technical blog posts that show you understand concepts deeply enough to explain them. Building scripts that solve problems. Creating a GitHub portfolio that doesn’t just have three half-finished repos from 2019.

It means networking in the human sense: going to meetups, connecting with people on LinkedIn without being weird about it, finding a mentor who can vouch for you. Getting contract work or freelance gigs that give you experience even if they don’t pay much.

All of that works. But it’s also way harder and way less structured than studying for a cert and passing an exam. If you’ve got the discipline and the time to do it, great. Most people don’t. Most people need the guardrails.

The Question You Should Be Asking

The question isn’t whether entry-level certs are worth it in some universal, abstract sense. The question is whether they’re worth it for you, right now, given where you are and what you’re trying to accomplish.

If you’re switching careers from a non-technical field and you need to prove baseline knowledge fast, yes, they’re worth it. The same goes for getting past HR filters at larger companies that still use them as checkboxes, or if you need structure to learn the material instead of endlessly browsing Reddit threads about what to learn.

On the other hand, if you already have technical experience and you’re just trying to level up, maybe not. Self-starters who thrive without external deadlines and have the discipline to build a portfolio from scratch might skip them. Startups that care more about what you can do than what letters you have after your name often don’t require them.

But for most people reading this, the answer is still yes. Not because the cert itself is magic. Because it’s the most reliable, most accessible, most widely recognized way to prove you’re serious about breaking into IT without already having years of experience.

Stop Waiting for Permission

The people telling you entry-level certs are worthless? A lot of them already have jobs and experience. They made it past the gatekeepers years ago. It’s easy to say certs don’t matter when you don’t need them anymore.

You’re not in that position. You’re trying to break in. You’re trying to get someone to take a chance on you. You’re trying to prove you’re not just another person who watched a few YouTube videos and decided IT sounded cool.

An entry-level cert won’t do all the work for you. It won’t replace experience or make you an expert. But it will give you a structured path, a recognized credential, and a better shot at getting that first conversation.

And if someone wants to argue with you about whether it was worth it after you’ve landed the job, you can smile and nod while you enjoy your paycheck.

Stop overthinking it. Pick a cert that aligns with where you want to go, study for it, pass the exam, and move on to the next thing. The people who succeed in IT aren’t the ones who spent six months debating whether A+ is still relevant. They’re the ones who got the cert, got the job, and kept moving.

You don’t need permission or consensus from Reddit. You just need to start.