Course title: IT Support & Helpdesk: Your First Step into an IT Job

Level: Complete beginner. No IT experience needed.

Duration: Self-paced — about 6 hours of reading, practice and quizzes across 7 chapters.

Format: Text lessons, short videos, hands-on practice activities, a quiz after every chapter, a final assessment and a certificate of completion.

What you need: A phone with internet. Access to a computer or laptop (your own, a library’s or a friend’s) makes the practice activities easier, but isn’t required for every lesson.

Price: R199 once-off (online)

Certificate: PurpleGrowth certificate of completion, issued automatically when you finish all chapters and the final assessment

What this course gets you

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Explain what IT support and helpdesk staff do, and how support teams are organised

• Understand how computers, phones, operating systems and storage work

• Explain how routers, Wi-Fi, IP addresses and internet connections work

• Troubleshoot problems using the professional seven-step method

• Log, prioritise and escalate helpdesk tickets and support users remotely

• Help people use strong passwords and MFA, spot phishing and protect data under POPIA

• Build experience, choose free learning and certifications, and earn on the side

Who this course is for

• Job seekers who want a first step into an IT career

• People who are already “the tech person” for family and friends

• Customer support staff who want to move into technical roles

• Small business owners who want to look after their own technology

Further free resources

Free sites and tools to keep learning and find work after the course. All free at the time of writing.

• JobAlertsZA — a free tool that finds matching jobs for you: set alerts for IT helpdesk and support roles — https://jobalertsza.com/

• Cisco Networking Academy — free, self-paced courses in networking, hardware, operating systems and cyber security — https://www.netacad.com/

• Professor Messer — free CompTIA A+ video course — https://www.professormesser.com/free-a-plus-training/220-1201/220-1201-video/220-1201-training-course/

• Microsoft Learn — free training on Windows, Microsoft 365 and Azure — https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/

• Google IT Support Certificate — online programme with financial aid available — https://grow.google/certificates/it-support/

• Chrome Remote Desktop — Google’s remote support tool — https://remotedesktop.google.com/support