Have you ever wondered what jobs are open to you if you get A+ certified? Is there any proof of the promising claims by various sources of high-paying employment after you get A+ certified?
Look no further: we’ve put this article together to show you how the A+ certification can accelerate your transition into an IT career, especially if you come from a non-IT background.
To make such a career leap, proper study, planning, and knowing your next steps after getting a certification are important. Thanks to what you’ll learn here, you’ll know how much CompTIA A+ jobs are worth the time and effort you’ll have spent studying for this certification.
Without further ado, let’s dive in and explore salaried positions available to A+ certification holders.
Overview of the CompTIA A+ Certification
CompTIA is short for “Computing Technology Industry Association.” To obtain the CompTIA A+ certification, an individual must pass two exams:
- Core 1 focuses on hardware, cloud computing, and networking technology, and
- Core 2 is about software, operating systems, and cyber security basics.
Here’s the detailed breakdown of the latest Core 1 and Core 2 domains:
Refer to our A+ cheat sheet for details.
What Does the CompTIA A+ Certification Prepare You For?
CompTIA A+ certification prepares individuals for various entry-level IT jobs, especially in technical support. In this section, we’ll discuss the most common careers that new A+ certification holders embark upon.
Help Desk Technician
If you’ve ever used an online service, such as website hosting or Anything-as-a-Service (XaaS, e.g., IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, VCaaS), chances are you’ve sought help from one or more help desk technicians.
These specialized customer service representatives use their knowledge of computer systems, hardware, and software to help troubleshoot problems that arise. They must have excellent interpersonal skills to interact with customers, whether on a phone call, via text chat, or in person.
Desktop Support Technician
Desktop support technicians maintain a firm’s IT infrastructure, such as updating systems with the latest hardware and software as needed and providing technical support to individuals remotely or in person. Good desktop support technicians tailor their services to support end-user access.
They focus on troubleshooting organizational computer systems, desktop computers, laptops, and associated peripherals such as monitors, keyboards, mice, central processing units (CPUs), and printers. Their work includes installing, diagnosing, repairing, maintaining, and upgrading all organizational hardware and equipment while ensuring optimal workstation performance.
IT Support Specialist
IT support specialists help keep employees productive by providing technical assistance to corporate clients, and they assist external company customers via the telephone or online text chat. Their duties include ensuring the optimal use of hardware and software technologies, including upgrades, enhancing system performance, and securing data.
IT support specialists may instruct their business clients on how to use business-specific programs or work with other technicians to resolve problems within the company. They may answer technical questions from customers of their business clients, like re-establishing internet connections or troubleshooting household IT products like Wi-Fi routers.
Field Service Technician
Field service technicians travel to client locations to install new equipment, respond to service requests, troubleshoot equipment issues, and supply employees with technical training on company equipment. They provide technical support, repairs, and maintenance tasks for customers and diagnose errors or technical problems that arise during their visit.
Good field service technicians listen attentively to the client’s concerns before diagnosing the problem and providing a suitable solution.
Computer Repair Technician
A computer repair technician diagnoses and troubleshoots various issues affecting computer systems and networks. They may perform physical work, such as moving computer hardware around. Similar to a field service technician, this role requires onsite presence. Computer repair technicians may also repair mobile devices depending on specific job requirements.
Apart from technical skills, computer repair technicians should also have excellent communication skills, as they must explain technology to non-technical people in person or via phone or text. They may need to work flexible hours.
Job Opportunities and Salary
Many job opportunities abound for A+ certified individuals, especially the job types listed above. Prudent job seekers would do well to remember the various job titles which seek A+ holders.
Here’s a snapshot from LinkedIn’s job search in the United States alone, with the number of results for CompTIA A+ in the description exceeding 33,000:
On the first two pages of this LinkedIn query, you can find variations in job titles, such as:
- Adjunct Technical Faculty - Computer Information Systems
- Collection Systems Technician II
- Computer Help Desk Support
- Distributed computer systems analyst
- Desktop Support Specialist
- Electronic Duplicating System Technician
- Field Service Technician
- Help Desk / Analyst / IT / Technician / Manager
- IT Help Desk Analyst / Support
- IT Junior Field Technician Administrator
- IT Operations Technician
- IT Support / Help Desk / Analyst / Specialist / Technician / Technical Support Specialist / Workforce Administrator
- Information Systems Administrator
- Junior Engineer / System Administrator
- Network Technician - Helpdesk
- Systems Engineer Senior
- Technical Support / Support Representative / Support Specialist
- Technology Support Specialist
Compare the above with the search results of the Cisco certification most similar to A+: the CCST. It’s far less popular than A+, with only 157 results in the following screenshot:
Now let’s go back and look at the CompTIA A+ results on LinkedIn to find out what employers want from a prospective or current A+ holder like yourself.
From the LinkedIn search results above, we’ve found a job that doesn’t explicitly specify CompTIA A+. Nevertheless, it requires experience in Active Directory and basic hardware troubleshooting, both of which the A+ exams cover. As for Microsoft 365, anyone who has worked with Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint already has relevant experience.
As the following example on the technology career website Dice shows, the job titles requiring A+ may be unexpected:
Here’s an example on Glassdoor of a Desktop Support Technician job listing requiring CompTIA A+:
Combing through our search results in Glassdoor, which lists salaries for most job ads displayed, we’ve compiled a few tables showing the approximate salary range of the five job types above:
Salary: Help Desk Technician
We took these job ads from the first page of our Glassdoor results.
Job titles in the sample | Desktop Support(Onsite), IT Helpdesk Technician, IT Technician/Help Desk, IT Support Technician, Help Desk Technician Level 1 / Help Desk Associate Tier 1, IT Helpdesk Technician Tier 1 (Part-Time), Help Desk Support Technician, Help Desk Technician, Help Desk IT Support Technician/Engineer, Helpdesk Technician, Service Desk Analyst |
Salary range (hourly) | $16.00 – $30.00 |
Salary range (annually) | $33K – $62K |
Job level (entry-level, junior, etc.) | Employers prefer one to five years of practical technical experience. Most jobs require two to three years of experience. |
Certifications required or preferred | CompTIACisco certifications:
|
Salary: Desktop Support Technician
We’ve omitted the job ads that overlap with those in the previous section.
Job titles in the sample | Short-term Desktop Support Technician, Desktop Support Technician, IT Desktop Support Technician, Desktop Support Technician I / Junior Computer User Support Specialist, Computer Network Support Technician (C), Desktop Support III, Desktop Support Engineer, Desktop Support Administrator |
Salary range (hourly) | $20.00 – $45.00 |
Salary range (annually) | $36K – $59K |
Job level (entry-level, junior, etc.) | The employers prefer one to five years of practical technical experience or an equivalent tertiary degree in IT. |
Certifications required or preferred | CompTIA
|
Salary: IT Support Specialist
We took the job ads from the first two pages of our Glassdoor results.
Job titles in the sample | Desktop Support Analyst, IT Support Technician, Burgerville - IT Specialist, IT User Support Assistant, IT Specialist, Desktop Support Specialist, IT Support Specialist (Temp-Hire), Computer Support Technician, IT Support Specialist, Desktop Support Engineer, System Support Specialist, Technical Support Specialist |
Salary range (hourly) | $20.00 – $54.00 |
Salary range (annually) | $44K – $75K |
Job level (entry-level, junior, etc.) | At least one year of experience and a Bachelor’s degree in IT, computer science, or similar |
Certifications required or preferred | CompTIA
|
Salary: Field Service Technician
Some results overlap with those for Desktop Support Technician and IT Support Specialist above.
Possible job titles | IT Field Technician, IT Support Technician - Tier 1, IT Field Service Technician, Work From Home Desktop Field Support Technician III, Computer Field Technician, Field Service Technician, IT Field Support Technician |
Salary range (hourly) | $15.00 – $32.62 |
Salary range (annually) | $40K – $65K |
Job level (entry-level, junior, etc.) | Most jobs require one to two years of experience. |
Certifications required or preferred | CompTIA
|
Salary: Computer Repair Technician
Many jobs overlapped in searches of the previous four roles.
Possible job titles | Level 1 Computer Repair Technician, Entry-Level Computer Repair Technician, Computer Repair Technician, IT Helpdesk Technician, Cell Phone Repair Technician Computer Tech, Entry Level PC / IT Hardware Repair Technician, Computer/Laptop Repair Technician |
Salary range (hourly) | $15.00 – $44.00 |
Salary range (annually) | $40K – $64K |
Job level (entry-level, junior, etc.) | Most ads here worded the experience requirement in general terms, so they give the impression that they advertise entry-level or junior roles. |
Certifications required or preferred | CompTIA
|
Career Progression
Could the positions above be feeder roles to intermediate and advanced functions, such as network engineer and cyber security professional? The answer is yes.
Once you’ve gained your A+, you’ll have built a foundation on which to further your studies and career, as illustrated in the roadmap below:
Your logical next step would be to have a solid understanding of networking, which can help you break into a career in cyber security. Check our Cyber Security Jobs for opportunities and positions.
For such a purpose, CompTIA has created stackable certifications, which means that, by taking CompTIA certifications at a higher level than A+, you’re getting prepared for specific IT careers as outlined above:
The CompTIA certifications CySA+ and PenTest+ are particularly in demand for those who wish to specialize in cyber security.
Conclusion
We hope this brief overview of CompTIA A+ jobs gives you a clear idea of career expectations once you get A+ certified. If you want to learn more about A+ and what certifications may be suitable for you, check out our articles on certifications, especially the A+ cheat sheet, and our course offerings below: