IT Support Career Certificate
About this Professional Certificate
Prepare for a career in the high-growth field of IT, no experience or degree required. Get professional training designed by Google and get on the fast-track to a competitively paid job. There are 340,500 U.S. job openings in IT and a $50,800 average entry-level salary in IT support.¹
Over 5 courses, learn in-demand skills that prepare you for an entry-level job. At under 10 hours per week, you can complete the certificate in less than 6 months. Upon completion, you can directly apply for jobs with Google and over 130 U.S. employers, including Walmart, Best Buy, and Astreya.
Since the IT Support Certificate launched in 2018, 75% of Google Career Certificate Graduates in the United States report an improvement in their career trajectory (e.g. new job or career, promotion or raise) within 6 months of certificate completion.²
If you’re interested in building on your IT foundations, check out the Google IT Automation with Python Career Certificate.
Shareable Certificate
- Earn a Certificate upon completion
- 100% online courses
- Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.
- Flexible Schedule
- Set and maintain flexible deadlines.
- Beginner Level
- No prior experience required.
- Approximately 6 months to complete
- Suggested pace of 10 hours/week
Courses in this Professional Certificate
COURSE 1
Technical Support Fundamentals
This course is the first of a series that aims to prepare you for a role as an entry-level IT Support Specialist. In this course, you’ll be introduced to the world of Information Technology, or IT. You’ll learn about the different facets of Information Technology, like computer hardware, the Internet, computer software, troubleshooting, and customer service. This course covers a wide variety of topics in IT that are designed to give you an overview of what’s to come in this certificate program. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to: ● understand how the binary system works ● assemble a computer from scratch ● choose and install an operating system on a computer ● understand what the Internet is, how it works, and the impact it has in the modern world ● learn how applications are created and how they work under the hood of a computer ● utilize common problem-solving methodologies and soft skills in an Information Technology setting
COURSE 2
The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking
This course is designed to provide a full overview of computer networking. We’ll cover everything from the fundamentals of modern networking technologies and protocols to an overview of the cloud to practical applications and network troubleshooting. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to: ● describe computer networks in terms of a five-layer model ● understand all of the standard protocols involved with TCP/IP communications ● grasp powerful network troubleshooting tools and techniques ● learn network services like DNS and DHCP that help make computer networks run ● understand cloud computing, everything as a service, and cloud storage
COURSE 3
Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User
In this course — through a combination of video lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on practice — you’ll learn about the main components of an operating system and how to perform critical tasks like managing software and users, and configuring hardware. By the end of this course you’ll be able to: ● navigate the Windows and Linux filesystems using a graphical user interface and command line interpreter ● set up users, groups, and permissions for account access ● install, configure, and remove software on the Windows and Linux operating systems ● configure disk partitions and filesystems ● understand how system processes work and how to manage them ● work with system logs and remote connection tools ● utilize operating system knowledge to troubleshoot common issues in an IT Support Specialist role
COURSE 4
System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services
This course will transition you from working on a single computer to an entire fleet. Systems administration is the field of IT that’s responsible for maintaining reliable computers systems in a multi-user environment. In this course, you’ll learn about the infrastructure services that keep all organizations, big and small, up and running. We’ll deep dive on cloud so that you’ll understand everything from typical cloud infrastructure setups to how to manage cloud resources. You’ll also learn how to manage and configure servers and how to use industry tools to manage computers, user information, and user productivity. Finally, you’ll learn how to recover your organization’s IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster. By the end of this course you’ll be able to: ● utilize best practices for choosing hardware, vendors, and services for your organization ● understand how the most common infrastructure services that keep an organization running work, and how to manage infrastructure servers ● understand how to make the most of the cloud for your organization ● manage an organization’s computers and users using the directory services, Active Directory, and OpenLDAP ● choose and manage the tools that your organization will use ● backup your organization’s data and know how to recover your IT infrastructure in the case of a disaster ● utilize systems administration knowledge to plan and improve processes for IT environments
Click here to return to our main Google Career Certificate page to view additional training options.
The Google Certificate Training Programs are available on an ongoing basis and at NO COST to learners.
For more information on the Google Certificate Programs, please contact workforce@wccc.me.edu.
¹US Burning Glass Labor Insight Report salary data (median with 0-5 years experience) and job opening data. Data for job roles relevant to featured programs (4/01/2021 – 3/31/22).
²Based on program graduate survey responses, United States 2021