Which Entry-Level IT Certification Should You Take First: A+, Network+, or Security+?

Start with Security+ if you already work in IT and want to move into security. Start with A+ if you do not have an IT job yet and need something on the résumé that proves you can do the work. Network+ is rarely the right first exam and often the right second one. CompTIA publishes a recommended order, but nothing stops you booking whichever exam you want first.

The recommended order is a recommendation

CompTIA lists recommended experience on each certification page, and read together those lists form a ladder. The A+ page asks for 12 months of hands-on experience in an IT support specialist role. The Network+ page asks for A+ certification plus 9 to 12 months in a junior network administrator or network support technician role. The Security+ page asks for Network+ and two years in a security or systems administrator role.

None of it is enforced. There is no gate at registration, no check for a prior certification, no verification of your work history. CompTIA calls it recommended experience because that is exactly what it is. People sit Security+ as their first certification and pass.

So treat the ladder as a description of difficulty rather than a set of rules. Each exam assumes more background than the one below it. Skipping a rung is not against the rules, it just means more self-study.

What each one proves to an employer

A+

A+ says you can work a help desk. It is the broadest of the three and the shallowest, and CompTIA maps it to three DoD 8140 work roles: technical support specialist, system administrator, and cyber defense infrastructure support specialist.

Its value is highest for people without an IT job. If you are coming from retail, the military, or a different field, A+ is the cheapest credible signal that you can be handed a ticket queue and work through it. Hiring managers for entry-level support roles know what it means.

One practical cost to weigh: A+ is two exams. Network+ and Security+ are one each. That is twice the sitting fee and, for most people, more total study time. The A+ guide covers both.

Network+

Network+ says you understand how networks work without being tied to one vendor's equipment. CompTIA maps it to technical support specialist, network operations specialist, and system administrator, and says it prepares you for jobs in technical support, network operation, and system administration.

The payoff is leverage rather than access. Few postings demand Network+ by name. But almost everything above it assumes you can subnet and can reason about the OSI model, and Security+ leans on that assumption hard. Network+ itself gives security the smallest share of its content, on the expectation that you will pursue Security+ separately. The Network+ guide covers what it asks for.

Security+

Security+ is the one employers ask for by name. It is the baseline cybersecurity certification that most employers, government agencies and defense contractors accept as proof you understand information security fundamentals.

It also carries much the longest DoD 8140 work role list of the three. CompTIA names cyber defense analyst, incident responder, vulnerability analyst, security control assessor, system administrator, network specialist, systems planner, IT project manager, information security manager and secure software assessor, among others. When a job description names a certification, it is usually this one. The Security+ guide covers the exam.

The DoD angle

If you are aiming at a federal or defense contractor job, the DoD 8140 mapping is most of the decision. All three certifications appear on CompTIA's published work role lists, but they reach different tiers of work.

A+ and Network+ land on support and infrastructure roles. Security+ reaches the cyber defense and security management roles, which is where most of the hiring demand sits. A contract that requires a certified holder in a cyber defense analyst seat will not accept A+ in its place.

Read the work role named in the posting before you pick an exam. CompTIA publishes the role list on each certification page and the lists are not interchangeable.

When A+ first is the wrong call

The standard advice is A+ first. For career changers that is right. For people already working in IT it often is not.

If you have run a help desk for two years, A+ certifies what two years of employment already demonstrate. It is a credential for the job you have rather than the job you want, and the signal to a hiring manager is weak because your résumé already sends it.

Three cases where skipping A+ is the better play:

• You already hold the support job. Let the work history carry the ground floor and spend the money a rung higher.
• A posting names Security+. Sit the exam the posting names. Nobody reviewing your application is impressed by the prerequisite you collected on the way.
• You need DoD 8140 coverage for a security work role. A+ will not get you there.

The case for A+ holds when you have nothing else to show. Without an IT job and without a degree in the field, it is the credential that gets a résumé read at all.

Timing is a real input now

Security+ has a published retirement date. SY0-701 retires on June 11, 2027 for the English exam, and CompTIA lists a Security+ V8 as under development with no exam code and no launch date announced. If Security+ is the destination and you want the current version, that date limits how long you can spend climbing a ladder first.

A+ and Network+ have no published retirement dates. The current A+ exams launched in March 2025 and the current Network+ in June 2024, and CompTIA typically retires a version about three years after launch. Neither is urgent. If you are going to spend a year on prerequisites, spend it below Security+ rather than after it.

The 2026 version index tracks what is live and what retires when across CompTIA and AWS.

A decision rule

Answer one question. Do you have an IT job right now?

If the answer is no, take A+. It is built for people who need to prove they can do work nobody has paid them for yet, and it is the fastest route from outside the field to an interview.

If the answer is yes and you are heading for security, take Security+ and skip ahead. Read the Security+ material first and be honest about whether the networking it assumes is going to hurt. If it is, Network+ in between costs a few weeks and saves more than that.

If the answer is yes and you are heading for infrastructure or network operations rather than security, Network+ is the one that matches the job you are aiming at, and you can leave Security+ until a posting asks for it.