Help Desk / IT Support
You are the person who fixes it when someone's computer, login or printer stops working.
No degree needed Lowest barrier of any role on this site.
Can I actually do this?
This is the canonical no-degree entry into tech. If you are starting from nothing, start here.
Who it suits. People who are patient with frustrated humans and stubborn about finding the actual cause. Communication matters as much as technical skill here.
Runway. A few months of self-study is a realistic runway.
No prior tech role needed. This is a genuine cold-start job.
Also advertised as
The route
Four stations, in order. Each one is a thing you finish before the next matters.
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Station one
Learn it free
Only the best few, deliberately. Every one of these is free to use — the pill on each card says exactly what is and isn't free.
Professor Messer A+ 220-1201 (Core 1) full video course
Free to learn · no certificate
Complete Core 1 course. The course is free; the certificate exam is a separate paid purchase.
Verified 2026-07-25
Professor Messer A+ 220-1202 (Core 2) full video course
Free to learn · no certificate
Complete Core 2 course, same terms.
Verified 2026-07-25
Professor Messer study-group replays and pop quizzes
Free to learn · no certificate
Ongoing practice against real exam-style questions.
Verified 2026-07-25
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Station two
Attest strategically
One certificate is enough to start. A+ is the recognised entry signal for this role — earn it, then get hired and let an employer fund the next one.
CompTIA A+ (V15)
CompTIA · Core 1: 220-1201 / Core 2: 220-1202
Free to learn · paid certificate Recognized
The honest cost Cost $530
$265 per core, two cores required. Price varies by region — verify at comptia.org before you buy.Validity 3 years from passing Core 2. Renewal Continuing-education programme at about $25/yr ($75 per 3-year cycle), or renew automatically by earning a higher CompTIA certificate such as Network+. Assessment Proctored exam, includes performance-based questions Proctored Yes Verify via Credly Cost per active year $202/yr(530 + 75) ÷ 3 Widely named in entry IT support postings and the standard first rung of the CompTIA ladder.
Read this before you buyA price-conflict flag was raised and resolved: the lower figure was stale, not a genuine disagreement. Regional variance is real, so check the official page before purchase.
Verified 2026-07-25 · Official page
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Station three
Prove it
A certificate says you passed a test. These say you can do the job.
Home lab
Build or repair a PC, install both Windows and Linux, then deliberately break a VM and troubleshoot it back. Write up each fix with what you tried and what actually worked.
Ticketing simulation
Run osTicket (self-hosted Community Edition, genuinely free under GPL v2) and work through a realistic queue. Confirmed 2026-07-25: no feature gating on the self-hosted edition.
Real support hours
Volunteer support for a school, nonprofit or community group. Dated, documented hours count as experience when you have no employment history.
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Station four
Get hired
Search these exact titles
Who hires for this. Managed service providers, internal IT departments, schools and universities, hospitals, local government.
This role is a documented stepping stone rather than a dead end — the CompTIA ladder and CyberSeek feeder data both treat it as the standard on-ramp to networking, systems administration and security.
On salaryWe don't publish salary estimates. Numbers copied between blogs drift from reality, and a wrong number costs you real negotiating power. When we have a verified public source, it goes here with its date.
Where this route continues
- Network Administrator — the classic next rung
- Cloud Support — if you prefer systems to networks
- SOC Analyst — via Security+
- Cloud Support — sideways move
This page last verified 2026-07-25 · How we verify
Ladder researched 2026-07-25; resource URLs spot-checked live (HTTP 200) the same day.