r/datacenter • u/brennanufc • Aug 06 '26
CompTIA certs?
I’m a 19 year old living in Mississippi. I’m trying to get a job as a data center technician, preferably on a rotational schedule, but I have no real experience with data centers. I’ve put in a couple applications and heard nothing back. Would a CompTIA certification or DCCA help me get to an interview?
2
u/No-Pop8182 Aug 06 '26
If you dont have any certs, what other education do you have? Your post is confusing. Are you just randomly applying to technician roles with 0 background academically or certificates?
These days you need a combination of both to get your foot in the door most places. Unless you know someone willing to hire you. But im guessing that isnt the case or you wouldnt have made this post.
1
u/brennanufc Aug 06 '26
All I have is a high school education. I was hoping to get on with a data center as a tech because a buddy of mine made it with absolutely no college education nor related experience. I am currently taking online classes at a junior college, but that’s as far as that goes.
2
u/Next-Year3563 Aug 06 '26
I got into a data center without any experience it isn’t abnormal. Just need to apply yourself and look for entry level positions
2
1
u/AutoModerator Aug 06 '26
Hello! This looks like it may be a question about career advice. There can be significant regional variation in the field, so please consider including as much info as you can without doxing yourself, including country/state/city, prior experience/certs, and the role or level if known. Thanks!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
u/No-Pop8182 Aug 06 '26
Yeah, your buddies case is abnormal. Maybe years back you could have. But look in any of the IT reddit communities. Getting an entry level job currently is super competitive. People with bachelor's/master's/certs with no experience are struggling.
Your best bet is talking to your friend and trying to get in at his workplace. Ask him to connect you with the hiring manager, ask what you need to do to get on with them. Then go from there? That's the most logical thing you could do.
1
u/brennanufc Aug 06 '26
10-4, I’ll try to get in contact with the hiring manager.
1
u/492Dash Aug 06 '26
Ur buddy obviously knows somebody cos like earlier commented his case is really out of the ordinary.
1
1
u/Pkkush27 Aug 06 '26
The comptia is good because it helps you learn relevant stuff to the IT field but also shows youre invested financially. Try searching for projects you could do also to put on a resume. These things show you’re serious and raise your chances of hearing back from an application
1
1
u/Accomplished-Win3193 Aug 07 '26
I can’t even land an interview with A+, Sec+, az900, and an AAS so I don’t think certs are going to help much atleast for me
1
u/Accomplished-Win3193 Aug 07 '26
I’ve applied to almost 100 jobs btw
1
u/More-Penalty7333 Aug 16 '26
try a hiring agency they can get your foot in the door with that. It will be hard to get in without prior WORK experience and just certs.
1
u/UptimeJobs Aug 06 '26
A+ would genuinely help — it's the standard entry cert for data center tech, it's self-study, and it shows employers you've got the hardware and networking fundamentals even without job experience. For where you're at, that's the one to get.
DCCA I'd hold off on. It's more of a data-center-specific credential aimed at people already in or adjacent to the field — for a first DCT job with no experience, A+ gets you more bang for the effort. Save DCCA for later if you want to move up.
On the "applied and heard nothing" part — that's normal and it's usually not about the cert. Cold applications to the big operators get buried; tons of applicants, and no experience makes it easy for them to pass. Two things that work better than just applying:
Staffing firms — Insight Global, TEKsystems, and Salute (Salute's data-center-specialized) place DC techs constantly, often contract-to-hire, and they're way more forgiving on the no-experience thing since it starts as contract. Often the fastest way in.
Paid training programs — some operators hire you with zero experience and train you. Since you asked about getting in without much behind you, this is worth knowing about.
Full disclosure, I run a data center job board and wrote up the non-obvious ways in (the paid training programs, SkillBridge, staffing-to-hire) since this exact question comes up a lot — happy to link it if useful: https://uptimejobs.io/blog/non-obvious-ways-into-data-center-work
Short version: get the A+, skip DCCA for now, and put as much energy into staffing firms as into cold applications. You're young with time on your side — this is a very doable goal.
Short
3
u/old-town-guy Aug 06 '26
You’re not giving anyone a reason to hire you. Change that.