Breaking into IT — or moving up within it — often comes down to proving you have the skills a job requires, and a resume alone rarely does that convincingly. This is exactly the gap IT certifications are designed to fill. Understanding the benefits of IT certifications, what they actually cost, and where to find quality training can make the difference between a certification that opens doors and months spent studying for an exam that doesn’t move your career forward.
This guide covers why IT certifications matter to employers, what popular certifications typically cost, and where to find free or low-cost resources to prepare for vendor exams like the CCNA.
Why Should You Earn an IT Certification?
An IT certification is a credential validating your technical skills, obtainable by passing a proctored exam, typically one to three hours long depending on the certification. Certification demonstrates your dedication, motivation, and technical knowledge of a specific skill — three things that are difficult to prove convincingly through a resume or interview alone.
Certifications generally fall into two categories:
- Vendor certifications — tied to a specific company’s technology, such as Cisco’s CCNA for networking or Microsoft’s Azure certifications for cloud computing.
- Skill-specific certifications — focused on a broader discipline rather than one vendor’s products, such as CompTIA’s Security+ for general cybersecurity fundamentals.
Popular certification vendors include CompTIA, Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, and Amazon Web Services, each offering a track of certifications from entry-level to expert.
What Employers Get From Your Certification
Earning appropriate certifications provides employers with the assurance that you have the skills required to do the job, through demonstrated, third-party-verified expertise rather than a self-reported skill list. For an employer reviewing dozens of resumes, a relevant certification is a fast, objective signal that a candidate has already invested real time in a specific technical area — often enough to justify an interview on its own.
What You Get From Earning One
Beyond making your resume stand out, working toward a certification gives your self-study a clear structure and a concrete deadline, instead of an open-ended “learn networking” goal that’s easy to postpone indefinitely. Many certifications also directly map to real job responsibilities, so the study process itself builds practical, applicable skills — not just exam trivia.
How Much Do IT Certifications Cost?
Costs vary by certification level. Exam fees typically range from $150 to $760, with renewal costs between $45 and $200 every two to three years, since most certifications expire and require renewal to stay current with evolving technology.
Beyond the exam fee itself, factor in the cost of preparing:
- Books and study guides — usually $30–$60 per title
- Video courses — often $15–$200, depending on the platform and whether it’s on sale
- Bootcamps — anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars for intensive, instructor-led preparation
- Practice exams — typically $20–$100, and often worth the cost to gauge readiness before the real exam
If cost is a barrier, it’s worth asking your current employer about financial assistance — many companies will cover exam fees, or even training costs, for certifications relevant to your role, since it directly benefits them too.
Free or Low-Cost Training Resources for IT Certifications
You don’t need an expensive bootcamp to prepare for most certifications. A few recommended resources for networking certifications like the CCNA:
- NetworkChuck (YouTube channel) — free, engaging video content covering networking fundamentals and certification prep
- Cisco CCNA 200-301 – The Complete Guide to Getting Certified (Udemy) — a structured, low-cost video course covering the full exam blueprint
- Cisco CCNA 200-301 Exam: Complete Course with Practical Labs (Udemy) — pairs video lessons with hands-on labs, which matters for a certification that tests practical configuration skills, not just theory
Udemy courses frequently go on sale for a fraction of their listed price, so it’s often worth waiting for a discount rather than paying full price.
Choosing the Right Certification for Your Goals
Before committing to a specific exam, it helps to work backward from your career goals:
- Identify the role you want — network administrator, cloud engineer, cybersecurity analyst, and so on.
- Research which certifications that role’s job postings actually list as required or preferred.
- Start with an entry-level certification in that track if you’re new to the field, rather than jumping straight to an advanced exam.
- Budget for both the exam and realistic study time — most certifications take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months of consistent study.
Rushing into an advanced or loosely relevant certification just because it sounds impressive rarely pays off the way a well-chosen, role-aligned certification does — employers are looking for evidence you can do the job, not just a list of acronyms.
Conclusion
The benefits of IT certifications go beyond a line on a resume — they give employers a fast, credible signal of your skills, give your own self-study real structure, and often directly map to the skills a job actually requires day to day. While exam and renewal costs add up over time, free and low-cost resources like NetworkChuck and affordable Udemy courses make quality preparation accessible even on a tight budget.
IT certifications are essential for any professional looking to pursue an IT career opportunity, and provide proof of expertise that’s hard to replicate through experience alone. Whether you’re just starting out or advancing an existing IT career, choosing a certification that aligns with your goals — and preparing with the free or low-cost resources covered here — is one of the most reliable ways to move your career forward.