So you want to showcase your skills and knowledge, but you are not quite sure which certification would serve you best. Whether you are looking to launch your career in the IT field, or perhaps get promoted at your current job getting certified is a great way to market yourself.
This guide will add you to the top 3 entry-level certifications that you can obtain quickly, and that will remain important to you for a lifetime.
Top 3 Entry Level IT Certs
The three certifications that are listed below are all widely accepted in most companies and are general and broad enough to be appealing to the majority of employers. So I will not be focusing on any niche certifications or programs that are limited in scope.
Instead, these certifications are common, generally recognized and useful in many different IT positions. They are not the be all or end all and depending on your work environment, skills and needs they might not be right for you, so please keep this in mind.
1) CompTIA A+ Certification
Considered by some to be the entry-level exam to prove your IT skills, the CompTIA A+ Certification is a vendor-neutral certification that authenticates the IT professional's skills as being up to date and appropriate for supporting base hardware and software computer needs for organizations.
Passing the A+ enables you to verify that you have the knowledge and skill level for:
system installation of both supporting software and hardware components
system configuration - again both on the hardware and software side
troubleshooting and diagnosing hardware performance issues
software configuration and installation
configuring systems for standalone use and in a basic networking configuration
There are 2 parts to the CompTIA A+ exam which include:
Here are the minimum final scores you must have to pass a given exam:
220-901: CompTIA A+ 675 / 900
220-902: CompTIA A+ 700 / 900
Other important things to keep in mind:
Once you're A+ certified you are A+ certified for life, you do not need to retake the exam when a new version comes out, although you can do so if you want to.
Update January 26, 2010: The lifetime status of CompTIA A+, Security+ and Network+ certification has been revised. Those who receive the certifications before December 31, 2010, remain certified for life. However, those who complete them after January 1, 2011, will have to renew their certifications after three years. Read more about this: CompTIA Certification Renewal Policy for Network+, A+, and Security+ Certifications.
Also, you do not have to take the exams in any particular order or within a specific time frame although it is suggested that you take the Essentials exam first and since there's a lot of overlap, it only makes sense to bring them back to back.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – WAY back in the day the CompTIA +A certification was a single exam. You cleared that one test and you were given the CompTIA A+ certification for life.
When I took the exams back in 1998, the exams were designated as the CompTIA Core exam and the second exam was DOS/Windows; both were needed to get the certification.
If I remember rightly the statistical designations were 220-101 and 220-102. There were some lesser changes made in the exams for releases 220-901 and 220-902: and more substantial certification objective changes were introduced in 2003 and again in 2006.
Despite the changes in the Certificate exams themselves and software and hardware over the years, all technicians that passed these previous exams are still considered certified today.
2) CompTIA Network+ Certification
A natural progression from A+ is the Network+ certification. Part of the A+ exam's domain of study covers an intro to networking, so it only makes sense that Net+ be a substantial consideration for IT professionals with at least 9 months of on the job experience.
That is however only the suggested experience level for the exam and not a requirement. And you do not have to be A+ certified to be Network+ certified.
The CompTIA Network+ exam was first offered in 1999, and since then more than 235,000 professionals have passed it according to CompTIA. And just as with A+ Certification, once you pass the exam, you will have the Network+ credential for life.
Currently, there are 2 Network+ exams available:
At present both exams are being offered so if you feel that past and present networking information is more of your big suit and something you get better, then you would be more inclined to take N10-006 N10-007.
On the other hand, if emerging and present networking technologies are more your styles, then N10-006 -- N10-007 may be the best fit for you.
[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – Keep in mind that passing either N10-007 will earn you the Network+ certification. Passing N10-006 doesn't give you anything over an N10-007 certification holder.
That being said, sometimes it's the presentation to a considered employer and their understanding of the certification that makes a difference.
A hiring manager's line of thinking may be this applicant is certified on the most current revision of the exam, and it must mean they have a firmer grasp on up and coming technologies.
This might very well be far from the truth, however; the result is that many things are how they are presented rather than the fact of what they are.
As is this because passing N10-007 or N10-006 both give the Network+ certification at an equivalent level.
3) CompTIA Security+ Certification
Another important certification that will help you begin your IT career is the CompTIA Security+ Certification.
It was a tossup for me to choose this over the Server+ Certification as both are nearly the same in starting value to the training applicant regarding short and immediate term impact on their careers. The deciding factor for me was which one offered the larger leap point going forward and Security+ won.
My comments are not to diminish Server+ at all and if there were room for an honorable mention Server+ would win it hands down. So feel free to review the details of the Server+ Certification if you are interested.
The CompTIA Security+ exam was developed in 2002 to address the rise of security issues and endorse the foundational knowledge of security professionals.
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