Technology

Computer User Support Specialist in the United States

84 postings read · sampled 2026-09-01 · source ats

What employers actually ask for

Credentials named in the 84 postings we read, ranked by how many mentioned each one.

Network+CompTIA
10%
8 of 84 postings$369 exam · fee checked 2026-08~100 hrs prepCompTIA →
Security+CompTIA
6%
5 of 84 postings$404 exam · fee checked 2026-08~110 hrs prepCompTIA →
Master's DegreeAccredited institution
6%
5 of 84 postingsAccredited institution →

What it costs

Exam and application fees plus typical self-study hours. Almost nobody needs every credential on this list — start with the top line.

Most-asked-for, on its own

$369Network+ · ~100 hrs

asked for in 8 of 84 postings — 10%

If you earned all 2 of them

$773

fees checked 2026-08

210 hrs

210 hours — about 21 weeks at 10 hrs/wk

Not in the total: Master's Degree — cost varies by institution.

Lower signal for this role

Credentials that barely appeared in this sample. That is not a claim they are worthless — plenty are valuable for a different job, a different city, or a promotion later. It is a claim that employers here mostly did not ask.

PMPProject Management Institute
1%
1 of 84 postings$555 exam · fee checked 2026-08~200 hrs prepProject Management Institute →
A+CompTIA
2%
2 of 84 postings$506 exam · fee checked 2026-08~120 hrs prepCompTIA →
CCNACisco
5%
4 of 84 postings$300 exam · fee checked 2026-08~150 hrs prepCisco →
CEHEC-Council
5%
4 of 84 postings$1,199 exam · fee checked 2026-08~160 hrs prepEC-Council →
Associate DegreeAccredited institution
2%
2 of 84 postingsAccredited institution →
Secret Security ClearanceU.S. Government (DCSA)
4%
3 of 84 postingsU.S. Government (DCSA) →
Bachelor's DegreeAccredited institution
5%
4 of 84 postingsAccredited institution →
CCNPCisco
5%
4 of 84 postings$700 exam · fee checked 2026-08~300 hrs prepCisco →

What the official taxonomy says

O*NET surveys people already doing this job. That describes who got hired over a long window, not what employers are asking for now — where it disagrees with the counts above, the counts are the more current answer.

Education levels O*NET lists for this job

Bachelor’s degree
Post-secondary certificate
Associate’s degree or other 2-year degree

Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

O*NET 15-1232.00 · pulled 2026-09-01 · O*NET publishes the levels but no shares for this occupation, so they are shown in its order without percentages

What it pays

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. A different survey from the postings above, so the two do not share a sample.

$40,980

10th percentile

$61,860

median

$100,540

90th percentile

Every credential above costs $773 — about 3 days' pay at the median.

Who was hiring

Employers with at least one matching posting in this sample.

Datadog · Artech Information System · 360 IT Professionals · Infojini Inc · Verkada · vTech Solution · Anthropic · C3EL · Databento · HelloFresh · Alloy · Ask IT Consulting · Integrated Resources Inc · Latitude Inc · Samsara · SBT Global · Stem Xpert · Stripe · Baseten · Bosch · Cloudflare · Collective Health · Cribl · Databricks · Divergent Technologies · Intuitive Surgical · Lyra Health · MongoDB · Notion · OpenAI · Pierpoint · Pinterest · Redwood Materials · Ridgeline · Sierra · SpaceX · Spring Health · Sun Technologies Inc · System Canada Technologies · The Kimmel Group · Twilio · USM · Zip

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