The Government Shutdown Upskill in Your Downtime - CompTIA Certifications

The Skills You Need For IT

You may be surprised to find out that you already have the skills needed for IT. If you’re a good communicator, organized, analytical, creative, curious, resourceful or a problem solver, you already have a great foundation to be an IT pro! When picturing a career in IT, you may think of being isolated in a basement, messing with wires and machines. In reality, most IT pros prefer a social environment where they can interact with others and help solve their problems.

If you have the soft skills to be a successful IT pro, next comes the tech knowledge. Where to get started? Well the technical skills it takes to be an IT pro are all learned skills, and that’s where CompTIA comes in. We’re here for you every step of the way. Start with the CompTIA CertMaster suite of products, eBooks and more to learn the skills you need to get into IT. Then go after those highly desired IT certifications that are found on many open job postings. Think you may be ready for that career change? Take our quiz to find out the path that’s right for you.

Why You Should Consider IT

There is a never-ending list of why you should consider a career in IT, but here are the highlights.

1. There are plenty of jobs. During the fourth quarter of 2017, U.S. employers posted more than 520,000 IT jobs, according to Burning Glass Technologies Labor Insights.
2. You won’t be bored. Technology is ever-changing – you won’t feel complacent, in fact you will feel challenged and will constantly be learning.
3. You will have a work–life balance. Many IT careers are structured on a standard work week with benefits, paid time off and potential flexibility to work from home. A good work–life balance will make you a happier and healthier individual and make your job more enjoyable, too!
4. You get to help people. Helping people gives you satisfaction. It’s so rewarding to be seen as the go-to person to help others and solve problems.

How to Get into IT

There are many different tracks your IT career can take. If you’re interested in protecting systems, a career in cybersecurity will give you a lot of opportunities for growth and career satisfaction. If you like helping people and problem solving, then working your way up from help desk to advanced tech support or computer networking could be a great start.

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You don’t have to make that decision today. Learn more about IT, experiment to find out what you like and run with it! One way to learn about IT careers is to meet other IT professionals. The CompTIA Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) and Women in Tech Summits (WITS) are two ways to do just that. Furloughed government workers can even get a scholarship to attend WITS Mid-Atlantic in 2019.

IT certifications can help you explore the different outlets of IT and learn a lot, too. CompTIA certifications particularly align with IT infrastructure and cybersecurity career paths, with each added certification representing a deepening of your expertise.

Success Secrets: How you can Pass CompTIA Certification Exams in first attempt 

COMPTIA EXPANDS PUBLIC SECTOR PRACTICE WITH ADDITION OF PUBLIC TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE (PTI)

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) today merged with the Public Technology Institute (PTI), enabling increased collaboration between local government executives and elected officials and private industry to solve society’s most critical challenges.

Today’s agreement brings together PTI, the industry’s leading resource for the wise deployment of technology at the county and city level, with the significant public sector, association and certification resources of CompTIA. Both PTI and CompTIA share common values with the ultimate goals of providing quality programming, networking opportunities, and timely research to city and county agencies and providers.

“We welcome PTI and its members to the CompTIA family,” said Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of CompTIA. “Private/public partnerships are critical to tackling our country’s most important opportunities – from IT modernization to broadband to smart cities. We look forward to advancing the work of PTI and augmenting its programs to make a difference in the everyday lives of citizens.”

PTI’s corporate vendor members will integrate into the CompTIA State & Local Government and Education Public Sector Council (SLED).  “PTI will put the “L” in CompTIA’s SLED activity as we work together to grow our resources and relevance at the local level, especially as it pertains to the growing and important market of smart cities,” said Nancy Hammervik, executive vice president, industry relations, CompTIA.  The addition of PTI will also help CompTIA round out its portfolio of public sector programs now covering street to space, offering government resources and benefits for the new PTI Council, SLED Council, Health Services IT Advisory Group (HSITAG) and Space Enterprise Council (SEC).

PTI’s jurisdiction and state agency members will form a new CompTIA Public Sector Council, PTI, with its own set of association governance and bylaws. These members will participate in CompTIA events when appropriate and will not engage in public policy committees nor will they help define the associations legislative priorities. The current PTI Board of Directors will become an executive council serving in an advisory capacity to CompTIA.

PTI and CompTIA will develop a roadmap for growth as well as program enhancements geared towards local governments, both domestically and world-wide.  PTI will continue its strategic partnerships with industry media and other national associations that represent the interests of local government technology executives and practitioners. PTI will continue to deliver programming to its membership in 2019 by focusing on several initiatives to include:

• The start of the 2019-2020 Certified Government CIO (now in its 8th year) program
• An expanded Certified Government Digital Services Professional certification program
• PTI’s popular Tech Matters weekly email highlighting technology news and government services
• The annual CIO and Leadership Summit and “hot topic” events and webinars
• Research (survey analysis, articles, identifying leading practices)

“This is an exciting time for PTI,” said PTI Executive Director Alan Shark, who will remain as head of PTI at CompTIA. “We are looking forward to continuing to provide our members with the world-class level of professional development, technology thought leadership, industry research and insight, consulting services, networking and other important resources they have come to expect and enjoy from PTI, while expanding our reach and our relevance with the support of CompTIA.”

The merger brings 14 new members to CompTIA’s PSA Program to include ESRI, Allied Telesis, Kronos, Nutanix, Motorola, Qualtrics, Ricoh, RSM, Symantec, Tyler Technologies, Information Builders and Plante Moran.

About PTI

Established in 1971 by the several major national associations representing state and local governments, PTI has been viewed as the focal point for thought leaders who have a passion for the furtherance and wise deployment of technology. PTI's initial funding was through a grant from the National Science Foundation. Today, PTI actively supports local government officials through research, education, professional development, executive-level consulting services, and national recognition programs.

About CompTIA

The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is the leading voice and advocate for the $4.8 trillion global information technology ecosystem; and the more than 35 million industry and tech professionals who design, implement, manage, and safeguard the technology that powers the world’s economy. Through education, training, certifications, advocacy, philanthropy, market research and membership programs, CompTIA is the hub for advancing the tech industry and its workforce.

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Completing the Trifecta of CompTIA Certifications: From Accidental IT Pro to Secure Infrastructure Specialist

I’ve always had a love for computers, writing my first program on a Sinclair ZX81 in Basic, and graduating quickly to a Commodore 64. Despite this, my career path would lead me in a different direction. After earning a Bachelor of Science in psychology, followed by an MBA specializing in international management, it seemed my days working with computers were coming to an end. Little did I know that would change.

Fresh out of school and ready to hit the workforce in the early ’90s, my first job was working with a mainframe COBOL-based telecoms billing system. Though I loved the technical part of my job, my background meant I was on a management track leading teams of developers rather than writing code.

As the tech revolution kicked in, my career path took me from one management role to another through a variety of high-tech companies. At one point I found myself as an IT manager for a rapidly growing telecom optical startup. I had to learn quickly about networking, security and systems management for highly specialized research and development (R&D) environments. While my focus was largely managerial, my love for tech took me into the details, learning from a team of highly specialized IT pros.

Over the next 20 years, I would hold numerous jobs managing complex IT environments, customer support functions, sales and marketing teams, and ultimately, business operations for tech companies.

My First CompTIA Cert

After landing at CompTIA, following the successful sale of a business unit I managed, I was reintroduced to the tech certifications that my colleagues from many years ago held: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+. Since my role was focused on industry and not skills certifications, I did not give them much thought other than, “It would be interesting to see if I could pass one of those exams.”

Once I settled into my new role, I got my first CompTIA certification: CompTIA Certified Technical Trainer+ (CTT+). As someone who speaks in the industry on a regular basis, I thought this would be a good certification to get. I was immediately challenged by the material and the high standard for passing the course. With reassurance and persistence, I passed both the performance-based and knowledge-based exams. I was hooked and ready to try something even more challenging.

Building an IT Foundation with CompTIA Certifications

CompTIA A+ comprises two exams, and despite lots of confidence that I would easily pass the exam with a brief refresher, I was quickly challenged by the deep understanding required of computing hardware and the vast array of software used to harness it. After a lengthy preparation period, I wrote both exams.

Proctored, high-stakes exams are very stressful. The clock starts counting, and you have minimal time to answer each question. In addition to multiple-choice questions, simulations challenge you to apply and demonstrate competency. When you finish the exam, you are left with adrenaline pumping and an uneasy feeling of uncertainty on how you did. I let out an audible sigh of relief both times when I learned that I passed the exams. I was now CompTIA A+ certified and ready for an even bigger challenge.

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CompTIA Network+ follows up on the core skills covered by CompTIA A+ with a more technical exam. This material was tough, challenging me to know the open systems interconnection (OSI) model in detail, build out all types of networks, and work at a binary and hexadecimal level, among many other things.

After extensive preparation with CompTIA CertMaster, I thought I was ready for the exam. I reviewed the first 10 questions and my heart sank not knowing the answer to many of them. I started to sweat.

As I worked through the questions and simulations, a voice in the back of my head kept saying, “You don’t know this. You’re going to fail.”

I pressed on, leveraging what I did know to rule out incorrect answers and moving quickly through questions where I did know the answer. I completed the exam with seconds to spare, not having any time to review. I was certain I had failed. Feeling dejected, I completed the demographic questions at the end.

When I saw that I had a passing grade, I laughed out loud for a minute from stress relief. The exam proctor looked at me wondering what was wrong with me. Challenged and succeeding, I was now CompTIA Network+ certified, and boy had I earned it.

Completing the CompTIA Trifecta

CompTIA Security+ was the latest step in my journey. I had experience with IT security throughout my career but largely relied on security experts to support my efforts. After being humbled with my experience with CompTIA Network+, I buckled down.

Combining CompTIA CertMaster Learn for Security+ with published study prep materials, I dove into a deep well of cybersecurity. Cryptographic functions – hashing, symmetric and asymmetric encryption, and KPI became my nighttime reading material.

After another intense experience writing my exam, I was thrilled to see that I had passed. When I left the room, I was shaking so badly that the proctor asked me, “Are you alright?”

“That was intense,” was my only reply.

After now earning CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+, I am proud to say that I am a CompTIA Secure Infrastructure Specialist (one of CompTIA’s stackable certifications) and no longer an accidental IT pro. Including CTT+, I now hold four industry-leading technical IT certifications.

Coming from a career where I had to learn on the go, I am now equipped with a much deeper understanding of the tech that powers our businesses and our lives. Are you an accidental IT pro? Perhaps you are like me and have dabbled with tech all of your life but never took steps to prove what you know. If so, I encourage you to take a step to becoming an IT pro by taking your first exam. You won’t regret it, and who knows where it will lead.

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CREATING IT FUTURES OPENS FREE IT TRAINING & CAREER PROGRAM FOR ADULTS - CompTIA Certifications

After three successful pop-up classes in the Chicagoland area, Creating IT Futures is launching a permanent home for its free IT-Ready career program in Chicago. With financial support from Boeing for its first Chicago class in 2019, IT-Ready trains, certifies and places unemployed and under-employed adults in their first jobs in the information technology (IT) field.

With a shortage of qualified workers, the IT industry has more than 30,000 tech jobs open in the greater Chicago area. IT-Ready will host an 8-week class at Northeastern Illinois University’s El Centro campus in the Avondale area of Chicago starting February 11. Applications will be accepted through January 11 at www.ITReady.com.

Students work toward CompTIA A+ certification in Creating IT Futures’ IT-Ready Technical Support class. The full-time classroom-based course is underwritten by grants and financial donations, so that students can attend classes for free. 

“We’re excited to have the support of Boeing to help establish a permanent home for IT-Ready in the Chicago area,” said Charles Eaton, CEO of Creating IT Futures. “Beyond our training and certifications, we work with our students to connect them to local employers. With our current 2018 class that’s graduating in Naperville in January, we already have more than a dozen local employers signed on to interview students. About 86% of our graduates across all our IT-Ready programs find full-time employment in the tech industry.” 

What Do IT-Ready Students Learn?

In the IT-Ready Tech Support class, students participate in taking apart and building desktop computers and other hardware; learn about motherboards, printers, peripheral devices, memory and physical storage, connections and mobile devices; set up computer networks and troubleshoot networks, displays, printers, and operating systems; configure operating systems and hardware; and secure networks, systems and data.

IT-Ready students also receive targeted professional development in key business “soft” skills such as professional communication and presentation, teamwork and collaboration, and critical thinking and problem solving. IT-Ready graduates are grounded in these key skills and prepared to apply them on day one of their new jobs. After completing their training, the students sit for the CompTIA A+ certification exam which covers desktop and help-desk technical support duties and skills.

IT-Ready students receive free tuition, books and learning materials, more than 240 hours of classroom and hands-on tech and soft skills training, and certification vouchers. 

The class in the Avondale area of Chicago will run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every weekday from February 11 to April 5. To demonstrate their commitment to the training and pursuing an IT career, IT-Ready students are allowed only one absence and two late days during the program. The class will be held at NEIU El Centro, 3390 N. Avondale Ave, Chicago, IL 60618.

Beyond recruiting for participants for IT-Ready training, Creating IT Futures is looking for Chicago businesses to consider the resumes of certified IT-Ready graduates and interview qualified candidates for entry-level IT positions. Interested employers should contact Anderson Lee at alee@comptia.org.

Potential employers, mentors, students and community partners can learn more at www.ITReady.com.

About Creating IT Futures 

Founded in 1998 by CompTIA, Creating IT Futures is a 501(c)(3) charity with the mission of helping populations under-represented in the information technology industry and individuals who are lacking in opportunity to prepare for, secure, and be successful in IT careers.

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