IT support certifications: what 2,745 US job ads name

Which help desk certification is best for IT support?

For someone with no IT job yet, the best help desk certification is CompTIA A+: it has no prerequisite, and US, UK and Indian IT-support ads name it. CompTIA recommends 12 months in a support job before the exam but does not require it, so a beginner can book it. In our view the same advice applies to IT help-desk, desktop-support and technical-support jobs, but our count reads only ad titles containing it support. Beyond the first exam, the best certification for IT support depends on where you are starting from, and the table sorts the options by situation.

Source: vendor pages listed under Sources, checked October 3 and 4, 2026.

The CompTIA family as a whole, and the order of its exams from A+ to Security+, is on our CompTIA overview page. For the first two exams side by side, see A+ vs Network+.

Google IT Support or CompTIA A+ for a first help-desk job?

Our Google IT Support vs A+ comparison goes topic by topic; here is the short version for a job search. The two are different products. The Google IT Support Professional Certificate is a course: six courses on Coursera, no proctored exam, finished when you complete the assignments. CompTIA A+ is a certification: two proctored exams that you pass or fail, valid for three years.

Source: Coursera program page and CompTIA A+ page, checked October 3 and 4, 2026; Adzuna counts of 2,745 US and 1,286 UK IT-support ads.

If you pay for one credential to put on a resume, make it A+. The Google course still has a place, and the two are linked: Coursera says the program prepares you for the CompTIA A+ exams and that you earn a dual credential when you complete both. It teaches in a set order and needs no experience. If computers are new to you, take it first and book A+ once the material is familiar. We have no reliable figure for how long A+ takes to study: the Reddit posts we collected did not give enough reports.

Which certifications do IT-support ads name, by country?

For each country we asked Adzuna for one month of ads whose title contains it support (in Brazil suporte técnico, in Mexico and Spain soporte técnico, in France technicien support, in Italy help desk, in Poland helpdesk). Within those ads, we counted how many contain each certificate or skill as an exact phrase. Five countries have IT-support figures for all the certificates we show here; for the other five we show ITIL and Network+ only.

Source: Adzuna API, IT-support job ads collected in October 2026. Certificate columns count the ads that name the certificate; the Windows and Active Directory columns give the share of all IT-support ads in that country. Analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.

US. A+ appeared in 20% of US IT-support ads, ITIL in 7.5%. Network+, CompTIA's networking exam, appeared in 5.9% of the ads. Our reading: for a US beginner, A+ is the credential to put on a resume first.

UK. In the 1,286 UK ads, A+ appeared in 6.5% and ITIL in 7.4%. The Google certificate appeared in one of the 1,286 UK ads. The skill figures there are 79% for Windows and 17% for Active Directory.

India. The Indian sample is small, 259 ads, so each ad carries a lot of weight. A+ appeared in 33 of the 259 Indian IT-support ads and ITIL in 32. The Google certificate appeared in none of the 259.

Brazil and Mexico. In Brazil, ITIL appeared in 71 of the 1,764 suporte técnico ads and A+ in 5. In Mexico, ITIL appeared in 3 of the 355 ads and A+ in 1. The Mexican sample is small, so read its counts as signs of what some employers write, not as rates.

For the other five countries we counted only ITIL and Network+ in IT-support ads. The totals were 1,973 in Germany, 1,382 in France, 208 in Spain, 204 in Italy (searched as help desk) and 14 in Poland (searched as helpdesk). In Germany, ITIL appeared in 5.4% of the ads. Network+ appeared in none of the 1,973 German IT-support ads. In France, ITIL appeared in 4.3% of the ads. Network+ appeared in none of the 1,382 French IT-support ads.

Source: Adzuna API, IT-support job ads collected in October 2026. Where a share is under 1%, the cell shows the count of ads instead. Network+ is searched as comptia network, so ads that write only "Network+" are missed.

Show the numbers

Certifications in IT support job ads, by country. Share of job ads that name each item. Source: Adzuna job ads, October 2026.

Item	United States	United Kingdom	India	Brazil	Mexico	Spain	France	Germany	Italy
CompTIA A+	United States20%	United Kingdom6.5%	India13%	Brazil5 ads	Mexico1 ad	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
CompTIA	United States20%	United Kingdom6.7%	India13%	Brazil0 ads	Mexico1 ad	Spain0 ads	France4 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
ITIL	United States7.5%	United Kingdom7.4%	India12%	Brazil4.0%	Mexico3 ads	Spain1 ad	France4.3%	Germany5.4%	Italy2%
CompTIA Network+	United States5.9%	United Kingdom10 ads	India6%	Brazil0 ads	Mexico0 ads	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
CompTIA Security+	United States1.2%	United Kingdom1 ad	India1 ad	Brazil0 ads	Mexico0 ads	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
Google IT Support	United States3 ads	United Kingdom1 ad	India0 ads	Brazil0 ads	Mexico0 ads	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
Google IT Automation with Python	United States0 ads	United Kingdom0 ads	India0 ads	Brazil0 ads	Mexico0 ads	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads
Google Career Certificates	United States0 ads	United Kingdom0 ads	India0 ads	Brazil0 ads	Mexico0 ads	Spain0 ads	France0 ads	Germany0 ads	Italy0 ads

Entry-level IT certifications in the UK

CompTIA's UK store prices A+ in US dollars, $274 per exam, so the cost in pounds depends on the exchange rate on the day you pay. Cisco prices the CCNA at £240 in the UK. An ad titled only service desk analyst is outside our UK title search, so UK service-desk jobs are undercounted here. For a UK beginner who pays for one exam, A+ is the entry-level exam that UK IT-support ads name in our count, and ITIL 4 Foundation is the service-desk certification to add.

What the count misses

The count reads ad titles. An ad titled help desk technician or service desk analyst, with no it support in the title, is outside the US, UK and Indian totals, even when the job is the same. Our figures describe ads with that wording, not every support job.

A+ is searched as comptia a, because Adzuna drops the "+" sign. An ad that writes only "A+" is missed, and the phrase can catch a few unrelated uses of the same two words, so treat the A+ figure as an estimate that is more likely too low than too high. ITIL is searched as itil, which also catches ads that ask for "knowledge of ITIL processes" without asking for the certificate. And none of the counts separates a required credential from a preferred one. They show how often employers write a name into the ad text, not how a hiring manager scores a resume.

Which skills do IT-support ads ask for?

We track two skills for IT support: Windows and Active Directory, Microsoft's directory service for user accounts and permissions. In US ads, Windows appeared in 43% and Active Directory in 20%. In India, the two figures were 45% and 17%. The UK, Brazilian and Mexican figures are in the country table.

Other help-desk skills, such as ticketing systems, remote support tools, Microsoft 365 administration, or phone and customer service, are not on our list. We have no figure for them and will not guess one.

For a beginner, the two skills we track show where to spend practice time. Reset a password in Active Directory, join a computer to a domain, fix a broken Windows profile: each is a task you can practice in a virtual machine and describe in an interview. A+ covers operating systems in general. The ads name specific products.

Entry-level IT certifications for beginners

Five credentials need no experience to book. A+ and Network+ are longer exams aimed at support and network jobs; ITIL 4 Foundation and AZ-900 are shorter exams on a single topic; Google IT Support is a course with no proctored exam.

Source: CompTIA A+, Network+ and renewal fees; Coursera Google IT Support (US price; it can differ by country); PeopleCert ITIL 4 Foundation; Microsoft AZ-900. Checked October 3, 2026. PeopleCert shows its price in euros to European buyers; we found no official US price, so check the price shown in your region.

Network+ is in this table because it has no prerequisite, but CompTIA's recommendation puts it after some network work. Order matters more than how many you hold: one exam shows a recruiter you know the basics, and in our view a second or third before your first job adds less than a home lab you can talk about.

Is a Google IT certificate worth it?

As a structured way to learn, it can be; as a name that employers search for, not in our data. Our Google IT Support certificate review covers the course itself. The certificate appeared in 3 of 2,745 US IT-support ads and 1 of 1,286 UK ones in October 2026. Google says over 150 US employers belong to its hiring consortium for career certificates, but our count cannot show how those employers treat it.

Google sells a second IT course, Google IT Automation with Python: seven courses over about six months, labeled advanced, with no programming knowledge required. It suits someone already in support who wants to script repetitive work. Our comparison of the two Google IT courses covers the choice, and the Google Career Certificates page covers the program as a whole.

ITIL as a service desk certification

ITIL is a set of practices for running IT services, and ITIL 4 Foundation is its entry exam: 40 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes, closed book, 65% to pass, offered in 12 languages. PeopleCert, which runs the exam, lists a self-study exam bundle at €649 including VAT. Renewal comes every three years, with 60 CPD points. People who posted about their preparation on Reddit report a median of one week of study (15 reports, middle half one to two weeks). That is a self-selected group of people who passed and chose to post.

ITIL describes how a service desk is run; it does not test troubleshooting. ITIL appeared in 7.5% of US IT-support ads and 12% of Indian ones, where the sample is small. Our ITIL certification page covers the exam and its cost in detail, and the A+ vs ITIL comparison and CompTIA vs ITIL pages set it against the technical route. ITIL is on our list for project managers too, so our project-manager certifications page shows where it appears in those ads.

From help desk to sysadmin, network or security: a certificate path

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics says many computer support specialists advance to other IT jobs, such as information security analyst, network and computer systems administrator, and software developer. Each direction has its own credentials, and the ads for each role name different ones.

One sequence for someone with no IT job: A+, then a help-desk job, then Network+, Security+ or a Microsoft credential when the next role you want names it. Skipping the help-desk years is possible, but the vendor recommendations above assume them.

Toward systems administration. We counted 6,233 US system-administrator ads in October 2026; our system-administrator page shows what those ads name. For Windows servers, Microsoft's credential is Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (exam AZ-802, 120 minutes, offered in English only). It covers Active Directory Domain Services on premises and in the cloud, and Microsoft says candidates should have several years of experience with Windows Server. For Linux servers, CompTIA Linux+ (XK0-006, $399) recommends 12 months of hands-on work with Linux servers first. Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) is the step toward cloud administration; Microsoft expects familiarity with operating systems, networking, servers and virtualization before it.

Toward networking. Network+ is CompTIA's next step after A+, and CompTIA recommends 9 to 12 months as a junior network administrator or network support technician before it. In October 2026 it appeared in 139 of the 9,475 US network-engineer ads, and the CCNA ($300, 120 minutes, no prerequisite) in 1,557 of the 9,475. Our CCNA certification page covers its cost and study time, and the network-engineer page covers the job.

Toward security. Security+ costs $439, and CompTIA recommends Network+ and two years in a security or systems-administrator job first. In October 2026 it appeared in 112 of the 8,110 US security-analyst ads. CompTIA expects to release the next version of the exam, SY0-801, around November 17, 2026, so check which version your study material covers before you book. Our cybersecurity-analyst certifications page has the full picture, and the comparisons of A+ vs Security+ and Network+ vs Security+ cover the order of exams.

Best Microsoft certifications for IT support

Our IT-support count does not track any Microsoft certification, so we cannot rank them by demand. The Microsoft products themselves are a different matter: Windows and Active Directory are the two skills we track for this role, and the skills section gives their shares.

For a support technician, the Microsoft credential closest to the daily work is Microsoft 365 Certified: Endpoint Administrator Associate (exam MD-102). It covers deploying and managing devices with Microsoft Intune, and Microsoft says candidates must already have experience with Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365 and Windows devices, so it belongs after your first support job. The exam lasts 100 minutes, the price depends on the country, and renewal is a free online assessment every 12 months. Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) costs $99 and covers cloud concepts, not desktop support.

Is an IT support or help desk certification worth it?

An IT support certification is worth it when it gets you an interview you would otherwise not get, or makes you learn the job. A+ costs $548 for both exams at CompTIA's US price, and 20% of US IT-support ads name it, so for a US beginner with no IT job it can help get an interview. Beyond that first exam, put the hours into a home lab unless the ads you answer name a second credential.

Show the numbers

What the CompTIA A+ certification costs to get and keep (USD). Source: comptia.org, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	Fee
Fees to get certified: Exam	$274
Fees to get certified: Renewal, every 3 years	$75

Can you get a job with the Google IT certificate?

Our data gives little reason to expect the certificate alone to get you a job. The Google certificate appeared in 3 of the 2,745 US IT-support ads in October 2026, so few employers write it into the ad text. What helps more is something an interviewer can test: a home lab, A+ and the ability to explain how you fixed a problem.

Help desk certification salary: what IT support pays

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for computer support specialists at $62,890 in May 2025, for about 903,100 jobs. Computer user support specialists, the closest match to help desk, had a median of $61,860; computer network support specialists had $76,220. These medians cover every experience level, so they are not starting pay. For the low end, the BLS says the lowest 10% of computer support specialists earned less than $40,980.

The BLS expects about 48,700 openings a year for computer support specialists, on average, over the decade from 2025 to 2035, even as it projects total employment to decline 3%. Our own count covers one month, so we make no claim about the direction of demand.

None of our sources measures what a help desk certification adds to pay as distinct from the job, the city and the years of experience behind it.

Do you need certifications for IT support or help desk work?

No. One recognized exam helps when you have no degree and no IT experience, because it gives a recruiter something to check, but most of the 2,745 US IT-support ads we counted named none of the certificates we track. The BLS says entry requirements vary: user support specialists typically need some college courses, and network support specialists typically need an associate's degree. It adds that companies may require support specialists to hold certifications in the products the company uses, and vendor credentials do appear in some ads.

Whether you need certifications for IT work in general depends on the field you aim for. If your gap is the degree, our guide to getting into IT support without a degree covers that route.

What Reddit posters ask about help desk certifications

We grouped the questions in the Reddit posts we collected on r/CompTIA, r/coursera, r/ITCareerQuestions, r/SecurityCareerAdvice and r/ITIL. Posters are a self-selected group, so this shows what people ask about entry-level IT certifications, not how many hold a view.

• Whether A+ is worth it (r/CompTIA, October 2026), and whether anyone got a job with A+ and no IT experience (r/CompTIA, August 2026). Our answer: for help desk, A+ is the beginner exam that US, UK and Indian IT-support ads name in our count; with no experience, pair it with a home lab you can describe.
• How much A+ helps in getting an entry-level help-desk job on the way to cybersecurity (r/ITCareerQuestions, August 2026), and whether to take A+ or Security+ first (r/SecurityCareerAdvice, September 2026). Our answer: for a help-desk job, A+; Security+ fits once you have the network basics and aim at security work.
• Whether to go back for A+ and Network+ after a more advanced exam (r/CompTIA, September 2026), and whether to skip both and go straight to the CCNA and Security+ (r/ITCareerQuestions, September 2026). Our answer: none of these exams is a prerequisite for another, so skipping is allowed; take an earlier exam only if the ads you answer name it.
• Whether the Google IT Support certificate is worth it in 2026 (r/coursera, May 2026), and which Google IT course to take (r/coursera, January 2026). The Google section gives our counts.
• Whether to pay for one month and finish fast (r/coursera, January 2026). If Coursera bills you monthly, as its search listing describes, finishing sooner costs less.
• Why ITIL Foundation costs so much (r/ITIL, April 2026) and which certificate path to choose (r/ITIL, April 2026). The ITIL section gives the price we found.

Related roles and where to go next

The field overview for IT support and networking lists every credential and role in this area on one page. Three of the jobs that the BLS names as next steps from support have their own pages: what sysadmin ads ask for, certifications for network engineers and the security-analyst route.

Sources

• Adzuna job-ad counts, IT-support ads in 10 countries, October 2026; analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Computer Support Specialists, read October 4, 2026.
• CompTIA, A+, Network+, Security+, Security+ V8, Linux+ and renewal fees, checked October 3, 2026.
• Coursera, Google IT Support (read October 4, 2026) and Google IT Automation with Python (checked October 3, 2026).
• PeopleCert, ITIL 4 Foundation, checked October 3, 2026.
• Cisco, CCNA, and the Pearson VUE price list, checked October 3, 2026.
• Microsoft Learn, Endpoint Administrator Associate and Windows Server Hybrid Administrator Associate (read October 4, 2026), AZ-900 and Azure Administrator Associate (checked October 3, 2026).
• Reddit threads linked in the text, from the posts we collected.

Edited by Elena Marsh · Data checked October 4, 2026