How to Pick Your First IT Certification with No Experience

What is this page about?

A guide to choosing a first IT certification with no prior experience, correcting the common mistake of chasing the most impressive-sounding credential rather than the one that gets you hired fastest. It recommends CompTIA A+ as the most widely recommended starting point for help desk and support roles, or AWS Cloud Practitioner for a cloud focus, and covers the entry-level landscape (vendor-neutral versus vendor-specific), how to match a certification to your situation, timeline and budget considerations, which credentials to avoid first, a multi-year path from zero, and where to study free.

What has been corrected on this page?

Every accepted correction to this page is recorded with the exact change, so readers can see how the page improved over time.

1. 11 July 2026 · corrected by Melik Can Sariyer

   3 flagged issues verified: a quote attributed to Jason Dion (real training company founder) had no locatable source and was de-attributed; an unverified footnoted CompTIA report quote with unverified-precision job-posting percentages (28%/22%/14%/11%/9%) had no locatable source and was softened; an unverified footnoted Indeed Hiring Lab quote (47% more interviews) had no locatable source and was softened.

   Before

   "Entry-level candidates often overthink the certification choice. Pick one that aligns with jobs you can realistically get in your area, study it properly, and then pivot based on what you learn in your first role. The map becomes clearer once you are inside the territory." - Jason Dion, author and founder of Dion Training Solutions, a CompTIA Authorized Partner. || "CompTIA's 2024 State of the Tech Workforce Report tracked over 600,000 unique IT job postings requiring specific certifications in the United States. CompTIA A+ appeared in 28% of entry-level IT postings, followed by Security+ at 22%, Network+ at 14%, AWS Cloud Practitioner at 11%, and Microsoft AZ-900 at 9%..." [3] - CompTIA, 2024 State of the Tech Workforce Report, CompTIA, 2024 || "The 2024 Indeed Tech Careers Report found that candidates holding at least one IT certification received 47% more interview invitations than equivalent candidates without credentials..." [4] - Indeed Hiring Lab, 2024 Tech Careers Report, Indeed, 2024

   After

   Entry-level candidates often overthink the certification choice. The more productive approach is to pick one that aligns with jobs you can realistically get in your area, study it properly, and then pivot based on what you learn in your first role. The map becomes clearer once you are inside the territory. || CompTIA and Indeed job-postings data consistently show CompTIA A+, Security+, and Network+ among the most frequently requested entry-level IT certifications in U.S. job postings, with AWS Cloud Practitioner and Microsoft AZ-900 also appearing regularly for cloud-adjacent roles. Together, these five credentials account for a large share of entry-level IT postings that name a specific certification requirement. || Candidates holding at least one relevant IT certification generally receive more interview invitations than equivalent candidates without credentials, and this advantage tends to widen for candidates targeting roles above basic help desk.

   Why: Removed an unverified quote attributed to Jason Dion (no locatable source) and softened two unverified footnoted statistics (an unverified-precision CompTIA job-posting breakdown and an unverified Indeed Hiring Lab interview-rate figure) into qualitative statements. Also removed the now-orphaned unverified footnote reference-list entries.

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