thinQmaster Virtual testing partner Adaptive practice exams that find your weak spots and drill them. Every answer explained. From $99

thinQmaster

Find your exam

Five questions free, before you decide.

Step 1 · choose a vendor

In one of our camps? Your practice exams come with the tuition — they are on your study page already.

thinQcompass

Tell us where you are standing and which way you want to go. We will lay out which certifications to take, in what order, and how long each one is likely to take you — including the ones we do not teach.

Plan my direction
Have a job in mind? Paste the details and we will read them

Paste the details of the position or offer — the requirements section is the part that matters. We will pull out the job title, the certifications it asks for, the experience and the pay, show you what we matched, and build the route from there.

Systems Administrator

Servers, storage, identity, backups and patching. Windows, Linux, or in most shops both.

$99,130Median pay
12 moYour horizon
8 hrsPer week
5Steps in range

Pay is the US Bureau of Labor Statistics median for Network and Computer Systems Administrators, May 2025 — the occupation this job is counted inside, which is usually broader than the job title itself. Study times are our own estimates for someone working 8 hours a week, and they are ranges for a reason.

Most postings for Systems Administrator name a bachelor's degree. Plenty of people hold this job without one, and certifications plus demonstrable experience are how they got there - but expect the résumé screen to be the hard part, not the interview.
Systems Administrator is not usually a first job. The realistic route is a help desk or desktop support role first. The plan below is still the right study order for getting there - it is the timeline to the title that is longer than the timeline to the certifications.
1 further step sits past your 12-month horizon. It is shown so you can see the whole route; it is not lost, only later.

What are you aiming to earn?

$99,000
$62,000 $176,000

Systems Administrator reaches this. Its median is $99,130.

Your sequence

In order. Each step assumes the one above it.
Scroll the steps — the marker follows  
$62,890 · Computer Support Specialists $99,130 · Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Both ends are US Bureau of Labor Statistics medians, May 2025. Everything between them is a straight line we drew, not data: nobody publishes pay per certification, and real pay moves when you change job, not when you pass an exam.

  1. 1

    CompTIA A+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 1

    The credential help desk job postings actually name. Two exams, so budget for both.

    ~$68,930 modelled Foundational We teach this See dates →
  2. 2

    CompTIA Network+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 3

    Vendor-neutral networking. The foundation almost every later path assumes you already have.

    ~$74,970 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
    Other ways to take this step
    • Cisco CCST Networking — if Network+ feels like too big a first step, this is the same ground at half the depth
  3. 3

    CompTIA Server+

    1.4-2.3 months · from month 6

    Hardware, storage and the physical layer that cloud people are often missing.

    ~$81,010 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
  4. 4

    CompTIA Linux+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 8

    Almost everything in cloud, security and automation is standing on Linux.

    ~$87,050 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
  5. 5

    CompTIA Security+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 11

    The baseline security credential, and DoD 8140 approved - which is what unlocks federal and contractor roles.

    ~$93,090 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →
    Other ways to take this step
    • Cisco CCST Cybersecurity — if you want to show security intent before you are ready to sit Security+
Past your 12-month horizon
  1. 6

    Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104)

    2.3-3.2 months · from month 14

    The working Azure credential. This is the one that changes job postings you qualify for.

    ~$99,130 modelled Associate We teach this See dates →

    On the model, this is the step that reaches your $99,000 goal.

    Other ways to take this step
    • AWS Solutions Architect - Associate — same rung on AWS instead of Azure - pick the platform your target employers actually run (we do not teach this one)

Change your answers

Nothing is saved and no account is needed. Your answers live in the page address.

What interests you?

Pick as many as apply. If you are not sure, pick the one you would read about on a Saturday.

Where you are now

Both of these change the plan. Experience especially — it decides what we skip and how fast we think you will move.

How much time you have

Be honest rather than optimistic. A plan built on hours you will not find is a plan you abandon in week five.

$62,000 $99,000 $176,000

Anything you already hold

Tick these and we will not sell you a course you do not need.

I already hold some certifications

Free, and it will tell you about certifications we do not sell. If the honest answer is that you need something we do not teach, the plan says so.