What Certification should be taken for entry-level IT job ?

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bonvoyage628

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#161905 23-Jan-2015 00:51

Hey ya
I am an IT student and really interested to get a certification
My goal for now is to get an entry-level job such as help-desk, not the really higher level job such as network admin etc
So what certification that you guys recommend for me ?
Personally I think MTA or A+ will be good since I am considered as a really newbie in the real situation, but my friend told me to take MCSA (Server and OS) instead since MTA is kinda low-valued
So what do you guys think ?
Maybe you can share your story !
Cheers bro !

Lias

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#1220493 23-Jan-2015 07:16

Microsoft have diluted the worth of an MCSA quite a bit now, and added all sorts of extra MCSA's, but in many peoples minds it's still a "Server" qualification and so having one may potentially hurt your chances of getting a helpdesk job.
A+ isn't particularly relevant for helpdesk either.

I'd recommend starting with 70-685, it makes you an MCP and is half of an MCSA: Windows 7

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timmmay

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#1220497 23-Jan-2015 07:37

You say you're an IT student - what are you currently studying and where?

Inphinity

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#1220518 23-Jan-2015 08:24

The desktop-based Microsoft certs would be my pick. Either 70-680 and 70-685 (Win7), or 70-687 and 70-688 (Win8). These Desktop MCSA certifications would be a big help for entry-level support roles imho.

Demeter

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#1220519 23-Jan-2015 08:28

I think A+ is still rather useful - it will teach you hardware and TCP/IP fundamentals that you'll need to help troubleshoot all kinds of issues if you're after a helpdesk position. I don't know if Comptia still do N+, but round about the time I did it many years ago it was a prerequisite for my now defunct MCSE. At any rate it is a good foundation to expand on further with any of the MCP qualifications.

xpd

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#1220520 23-Jan-2015 08:31

Also depends what you want to be doing - jack of all trades, networking, programming etc ?

Im a jack of all trades in IT, but personally, I started off with A+ just to have a bit of paper that looked impressive at the time, picked up a couple of MS certs along the way (MCDST, MCTS) to keep MS happy in regards to licensing agreements at one of my jobs.

If youre looking at anything to do with networking, CCNA is a good start.

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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#1220525 23-Jan-2015 08:42

A career in IT will always involve studying and on the job training, got used to it :)

Sticking to the more general courses / fundamentals in the beginning is important. You've already identified that you're going to need to start from the bottom and therefore a good attitude and willingness to learn will do more for you in the early years than anything else. Once you've found an area of IT which you enjoy you can specialise and get some useful certs later.