5:40 CompTIA A+ 12:00 CompTIA Network+ 14:50 CompTIA Security+ 16:20 CompTIA Linux+ 16:40 (maybe) CompTIA CySa+ and/or CompTIA PenTest+ 17:17 CCNA 25:58 choose cloud

This video is exactly the type of content we want to see, Transparency and honesty. No pushing some cert thats the latest flavor of the month. We want to hear the truth so we dont waste time studying for a cert that will be worthless by the end of the year. We appreciate the honesty, even if it may burn bridges with vendors, who cares. What we need is someone to provide insight in what direction to go.

I’m 31 and am starting in IT from scratch. Thank you for this video!

25:40 is a good summary point for any viewers that need a refresher for his recommendations.

Thanks for this video Chuck, I watched it about 2 years ago, got into IT and now into cyber security. Very clear path you laid out in this video for getting started in IT.

This is a bigger picture+down to earth video 😯 thanks for helping us with this huge time saving decisions Chuck !!

I rarely ever watch an hour long KZfaq video. But this content is just so freaking good I couldn't stop listening and watching. Network Chuck you are the freaking man!

Its not easy your right. I went from 13 years of Real Estate to IT at the age of 44. Now I have my degree in IT (just got it at 46) and run the IT dept for a large pharma company.

Thank you for this video. I am past my time to go back to school but I am a mother of a recent high school graduate. He doesn’t know his plan but honestly I keep pushing for IT. Glad to have something to show him especially in our Dallas area.

I’m currently 35 years old , started school for computer programming and information last fall. Currently taking network 2 , Computer maintenance. Stumble on to your channel and I do appreciate the information your giving. Thank you.

This is so helpful and honest. I am so happy I found you on KZfaq!! You are amazing to do this all for free. Your resources are fantastic. I can’t wait to get started. This really explained everything that overwhelmed me researching IT jobs.

I switched to IT from an electrical maintenance career at age 32. I'm now 34 as a NOC Specialist, work for a medium sized service provider (MSP and CSP), have 2 certifications in ITIL and A+. I've learned so much in the last 2 years. I've studied CCNA, AWS practitioner, and Linux systems. I seem to have a knack for monitoring software as well, Solarwinds MSP and LogicMonitor. Sky's the limit. The new CCNA is boring but still worth it for now like Chuck said. I was told by the network guys that Network+ was harder. The network guys are kind of dicks. Im leaning towards systems and hoping to work in cloud eventually before I turn 40. Learning containers, serverless computing, and security are big right now.

There's some solid advice in this stream! On the note of getting your first experience; just go out and make you own. Volunteer, blog, vlog, or do what ever you can to play with the technology and put something out there to show what you know. Also, go participate in local meetup groups to meet others in the industry and make connections within your local market. These activities will help you greatly! Good luck, and you can do it!!

In my opinion cloud and DevOps are the best careers. I left my last employer to work for a cloud provider. Working remote is the way to go. You’re right. More freedom as well not having to look after hardware and datacenters, I’ve always hated cabling and installing hardware and racking servers. Let the vendor deal with that side is my opinion

A+>Net+>Sec+>Linux+>CCNA> pick a cloud... work like an ant doing grunt work

Ha ha Chuck, what you outline in the start of this is so similar to my current story and the first few steps I am taking. It is uncanny. Almost 30 First kid due in a few weeks. Hard Job for the last decade that's taken me away from family a lot and damaged the body a bit. Transitioning to the IT world with a goal of Networking and Cyber Security work oneday. Studying A+ and CCNA. Your guidance and content is life changing. Thank you.

I'm also 31 I have been trained inA+ before (government job requirement). This channel amongst others has been very inspirational and stimulating pushing me back into the IT world. I'm kicking myself because a few years ago I was experimenting with Linux, python raspberry Pie etc. And then due to position changes took a break from it. I too hope to one day achieve a remote IT job. I love that there is so much room to learn more and grow.

This was done 2years ago. Can you please update it to 2022. Educative

I wasn't planning on moving into IT or anything, I'm studying something completely different. I just installed Linux on a computer for fun and loved it. Also during quarantine I was thinking of starting to learn how to code just for fun and was specifically thinking of learning Phyton. Funny how you said those are the two most requested skills in the industry. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something.

Im so glad I came across your channel. You have helped me so much. Thank you a ton.

I love it. I’m studying for my a+ right now and I have network+ is coming up in a couple of months. It’s so exciting learning new things and trying them out and then helping people with their tech issues. Even if it’s just friends and family right now. But thank you for the idea to start applying now. I’ll get on it.

I can’t tell you how much you helped me with this video. Thank you so much. I am transitioning careers.

I switched to programming at 47, 8 years ago.

You are the most entertaining IT & Engineering instructor I have ever seen & believe me I have seen a whole bunch of them; You get an A.

Chuck, this is my 1st time making a comment on a KZfaq video ever... But I am 34 and I have traveled the world, had so many different jobs, just life... I have always loved IT, or just the technology world... Watching just the 1st 15 minutes of your video rang loud and clear. I'm gonna make it happen! Thank you!

Thanks for your videos! Definitely gives me a hope of getting out of construction 🤙

Thank you for this. I've been a refuse worker in north TX for 5 years and hit a brick wall in this field just had two kids and I love coding, this gave me new hope for the future and got the gears working again. Thank you man.

Thanks Chuck for clarity. I’m in the beginning of my IT career and will start with A+ despite having a couple years of experience. Looking forward to starting.

I related to this soooo much! I myself just got A+ and I'm constantly popping my head in the IT department where I work and getting to know everyone 😁

I'm in a low point right now, this video helped me so much thank you.

Thankyou for this.. KZfaq is really helping me find my internet fathers most crucial helpful video's when starting out!

Thank you Chuck. I enjoy your videos. I am trying to get back into the IT world after being out of it for 30 years. Also trying to get into the security side of IT and ethical Hacking..Will be spending many hours behind the computer watching these videos and playing with hard ware and software. Thank you again for putting this kind of stuff out there.

Hello from Afghanistan Mr. Network Chuck I learn a lot from your great great videos here in Afghanistan there is no job since the fall of gov for network engineer my favo is your CCNA videos and hopefully you make CCNP videos I am having fun with your teaching method specially when you make funny moments it really make more interesting your lectures Thanks.

This guy is the real deal. Love the straight talk. Listen n learn

Thank you for sharing your wisdom 😊

Oh how I wish I would've seen this year's ago. Great info and perspective Chuck. thank you!

I have been doing network engineering since 1994 started in the USAF. I have my Microsoft MCSE, A+, Security+, CCNA, CNA (Certified Novel Administrator) and I have been using Linux as well on a daily basis since 1994. I'm currently studying C++ and C#. I also have many many years of experience setting up and configuring firewalls and VPN. I have set up VPNs between hospitals and many other businesses in the Tacoma/Seattle area.

Dallas here as well. Forty-six years old and moving into IT. Just started studying for Comptia exams. I don't even own a laptop but I'm going to crush this!

Glad I found this page. Less than 10 seconds in you said the exact words IT support. 👊🏾👍🏾❤ Bingo. Veteran looking to get my foot in the door.

Im new to IT and looking to get my start in it after 23yrs as a certified car stereo installer so thank you for this

Love your stuff Chuck! I work in Dallas as well. "Breaking" in to Network and Cybersecurity stuff is not easy for a 50+ yoa guy. Luckily I've had 2 couple of decades experience in IT in application support. Do you have recommendations for someone such as myself? ...and thank you again sir for putting all the great content out there. Love having you as a local hero!

Very interesting video and great and honest discussion, amazing stuff. As a networking guy I am focused on wireless and security and actually I'm doing both, also advanced my value with linux administration course with redhat and centOS and cloud fundamentals. Cloud is getting huge attention and absolutely deserves it, but I have to say wireless and security are out there and will be for a long, long time.

I just wanna thx u man and yes I’ve been into computers / it since I was 8 and I’m 31 now and every time I talk about something tech related I get excited which is another reason why I appreciate you man the energy is on point 🤎🤟🏿

This was literally my plan before I even found this video! Yessssss thank you 🤍

I work for a college, I tell my student workers about the same, you should be able to knock out the comp tia trifecta relatively easily if you are just coming off of a 2 year degree. Also as an employer I love it when applicants have a home lab git hub or youtube channel.

I got my first IT job as an English major student. I was lucky because they needed people with good English communication skills and they had exceptionally good network engineers for 3rd line support who were willing to pass on their knowledge. I actually have not finished my English studies but really want to continue working in IT, but don't know what path to take. My father was a programmer, my little brother is learning software engineering and I started learning programming not so long ago and I like it.

This is the situation I am on at the moment, I have been working great jobs but getting tire of them after 2 to 3 years, I love computers been working with them for several years now. Now that I am 31yrs old with 2 kids I just started my first IT job in Temple, TX. Is exiting and nerve-racking for me because I want to be good at this and grow in this field all the way to retirement. This video is really laying it down for me I really appreciate all this information.

This is a really nice video. Most IT guys need direction. Great job 👏

Hello Chuck, I had changed my career and I followed ur advise and studied comptia n+ and watched lots of videos preparing for interview as a help desk job and applied for all the help desk jobs in my area and landed a job as a help desk finally !! Am in the IT WORLD and moved to the proximity department in same company but I want to move towards a bigger income so I am thinking of CCNA

I'm getting into pentesting at 45 and I've never worked in IT.

great video theres a lot of great information on what the space looks like going forward

Love your channel man still very value information a year later watching this.

I am watching this video at 21 with 4 years of SysAdmin experience (Military), I have my Security+ and am halfway to my bachelors in Cyber Security. This made me realize the opportunities beyond the military, still anxious to separate in a couple years but this really made me confident in my decision to pursue IT straight out of high school.

Solid advice 👌🏼 job descriptions give it away for what companies look for

Thanks for this wonderful guild 😊

Best clear and authentic advice on helping people in their IT journey on KZfaq.

aws and linux all the way, its the future (devops/cloud in general)

I'm 12 but I've been interested in a IT career and ethical hacking since I was 5 years old and I really enjoy all of your videos

Keep up the good work Chuck.

NC...you're hilarious! Great videos - keep'em comin'! 😁

I just received my A+ this past Friday. I'm a senior IT major with a concentration in enterprise systems. I'm also about to start a part-time service desk position this Tuesday on my college campus as my first IT job. I'm trying to figure out what my path is from where I'm at now. After A+ I can't really say what I want to focus on per se. I was hoping the service desk job will help me figure it out but, I don't think it will. So I'd rather not wait and go ahead and prepare for the next step of my career.

OMG, the thought in my head, right this second...

This was amazing! Thank you!

Thank you for your suggestions and good talk!

For entry level best route, I suggest getting a Data center network tech job. We do tons of remote hands work for the who is who in the Silicon Valley. You get to learn all sorts of systems from over 100s of companies. Company will also help you get certs once you decide what you want to do. I've seen these Techs move up pretty quick going this route.

"Wide base of knowledge" ... that's a yes, boarding on duh. In the IT department I work in we all have a separate specialties but we can fill in temporarily for each other's positions. I can be programming one day and deploying a printer in a remote office the next. Learn, learn, learn, all the time.

Can I just say thank you so much for this vid. i was on the ropes about what to do in life. I am in cloud computing In collage thank you for helping me with a path.

I’m really glad jobs have become less specific as far as your required abilities go. I’m not much of a specialization guy but know enough about various aspects of IT and that’s been really helpful finding work.

Personally - if I was just now getting into the IT industry I would still put a lot of my focus on networking and cloud! What can I say, I love plumbing :)

Dude thank you so much for this motivation. I'm in school for electrical engineering and I'm so lost on my journey in tech. I appreciate your honest opinion on this. 🙏

YOu MAKE the best IT advise videos ever!!!! Thank you for all that you do man!!! You are amazing! I have been stuck trying to figure out what to do? what route to take? How to start? How to get in, And you nail it every time. I have to have a notebook handy when I am watching a new video.

Thanks for your KZfaq channel training Chuck

I am following the collaboration route as well. I am currently working at a noc and thats something we are missing is a voice sme. I am trying to fill that role. I am almost finished with course on cbtnuggets, you have any advice on material. Also when i pass the core, what specialty should I really focus on?

I work at Starbucks rn.... you’re right it doesn’t pay well

new subscriber - your path seems very solid advice - I recently graduated from coding bootcamp and while it was cool, deployments were not pie but straightforward - that all changed when I got my first DO droplet and wanted to install Wordpress but with a load of domains and SSL certs - after a bit of splashing about I came to realise Comptia Security+ is really required to move forward.

Finally the practical discussion about which jobs are desired and make more money. Passions die out. But skillsets and rewards that are great for them and match them is the highest motivation for me long term.

Nice, another Dallas dude.. The CompTia path I went was A+, Net+, Sec+, then Linux+.

I've got 3 University degrees, Cisco, AWS, Azure, etc. If I had to live my life over, I wouldn't do any of them. Instead I would learn to cook. At least I wouldn't go hungry, and I could have made my wife, my parents & family happy over the decades.

Thank you so much for this video 🙏🏽

Thanks so much. Am well guided.

Im in this situation at 27, ive learnt the A+ content but im skipping the A+ and doing the Network + (saves money), then i think I will go Security + and CySA + (could change but Im pretty confident)

Cannot stress looking for a job ASAP as you said. I looked for my first job, still in school with 0 experience.. Ones way out of my knowledge curve, thats how I got my first entry level, and thats how I got my first systems engineer job. Especially in the MSP Space (you really need to like being stressed all the time), there are a lot of companies willing to train and help certify people. More and more companies are going managed IT.

Thanks for the advice Chuck.

i love your work man looking forward into being the best technician ... if i were to be retrenched to america i would not even look back i would take the offer with open arms..... love and admire new tech skills from your country [Thanks again for the best knowledge and skills that you offered ] your newly student andries from south africa

Be careful of working those extra hours, because it isn't always appreciated, I worked through lunches when I was on service desk, not only did no one notice, I was also reprimanded for it because they thought I was working up a case to take them to court for making me work through lunch. If they had spoken to me about it before bringing me into a HR meeting when they found out, my answer would have been that I am not hungry through out the day and I might as well spend the time on the phone rather than trying to find something else to do during lunch. Also, a lot of the time I was just too invested in what I was doing that I would lose track of time and miss my lunch anyway. Just saying that a lot of advice like "Do extra hours for free, they will appreciate the help and notice you and you will move on up to be the CEO in no time" etc, is a little bit of outdated advice. Your mileage may vary, it might work out for you... you might work for a company that will appreciate it. But if you don't, it could come back to bite you.

Thanks Chuck. Been very educational, I had a life changing injury and was going to go down the open uni route. This seems a lot more stream lined

I have been taking the more traditional route - college/university Comp Sci degrees, focus on software engineering, entry-level IT job. It's been more of a grind but I feel like I am getting a serious foundation, so when you mention the ability to pivot jobs, to learn new technologies quickly, being comfortable with code, programming and engineering, my ears perked up. I also think being able to move between working with people and working with technology also helps fill out a robust skillset to stay agile in the technology industry.

Thanks > this almost exactly describes my situation at the moment and is very helpful

I'm looking into starting over but I don't need to start as low as these certs. I have about 15 years in IT from Tier 1, 2, 3 helpdesk, to network admin to server admin to cisco VoIP admin. The only areas I have no experience in are programming and security. I technically retired in 2017 at age 50 but I am looking at getting back into the field (mostly out of sheer boredom) and starting out in pen-testing or a similar role as cyber security interests me now. Back in 2017 when I exited IT the hot cert for the sec guys was CISSP so what is the hot cert to get right now if you've already been around the IT block and can "start over" at a much higher level than T1 Helpdesk?

The one that can't be automated so easily. Either software or web development or even both would be good.

Thank you! This has been helpful in finding a starting point.

I'm 52. Always been a JOAT. All self-taught. Been SysAdmining for 22+ years. Thinking of going between Network+ and Security+ for awhile, even if it's just to add to my collection of skills. Thanks for your insights. Never needed to get a cert or a degree before. Besides the HR Gatekeeper, not sure which one would carry more weight.

WAIT WAIT you chose my path!!! Im im at the security+ lvl probably gonna go for aws

I'm relatively young at only 21, but I decided to pursue this career path. Currently working on ccna, afterwards advance to python, azure, and probably security. I've got a long road ahead of me!

Thank you very much for the insight's

I currently work in counseling and am very much over it. I have always had interest in IT and am going to make the switch. This video was very helpful. Thank you. Starting my A+ studies today!

I was looking at the comments and to be honest with you, this is the best comment and most close to the reality. "CCNA+Cloud+Linux+Automation=Hybrid Engineer required for the future." This is basically what companies started looking for and they will keep looking on a close future.

Thanks, lots of helpful info. I am a 55 yo woman trying to get into IT & out of clerical hell. Have Community College work in programming COBOL & a few others, plus A+ & Network courses, but no certs. Also trying to learn Python. Feel like I'll be stuck forever.

Hy Chuk, Just cuz of you I keep watching the ads. good luck man.

JUST RECENTLY STARTED DRINKING COFFEE!! Never care for it until studying your videos. You are so spot on here for the present time as I started in the late 90s at Verio/SBC/ATT at the DALLAS Info Mart. I wish I'd done the A+ first in retrospect had to know TCP/IP, the 7 layer OSI, etc and the CCNA was required to better understand systems. The network guys of course went further into Cisco studies and certs of course. And yes networking of course means with people as you mention!