September Is IT Certification Season, Here’s Where to Start

The short version: CompTIA Tech+ is the most accessible entry point for anyone starting a career in IT, covering computer basics, networking, and fundamentals. A+ is the next step, validating hands on technical skills for employers, followed by Security+ for anyone moving toward cybersecurity roles.

Every September, something shifts in the job market. Back to school energy does not just belong to students. For adults thinking about a career change into IT, September is historically when that decision moves from “someday” to “I’m actually doing this.”

If you are one of those people, this post is for you. Here is what the IT certification path actually looks like, starting from zero.

Start with What You Don’t Know

The most common mistake beginners make is assuming they know enough to skip the foundational level. They jump straight to A+ or Security+ and hit walls they do not understand.

The honest truth: if you have never worked professionally in IT, you probably have gaps in the fundamentals that will slow you down later. CompTIA Tech+ is designed to close those gaps.

Tech+ covers what every IT professional needs to understand regardless of their specialty: how computers work at a component level, how networks connect devices, how operating systems function, and how basic security principles apply to everything. It is the foundation that makes everything else faster to learn.

The Tech+ exam is also the most accessible entry point in terms of cost and difficulty. If you are brand new to IT, it is where most people should start.

Step Two: A+ Validates Your Skills for Employers

Once you have the foundational knowledge from Tech+, A+ is where you prove it to employers. The CompTIA A+ certification is required or preferred for a wide range of entry-level IT roles: help desk analyst, IT support specialist, field technician, systems administrator trainee.

A+ has two exams, Core 1 and Core 2. Core 1 focuses on hardware, networking, and mobile devices. Core 2 covers operating systems, security, and troubleshooting. Together they validate the technical breadth that IT support roles demand.

Employers who see A+ on a resume know the candidate can support real environments, not just describe concepts.

Step Three: Security+ Opens the Door to Cybersecurity

After A+, the most common next step is Security+. It is the certification that shifts your profile from IT generalist to security-aware professional.

Security+ is required for DoD 8570 compliance, broadly recognized across private industry, and the prerequisite (formal or informal) for every advanced security certification. Earning it after A+ positions you for roles in security operations, SOC analysis, security engineering, and every advanced path that follows.

The full path looks like this: Tech+ builds understanding. A+ proves technical competence. Security+ opens the security career door.

Why September Is the Right Time to Start

September through December is when IT training budgets are spent, when organizations staff up before Q1, and when motivated individuals use the last quarter of the year to finish what they started in January.

If you start studying Tech+ or A+ in September, you can realistically sit for the exam by November or December. That timing puts a new certification on your resume right when hiring activity picks up.

The path is clear. The timing is right. The question is whether you start.

Talk to you next week.

If you are studying with us on Coursera, Network Foundations and Physical Layer is a strong next step once you have foundational IT knowledge, it builds the networking depth that connects Tech+ basics to real-world infrastructure, one module at a time.