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.

Help Desk / IT Support Specialist

First contact when something breaks. Tickets, passwords, printers, and the patience to work with people having a bad morning.

$62,890Median pay
12 moYour horizon
8 hrsPer week
4Steps in range

Pay is the US Bureau of Labor Statistics median for Computer Support Specialists, 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.

We do not teach ITIL 4 Foundation. It is on your plan because you need it, not because we sell it.
This route finishes about 5 months inside the 12 months you gave it. That spare time is worth more spent on a home lab, a volunteer project or a first job than on a sixth certificate - hiring managers ask what you have built, and a shelf of certificates with nothing behind them is a known pattern they screen for.

What are you aiming to earn?

$63,000
$62,000 $176,000

Help Desk / IT Support Specialist has a median of $62,890, which is under your goal. 19 of the roles below reach it — they are listed under “same interests, different destination”.

Your sequence

In order. Each step assumes the one above it.
This whole route sits inside one BLS occupation (Computer Support Specialists), so there is no published pay progression to draw along it. The certifications still matter for getting hired — the published figures just do not separate the rungs.
  1. 1

    CompTIA Tech+

    3-5 weeks · from month 1

    Proves you can talk about hardware, software and networks before an employer risks a ticket queue on you.

    Foundational We teach this See dates →
  2. 2

    CompTIA A+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 2

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

    Foundational We teach this See dates →
  3. 3

    ITIL 4 Foundation

    2-3 weeks · from month 4

    Service-desk shops run on ITIL vocabulary. Cheap, quick, and it makes you legible to managers.

    Foundational We do not teach this
  4. 4

    CompTIA Network+

    1.8-2.8 months · from month 5

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

    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

Same interests, different destination

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 $63,000 $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.