If you’ve got no IT experience and you’re staring at a pile of acronyms trying to figure out where to start, get the CompTIA A+ first. For most career changers that’s the whole answer, and everything below is for the people it doesn’t apply to.
The A+ is the cert that resume filters and hiring managers expect to see on an entry level IT resume. It’s vendor neutral, it covers the hardware, operating systems, networking basics, and security fundamentals a help desk or desktop support job touches every day, and it tells a recruiter you won’t be underwater on day one. The current version is V15, which means two exams, Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202), both launched in March 2025. Pass both and you’re certified for three years.
Why is CompTIA A+ the cert most people start with?
Because it maps to the jobs you can actually land with zero experience. Help desk, desktop support, IT support specialist, those roles ask for the A+ by name, and a lot of them won’t move a resume forward without it. CompTIA recommends about 12 months of hands on experience before you sit the exam, but that’s a suggestion, not a gate, and plenty of people pass it as their very first credential with no IT job behind them. The test isn’t a memorization quiz either. It throws performance based questions at you, the kind where you have to do something inside a simulated environment, so it rewards people who’ve put hands on real hardware and a real operating system. That’s why I push beginners to build a junk lab before they ever buy a voucher. Grab an old desktop off marketplace, take it apart, put it back together, wipe it and reinstall Windows a few times, set up a cheap router. The material sticks a lot harder once you’ve felt the thing it’s describing, and you walk into the interview with stories instead of flashcards. You can pull the full objectives straight from CompTIA’s A+ page before you spend a dollar.
When should you skip A+ and start with Network+ or Security+?
Skip the A+ if you already have real IT experience or a background that covers the same ground. Someone leaving a military IT role, a person who’s been the unofficial tech fixer at a non IT job for years, or a working help desk tech going after the cybersecurity baseline can reasonably start a rung higher.
The next two steps are CompTIA Network+ (current version N10-009, released June 2024, around $390) and CompTIA Security+ (current version SY0-701, around $425). Network+ goes deep on how networks actually move traffic, and Security+ is the one a ton of HR systems and government roles screen for by name, which is why beginners want to sprint straight at it. That instinct backfires more than people expect. Dave, who I worked alongside screening entry level candidates, treated a Security+ with no A+ and no hands on story as a yellow flag instead of a green one, because it usually meant somebody bootcamped a test without understanding the machine underneath it. A cert you can’t back up in conversation gets you screened in and then screened right back out at the technical interview. If cybersecurity is the target, the path that actually holds up for a true beginner is still A+, then Network+, then Security+, and you can read our CompTIA Security+ guide for what that last step really involves.
How much does CompTIA A+ cost in 2026, and how long does it take?
The A+ runs about $265 per exam from CompTIA after the 2025 price bump, so roughly $530 for both Core 1 and Core 2 at list price, before any academic or military discount. Budget past the voucher, though. Most people also spend on a study guide and a practice test bank, and that practice bank is the single best money you’ll put down, since candidates who consistently score in the mid 80s on full length practice exams pass the real thing at high rates. Timeline wise, CompTIA pegs roughly 120 hours of study for someone starting cold, and in practice most career changers take two to four months at a steady pace. Passing is 675 out of 900 on Core 1 and 700 out of 900 on Core 2, scaled, so don’t read those as straight percentages.
Is the A+ worth it if help desk jobs are shrinking?
Yes, with your eyes open. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts the median pay for computer user support specialists at $60,340 as of May 2024, and it projects that specific occupation to shrink about 3 percent through 2034. That sounds grim until the next number lands. BLS still expects roughly 50,500 openings a year in that category over the decade, most of them from people moving up and out rather than new seats being created. The entry level help desk job isn’t booming, but it turns over constantly, and it was never supposed to be the destination. It’s the on ramp. The wider computer and IT field carried a median wage of $105,990 in May 2024 and is growing much faster than average, and the A+ is how a lot of people get onto that road in the first place. Treat it as a foot in the door you climb off within a year or two, not a career you settle into. You can check the current numbers yourself on the BLS support specialist page.
CompTIA A+ vs Network+ vs Security+: which comes first?
This is the ladder most career changers climb, in order, with the first kind of job each rung tends to open up.
| Certification | Current exam | Approx. 2026 cost (US) | Best for | Typical first job |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA A+ | Core 1 (220-1201) + Core 2 (220-1202) | ~$265 per exam, ~$530 total | Total beginners with no experience | Help desk, desktop support |
| CompTIA Network+ | N10-009 | ~$390 | After A+, or with some IT experience | Network support, junior sysadmin |
| CompTIA Security+ | SY0-701 | ~$425 | Cybersecurity baseline, after networking | Entry SOC analyst, security support |
Frequently asked questions
Can you get an IT job with just the CompTIA A+?
Yes. The A+ is built for help desk, desktop support, and IT support specialist roles, and those postings often list it by name. It won’t put you in a senior seat, but it’s the standard ticket for your first one.
Do you need A+ before Network+ or Security+?
There’s no formal requirement to stack them in order. CompTIA recommends the A+ and some hands on experience first, and for a true beginner the A+ to Network+ to Security+ progression is the smoothest climb. If you already have real IT experience, you can start higher.
How long does the A+ take to study for with no experience?
CompTIA suggests around 120 hours of study for someone starting from scratch. Most career changers get there in two to four months at a steady pace, and real hands on practice with hardware shortens the curve more than extra reading does.
Is the Google IT Support certificate as good as the A+?
They cover a lot of the same ground, but hiring filters still ask for the A+ by name far more often. The Google credential can be a fine warm up if you’re nervous about starting cold, though the A+ is the one most entry level postings actually screen for.
Should you skip straight to Security+ for cybersecurity?
Not with zero experience. Security+ assumes networking knowledge, and CompTIA recommends Network+ plus a couple of years in the field before it. A Security+ with nothing under it tends to stall at the interview, so build the base first.
So pick your starting rung honestly. No experience means A+, and the smartest thing you can do this week isn’t buying a voucher, it’s setting up that junk lab so the studying has something to stick to. If you want the whole path mapped out past the A+, we lay the full roadmap out at cybertrainingguide.org, and you can work through our IT certification roadmap when you’re ready to plan the next two years instead of the next two months.
Big Dog Cert
Alright, lemme give it to ya straight. No sugarcoating, no corporate fluff, just the real deal. I'm Mike. Fifty years on this planet, and I've done it all. I started out in IT back when "the cloud" was just what you saw out the window, worked my way through HR (yeah, I've been the guy who had to sit across the table from people and keep a straight face), and then did a stretch in sales where I learned real quick that if you can't sell yourself, nobody's buying what you're pitching. Three careers. One guy. Zero patience for textbooks that read like they were written by robots.