Cheatography
https://baltimorebridge.pages.dev
The essential IT career launch kit — roadmap, cert order, home lab, interview prep, and exam sprint plan. All free from ByteBar.
This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.
Your IT Career Roadmap
Help desk → Sysadmin → Network/Security/Cloud — the classic ladder, 1–3 yrs per rung |
Pick ONE lane by year 2: security, cloud, or networking — generalists stall, specialists get paid |
Certs get interviews; projects get offers — build a home lab and document everything |
GitHub + LinkedIn matter: hiring managers Google you before the interview |
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Which Cert First?
Start: CompTIA A+ (hardware/OS basics) or Google IT Support — no experience needed |
Then: Network+ (networking fundamentals) → Security+ (DoD-approved, biggest ROI early) |
Cloud lane: AWS CLF-C02 → SAA-C03 | Microsoft lane: AZ-900 → AZ-104 |
One cert at a time — stacked half-finished certs impress nobody |
bytebar free it career guide
Home Lab Under $100
VirtualBox or Proxmox (free) — run 3–4 VMs on any 16GB laptop |
Build: a Windows Server DC, a Linux box, a pfSense firewall — learn AD, DNS, DHCP hands-on |
TryHackMe / HackTheBox free tiers for security reps; AWS free tier for cloud |
Document builds on a blog or GitHub — your lab IS your experience section |
bytebar free it career guide
Interview Prep Essentials
STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result — every behavioral answer uses it |
"Tell me about yourself" = 60-second pitch: who you are, what you've built, where you're headed |
Always have 3 questions ready: team structure, on-call expectations, growth path |
Follow up within 24h — a short thank-you email beats 90% of candidates |
bytebar free it career guide
30-Day Exam Sprint
Weeks 1–2: learn — one domain per day, take messy notes, lab everything |
Week 3: drill — 50+ practice questions daily, log every miss in a weak-spot list |
Week 4: simulate — full timed practice exams, review only your misses |
Exam day: sleep > cramming; flag hard questions, answer easy ones first |
bytebar free it career guide
Resume & USAJobs Tips
One page per 10 years of experience — quantify everything (users supported, tickets closed, uptime) |
Mirror the job posting's keywords — ATS filters kill resumes before humans see them |
Federal jobs: USAJobs resumes can run 3–5 pages; spell out GS-level eligibility clearly |
Clearance = pay bump: Secret adds ~10–15%; start the process early, it takes months |
bytebar free it career guide
More from ByteBar
🎁 All free: the complete Freebies Collection — resume pack, interview checklist, home lab guide, career roadmap & exam sprint planner at bytebarhq.com |
Free IT certification study resources at bytebarhq.com |
bytebar free it career guide
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