make CRAZY money in tech (top 5 Entry-Level Certs)
About this video
The creator and Cameron present what they consider the top five entry-level IT certifications for getting started in 2022, organized by career path rather than as a single overall ranking. They say they judged certs by popularity and marketability to employers, how much knowledge and skill studying actually builds, and whether real jobs ask for them. For help desk, which they describe as the most common first IT job, they pick CompTIA A+, noting it requires two exams at $226 each at recording time and covers basics of networking, operating systems, security and mobile devices, with a cited average salary of about $53,000 per year. For security they pick CompTIA Security+ (one exam, $381), for networking Cisco CCNA (now one exam, $300, leading toward network admin or engineer roles), for cloud AWS Cloud Practitioner ($100, chosen because AWS is described as the largest cloud provider), and for ethical hacking CompTIA PenTest+ ($381). They caution PenTest+ is not a good very-first cert and recommend Security+ or some prior knowledge first, and they argue a degree is not required to break into IT.
Key takeaways
- The five paths covered are help desk, security, networking, cloud and ethical hacking, each with one recommended entry cert
- Help desk pick: CompTIA A+ — two exams at $226 each in the video, foundational coverage, cited average salary around $53,000
- Security pick: CompTIA Security+ — one exam at $381, presented as a foundation valued by hiring managers and relevant to government security jobs
- Networking pick: Cisco CCNA — one exam at $300; cloud pick: AWS Cloud Practitioner — $100, framed as the cheapest way into the largest cloud provider
- Ethical hacking pick: CompTIA PenTest+ at $381, but explicitly not as a first certification — get Security+ or equivalent grounding first
Episode details: published February 25, 2022 · 8:36 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are NetworkChuck’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.
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