Certifications are how you prove you can do the work before anyone has paid you to do it. For someone with no degree and no experience, they are the clearest signal you can put on a resume. The trick is taking the right ones in the right order, instead of collecting badges that do not move the needle.
Start with CompTIA A+
If you take one certification first, make it the CompTIA A+. It is the standard foundation for help desk and IT support, and it covers exactly what a first-line tech touches: hardware, operating systems, basic networking, security fundamentals, and troubleshooting. Hiring managers recognize it instantly as a sign that you have the groundwork. It is vendor-neutral, so it applies no matter whose technology the company runs.
Add the Microsoft fundamentals: MS-900 and AZ-900
Most companies run Microsoft, so two cloud-fundamentals certs pay off early. The MS-900 covers Microsoft 365, the world of Outlook, Teams, and the licensing you will deal with constantly. The AZ-900 covers Azure cloud basics. Both are beginner-friendly, both are cheaper and shorter than the A+, and both show you understand the environment you will actually be supporting. They are an easy way to add depth to a thin resume.
Network+ and Security+ come next
Once you are studying seriously or already working, Network+ and Security+ deepen the two areas that matter most as you grow. Network+ makes the networking you half-understood click into place, which helps with every connectivity ticket you will ever touch. Security+ is the one that opens doors later, since security knowledge is in demand everywhere and many roles eventually require it. These are worth more once you have some hands-on context to hang them on.
What certifications do not do
A certification gets your resume read. It does not get you hired on its own, and it does not teach you to handle a real ticket or a real caller. Plenty of people pass the A+ and still freeze when an actual user is upset and the clock is running. Pair every cert with hands-on practice so the knowledge becomes instinct.
That pairing is the whole idea behind the ServiceDesk Simulator. Study the cert, then go work the scenarios it describes, so by the time you interview the material is something you have done, not just something you memorized.
A simple path to follow
If you want a plan: study and pass the A+ first, add MS-900 and AZ-900 while you start applying, and pick up Network+ and Security+ once you have a role and some real context. Practice the actual work alongside every step. That sequence has taken a lot of people from zero to hired, and it does not require a degree or a dime of debt beyond the exam fees.