Trying to get my IT career started

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I'm 21 years old, have a highschool diploma, just go to college but only taking two classes. I have many job experiences that i think it wont matter.

My question is what do i need under my belt to get my IT job started. Do i need to get a comptia a+ certification. If so where do i go to apply and what kinda of jobs are available with such certification?

I eventually want to work for Microsoft.

 

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A+ certainly helps to understand computing technology better, and Net+ complements this very well. If you have some previous IT experience, they should not prove overly difficult but will certainly require that you sit down for a few months to go over the books and test things out.

If you were doing an IT degree at college (or similar) and perform very well, you could be eligible for the MACH program at Microsoft and get your foot in very quickly: Microsoft Careers: MACH Program

I've worked with a few Academy Hires and it's always been a pleasure to help mentor them and do things side by side

But to be honest, there are many positions within Microsoft, and thousands of ways to get inside. Not everyone is a techie but we do have great opportunities within our careers paths and one can grow vertically as well as hop horizontally into new positions (with even more ease these days following some news from corporate in the past week or so).

 

So what would you recommend for me to do first? I want to get started

 

The A+ can't hurt as a first step. If however you're extremely good and knowledgeable in the hardware space of things and you prefer to concentrate on software, then you may wish to look at the entry level Microsoft exams.

 

As Shini has already said, it really depend son your confidence and knowledge of what you already know.

No reason that you can't start looking for IT based jobs immediately though, just look for Service Desk/1st line support roles. Not sure what your previous job roles hae been but if any involved customer service, then that can be used very much a sa positive when looking at SD roles etc. If you have a track record of dealing with customers well then that is half the job so to speak.

 

I build my own computer. I'm no expert but knowledgeable. Should I skip A+? And the entry microsoft level exams. What kind of jobs can I get out of it? And whats an hour wage estimate?

 

CompTIA A+ is a good start, but if you want to go for a more generalised Microsoft path then you should do the 4 MTA OS fundamentals (98-349), Server fundamentals (98-365), Network fundamentals (98-366) & Security fundamentals (98-367).

the CompTIA exams are more wider in range compering more concepts that can be used with Linux & Mac since the A+ is focused on the hardware and the underlining OS; while Network+ could be a starting path for the Cisco line as again it focuses on the core concepts and not just focuses on Microsoft path. Not to say that Net+ and A+ don't cover parts of Microsoft products.