Whoah i had no idea how easy and lucrative getting an a+ certificate was I might do that myself just for the hell of it. I make 40k currently but my job is really dangerous and stressful.
The A+ is a two test exam. One test is $100 and the other is $150 I think. I never took it but I took Security+ which is a sister exam of A+ and it was piss easy. Granted I only took it cause an employer required it. I already had 4 years of IT under my belt and my college education so I'm sure there will be more studying on your part. A+ will get you in the door but you'll need to continue on to better certs to get hired for better jobs.
Moving up the ladder depends on the type of helpdesk job you get. If you work one of those boring ones that only want you to work on break fix tickets and twiddle your thumbs otherwise then it'll be hard to move up. If you get the helpdesk job that has you doing break fix tickets and lets you work on upgrade projects with more senior members then you're exposed to more. That allows you to build up your resume and move up the ladder easily.
Just messing around for a little bit, I found a lot of information on this online.
Like this video off YouTube that goes over all the 201-901 test,
