If you’re seeking out online IT certification training, it’s a great time to start. Google has launched a complete certification curriculum on Coursera for those with no prior skills or experience that may be interested in starting out in entry-level IT support positions.
Whether you’re thinking of switching jobs or just starting out your career, this could be a great way to get your feet wet in the IT field.
Why you should consider a role in IT support
These jobs are in HIGH demand
There’s an increasing demand for IT jobs and not enough qualified candidates. And over the next 10 years it is expected to grow faster than average, upwards of 10%.
Google noticed this was a problem, so they created a complete training certification within the Coursera platform. This way, the training would be available to anyone, at an affordable cost. The hope is that it will create more qualified candidates to fill these much needed IT support roles now and in the near future.
The pay is decent, and you don’t need an official degree
The median salary of those in IT support roles is just about $50,000/year. Considering it’s a position that does not require a college degree, the pay is very good.
You just need experience or knowledge to get your foot in the door with these types of positions, so being able to take a low cost training course entirely online to gain the knowledge and skills you need is an excellent opportunity.
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Do you need any prior experience?
No! The courses are designed for total beginners who have no experience at all. If you do already have some knowledge, you can choose to take only the courses you want to.
Is it affordable?
Compared to college, getting your IT support role training from Coursera is extremely affordable. The current price is $49 per month. The nice thing is they also offer a 7 day free trial before they charge you, so you can sign up and start taking the courses immediately to see if you like it.
According to Coursera, if you dedicate between 8-10 hours per week you can expect to finish within 8 months, but it could take up up to 12.
That turns out to be just shy of $400 if you do end up finishing the courses within the 8 month time frame. If it ended up taking you a little longer, it’s still not that much to pay for job training, especially considering how decent the entry-level pay is.
If you really are unable to afford the cost, you can apply for financial assistance with a simple application, located on their main course page.
These are the 6 main courses:
- Technical Support Fundamentals
- The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking
- Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User
- System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services
- IT Automation: It’s not that scary!
- IT Security: Defense against the digital dark arts
The training takes a hands on approach
The training is specifically designed to help you learn hands on with interactive content, such as labs. You’re much more likely to learn information and retain it by doing something, rather than just reading it from a book or hearing it in a lecture.
These entry-level positions are mostly about knowledge and skills, not formal education
This field of work does not require a college degree, but it does require experience or knowledge of IT.
If you’re trying to get yourself into the field but don’t have any experience or much formal training, this certification course is a great option. It was designed by the people at Google specifically for this very reason, and they know what they are doing. They WANT to get interested people trained and into these open positions to help fill the increasing demand for these roles.
It doesn’t matter what your background is – whether you just graduated high school, or looking to switch careers, or maybe you graduated college and are finding yourself wanting to switch to a more practical career track.
Many entry-level IT support roles require candidates to take a test in order to demonstrate that they have the necessary knowledge needed to fill the position. If you can pass the test, and show you know the material for the job, you can likely get hired regardless of any previous job experience.
Taking this 8-12 month course will give you the technical knowledge you’ll need to fill entry-level roles in this field. It’s a lot of information to know, and trying to learn it completely on your own is going to be very difficult for the majority of people.
You can showcase the certification on your resume, but it is your actual knowledge that will help you land the job!
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