What certification is good for entry-level IT jobs?

Carlos1010 · June 23, 2018

Hi all,

I want to get an IT certification to be ready for an entry-level job, companies might have for high schoolers/people getting in the 1st year of college. I heard all about CCNA, CompTIA A+, Network+, CEH but I don't know which one to get so that I can be set for the interview.

Is there one in specific that is good to take, keep in mind that I have a good computing background.

Thanks in advanced.

Shimejii · June 23, 2018

Certs are not useful if the job you are going into does not require or use them. Make sure that you find what your job specifies in what they need, and also note that certs only last a few years, you will have to re-certify every few years

Tabs · June 23, 2018

6 minutes ago, Carlos1010 said:

Hi all,

I want to get an IT certification to be ready for an entry-level job, companies might have for high schoolers/people getting in the 1st year of college. I heard all about CCNA, CompTIA A+, Network+, CEH but I don't know which one to get so that I can be set for the interview.

Is there one in specific that is good to take, keep in mind that I have a good computing background.

Thanks in advanced.

Everyone has CCNA, CompTIA A+, Network+ and CEH.

Show the company you have a modern Microsoft cert and they'll take super notice, since it sets you apart from the generic crowd. (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/mcse-certification.aspx and https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/mcsa-certification.aspx)

And yes, as @Shimejii said, make sure the cert is relevant to the position you want and the position that's been advertised.

Edited June 23, 2018 by Tabs
Random green text fixed

DogKnight · June 23, 2018

May be worth having a read through comments on a previous thread similar to this.

Essentially, my advice is to work out what type of job you want to be doing.

If you want to be configuring routers and switches all day, follow the Cisco path.

If you want to work in security, find courses in that domain.

Don't do a course because you think it will lead to a job. Find out what type of job you want, then do courses that work towards it. You may want to spend some time speaking to people working in different roles to understand what their average day is like.

Another tip, there are lots of people with good I.T skills. If you want to differentiate yourself, have business knowledge and know how to communicate to a variety of different stakeholders.

Kalm_Traveler · June 23, 2018

Adding to what the others have said, I've been doing infrastructure IT support and server administration for 10 years now. If you wanted to get a leg up in this particular path just to get your foot in the door, the CompTIA A+ cert is a good very basic one.

IMO though you'll learn more on a job in 3 months than from studying for a low level cert.

beersykins · June 23, 2018

Depends what you want to do. 'everyone has CCNA' isn't necessarily accurate. Experience is the larger value but you can get a six figure gig with the ccna and some xp, which doesn't have the same ability doing something like a+.

Usually people focus on a particular specialization, most of it comes down to personal interest. CCNA helps as background knowledge if you're doing server type of work but won't be as valuable in that role as an example.