IT Certifications

IT certifications are absolutely not necessary for a repair technician to have. Don't feel like you can't repair something because you aren't certified to do so. Certifications aren't the boss of you.

That being said, IT certifications aren't necessarily worthless:

1. Earning a certification can be an important confidence-boosting activity for new repair technicians.
2. Having a certification can be an important marketing tool for repair technicians trying to distinguish themselves from the competition. And some certifications give access to technical information, parts, and leads.

There are many certifications out there. Here are a few more common certifications that repair technicians hold.

The iFixit MasterTech Certification is a smartphone repair technician's proof of technical repair proficiency—backed by the most trusted brand in electronics repair.

It's a two part test. First, an extensive multiple choice exam covering Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy repair, general electronic device repair knowledge, and repair business operations. Second, a hands-on disassembly and reassembly of a smartphone—from memory—to demonstrate skills and prove mastery of mobile repair.

CompTIA offers a range of IT certifications. CompTIA A+, the most common certification in the IT industry, is a vendor neutral certification that covers numerous technologies and operating systems from vendors such as Microsoft, Apple, Novell and some of the Linux distributions.

Apple offers the ACMT as the official certification for repair technicians. However, further certification is required to allow the ACMT to perform warranty repairs.

Microsoft Registered Refurbishers are PC refurbishers officially endorsed by Microsoft. In addition to providing the official designation, Microsoft offers low-cost genuine Windows software to participating refurbishers.