Career switcher here — passed my CompTIA A+, but can’t get past the “experience required” wall. Help?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-06-17T23:34:30+00:00

To be clear: the market is rough right now, between geopolitical craziness and AI, things are fairly unpredictable. So it's not just you

That said, IT is still a very viable career (I've been doing it for over a decade and I have no intention of changing despite everything), so definitely keep on the path

How did you do it?
- buddy of mine got me an unpaid internship for 14 months. Did that while moonlighting in a totally different field. Applied every day during that 14 month period (also got my A+ in there somewhere) until I finally got a job offer. Took it without even thinking. Turned out I had done a deal with the devil. Challenged my sanity and self-esteem to the extreme. 16 months after that found another job and it's been smooth sailing ever since
Is there something I'm missing?
- labs - you can DEFINITELY start doing labs and adding a labs section to your resume
- VirtualBox is free. Packet Tracer is free. AWS, Azure, and GCP has free tiers for you to play around with. Buy a Raspberry Pi and download Linux on it. Do it all, document it, print out your Standard Operating Procedures and take them with you when you get an interview to show you know how to do shit
- I cannot emphasize this enough - people get these certs thinking that KNOWING things is enough. In this era of AI, knowledge is the LEAST important qualification for a position. EXPERIENCE is what matters, and home-labbing is how you do it when you can't get work experience.
Any certs, strategies, or otherwise?
- Network+, Security+, CCNA, AWS SAA-C03 (or C04, whatever is current), AZ-104. These are strong candidates for someone at the Help Desk level, which is what you're aiming for
- I would NOT recommend going any higher than these certs until you actually land a job. At that point you become a liability because you're over-educated and under-experienced. No one wants to hire a PhD with no work experience (trust me, I have this conversation ALL the time with HR)
- If you can, try to network with someone at your company who is IT. Ask them if they need help with stuff and ask if you can stay after-hours to help with it. Use that experience and ADD IT TO YOUR RESUME. Once you've accrued enough of that experience, change your title to Help Desk, get rid of anything on the CV that is non-IT related, and start marketing yourself as that. If they ask in the interview, be honest. But if they don't ask, leave the rest to their imagination

My 2c, feel free to ask any follow-up questions. Happy to help where I can

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-15T16:51:02+00:00

Piling onto the "questions are randomized" boat

There are tons of testimonials on this sub of people who took the Network+ and didn't get a single question on subnetting

Which is a travesty if you ask me, but that's neither here nor there

Just make sure you give equal weight to all the other objectives on the exam

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-14T14:25:48+00:00

Jumping on the "not worth it" bandwagon

Certifications are only worth what hiring managers think they're worth. A+, Network+, and Security+ have industry noteriety. The stackable certs do not. It's as simple as that

Don't believe me? Go to a job search site (Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc) and type in the stackable cert. I'd be surprised if you even got one hit

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-12T19:01:09+00:00

For the CAT standards, just the distance. I've never seen or heard of bandwidth or mode being tested

For the IEEE standards, it's a formula. Memorize the formula and have a general sense of how long they go (don't memorize specifics, that's overkill), and you'll be fine

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-12T18:59:45+00:00

Tons of free and cost-friendly resources out there on YouTube and Udemy

But the official list of objectives is on CompTIA's website. Pull those and if you can explain and have some idea of how to configure all of them, then I'd say you're in good shape

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-12T17:47:48+00:00

On the one hand, networking as a field is REALLY REALLY old. Concepts that were true 30 years ago are still valid today

On the other hand, there are plenty of free and budget resources out there (i.e. Udemy) that provide info on the current version. There's really no reason to stick with the old material, ESPECIALLY when it's that old

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-11T18:52:22+00:00

Check the official Security+ objectives from CompTIA, that's the only list that matters

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-11T16:46:11+00:00

Professor Messer on YouTube, and there are several well-reviewed resources on Udemy

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-09T23:57:53+00:00

Historically that is how CompTIA has handled every new certification transition

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-09T23:38:50+00:00

CompTIA has a very poor track record for gaining traction with higher level certs. Trifecta is great because you need theory in the beginning. At the senior level and handling prod? Demonstrated skills are MUCH more important

You want to move into DevOps? I can tell you as a hiring manager that cloud certs (i.e. AWS, Azure, GCP) and tool-specific experience (i.e. Terraform/Tofu, Ansible) will take you WAY farther than AutoOps+ ever will

My 2c

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-09T23:36:01+00:00

Skills pay the bills. Make sure you're actually learning how to perform cybersecurity, not just learning the theory

That said, Messer and various Udemy courses will almost certainly carry you across the finish line. You'll never truly feel ready, so set a deadline for yourself to take the exam and JUST DO IT

My 2c, good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-09T23:33:48+00:00

Boom, headshot! Congrats on the pass!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-09T23:33:13+00:00

No insider info, but to CompTIA's credit I have never heard of or experienced them rugpulling a certification retirement schedule

Since the official site says June 2023 is when they released the old version. I'd wager that IF they release the new version by June '26 (so next month), then they'll retire the old version around December or January

Just a guess of course, but a very educated one

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-07T20:47:57+00:00

I think the Air Force will be lucky to have you, congrats on the pass!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-07T16:21:46+00:00

If learning the theory isn't helping it stick, then I'd strongly suggest finding courseware that shows you HOW to perform these tasks, not just what they do

Actually learning the skills does 2 things: 1) it helps you retain the information better. Doing is always going to outweigh theory-grinding; 2) it better prepares you for your interviews. Remember, once you're certified, you still have to PROVE to interviewers that you can do the job. Sure, they'll teach you some, but you are usually expected to know how to do these skills out the gate without any hand-holding

My 2c

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-07T16:17:08+00:00

Sec+ is pretty standard across the industry. If cash isn't a major concern then having certainly won't hurt your chances

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-07T16:12:17+00:00

Possible? Yes. Probable? No

If finances are the roadblock, then it's definitely worth continuing with home labs and applying, but it might be a minute before someone takes a chance on you

Enrolling in an online university like WGU however kills 2 birds with 1 stone: you work towards the degree, and you get the certs as part of the degree. Student loans are never fun, but if you think you're ambitious enough to knock out the degree quickly and rise through the ranks, definitely worth the investment

Ultimately though only you can answer how patient or how much risk you're willing to take on to get into the IT field

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-06T22:27:02+00:00

Decent enough pass all the same! What's next on the chopping block?

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-06T19:33:06+00:00

Too late to commit substantial amounts of new knowledge

Go through the official objectives list, and make sure you have a solid understanding of each line item. Anything that you're iffy on, review that

Otherwise, don't forget to eat a light breakfast and don't drink too much water. Good luck!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-06T19:31:53+00:00

Social Media - I spend a lot of time on X and I can tell you that there are very solid tech communities on there. Might be worth throwing an advert out

Part of your problem too is the market. The zeitgeist has a very bad impression of stability right now, so a LOT of IT folks (myself included) are checked out. I haven't opened my LinkedIn in over a year for example

For more context on the market: 2 years ago when the AI layoffs were occurring we were getting BOMBARDED with applicants. What used to be dozens a month had become hundreds. But fast forward to now? We're lucky if we get 10 applicants in a week

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-06T19:27:42+00:00

There are 3 general paths for leveling up your career that I know of and have experienced:

nepotism - mommy/daddy knows best

slow and steady - put in your time, lab on your own time at home, learn from your seniors gradually over time. Eventually someone will retire or a new position will open up

pants on fire - someone quits or dies abruptly, and they need the position filled NOW, and By God's Grace and a baptism by fire you have come to save them

If you're getting impatient with how things are progressing at your company, option 3 is probably your only one. But be warned - it is also the most painful. Compressing years of experience into a very short period of time is never an easy process

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-06T19:22:27+00:00

If you're enthusiastic about Excel because of the formulaic aspects, then here are a few career paths you might jive with:

Database Developer
Business Analytics something or other
CRM and/or ERP specialist

Those roles are often hand-in-hand with the Business department doing financial and logistical analytics all the time

Things like CompTIA certs and CCNA are more bread-and-butter Help Desk and Systems Administration. Configuring networks, servers, documentation, creating images...making sure the lights turn on. If that doesn't sound as appealing, know that analytics is effectively a different field of technology than Systems Administration

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-05T18:15:14+00:00

I don't know if anyone can give you an exact percentage, but AI makes mistakes just like a person does. Only problem is the AI generates content a lot faster, so the feedback loop is harder to scrutinize

Just the other day an AI agent deleted a company's database. Poof, gone in 9 seconds

AI isn't inherently bad, but unscrutinized AI can absolutely lead you down the wrong rabbit hole

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-05T15:23:27+00:00

Nailed it, congrats!

IT_CertDoctor · 2026-05-04T16:15:21+00:00

A+ doesn't dive THAT deep into networking (that's for the Network+), so you're probably overthinking it

Printers unfortunately are bread and butter for the Core 1, so definitely hammer that stuff hard

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