Of course A+ or ANY entry level certification will HELP you find work. Keep in mind, with todays industry you will be entering a highly competetive market and you may need to be willing to settle for a somewhat meaningless position to get going. Continued study, and more important than ANY cert, proven hands on abilities will get you ahead.
I was a full time Netware administrator before even THINKING about certification and feel that your ability to prove yourself in the workplace and CREATE your own position is far more important.
I think an entry level job is a good start, what you bring to the table is FAR more important than what you've studied.
As fro salary, you'd need to check a local emplyment office.
Salaries USED to be quite high as there was no benchmark to evaluate IT employee worth. A domain name USED TO cost $149.00/yr because nobody knew what it SHOULD cost and only one company couls register them.
Now a domain name is less than $20/yr. because there is competition.
Don't worry about or expect to make the big IT career jump right away. I definitely am not trying to talk down your enthusiasm, but you will find it is more of a progressive industry now whereas it used to be like the gold rush '49.
Just be patient, accept what you have to to get employed anywhere and ride it for a while. This industry is driven on ability and experience, not certifications.
Drop by the Discussion Forums and you'll get some great feedback from some very experienced people.
Good luck and keep us posted as to how you progresss.
