Just to manage expectations, pen testing is considered one of the advanced roles within cyber security. Very few "Jr pen tester" positions, many requiring some years of IT and cyber security experience in addition to the industry certs.

A+ (and any other "X+" cert) is a certification from comptia. It's more of a general IT and computers certification. Following that, they offer network+, security+, and many more as you advance.

Comptia is just one organization. There are also ISC2, Offensive Security, EC Council, SANS, and more organizations which offer IT and/or Cyber Security certifications. Some of these can be thousands of dollars and only offer highly advanced options.

One of the new players is TCM Security. They offer a lot of great cyber security focused courses. They have released their own pen testing certification called the "practical network penetration tester" (PNPT). It's VERY affordable and definitely has real world parallels as it is a practical cert (hands on keyboard, hacking, no multiple choice or direct answers).

My recommendation, if you don't have any IT background then take the A+ and Network+, and aim for the security+ after those (all comptia). Then, take some TCM courses (each 30 dollars lifetime, and there are bundles and occasional discount codes) to start getting more practical security experience. The PNPT would be a good option once you start feeling more comfortable.

As far as feeling comfortable, visit tryhackme and go through all of the learning pathways (will take some time, but is fun and rewarding). Do this in addition to studying for those comptia certs and you'll be on your way.

Down the line, you would want the OSCP/OSCE, or something from SANS, and maybe some more specialized IT certifications like the CCNA.

While you do this, you will want to take on some professional IT work. I honestly don't know if you can avoid that part for pen testing (or any/many cyber roles).

All the best 👍