News and Updates

10 Ways to Improve Your Writing

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:44:00 GMT

Writing well is a critical skill for IT professionals who have to convey technical information to technical and non-technical people. "The better you can communicate your message in ways that other people understand, the more likely you are to succeed in whatever you are trying to do," says James Chartrand, founder of Damn Fine Words, an online writing course for business people.

Do you find yourself repeatedly frustrated because people misunderstand your emails, or fail to take the right action after reading your reports and memos? If so, it's time to step up to the keyboard and improve your writing skills.

Writing well is a critical skill for IT professionals who have to convey technical information to technical and non-technical people. "The better you can communicate your message in ways that other people understand, the more likely you are to succeed in whatever you are trying to do," says James Chartrand, founder of the online writing course for business people, Damn Fine Words, and owner of the Montreal-based graphics design and copywriting company Men With Pens.

Chartrand, Denver-based business writing consultant and trainer Jodi Torpey and San Diego-based marketing and business communications consultant Lee Polevoi shared their ideas about how professionals can improve their writing skills.

1. Make it a habit to plan, draft & revise — everything

Give yourself time to plan, draft and revise your writing. "I am a big proponent of thinking first before you put any words on paper," says Torpey.

For short emails, this can be a matter of minutes, but taking those minutes to more tightly focus your message can be the difference between a quick resolution and a protracted, multi-party email chain.

2. Write with your goals and your readers' interests in mind

When planning what to write, think about:

What do I want to say?
What do I want to accomplish?
Who will read this?
What will these readers need to know?
What are they most interested in?
What do I want these readers to do after reading this?

"All writing should be reader-centered," Torpey contends. "Ask yourself, 'How's my reader going to use this information? Does it answer their questions?' "

3. Think Conversation, Not Gettysburg Address

Polevoi and Chartrand encourage people to write as though they are talking to their readers. "Your message, put down in conversational language in the draft, can always be made more formal later, if need be," says Polevoi.

Chartrand adds, "If you just relax and treat the other person who is going to read your work as a normal person, consider yourself a normal person, and write as if it were a natural conversation, it gets far more results."

Chartrand notes this is hard for people 30 and older who have been taught to write more formally. Younger people have just the opposite problem. "They're almost too relaxed, too casual, and they can be taken not very seriously."

If you want your writing to sound conversational, relaxed, and in control, envision yourself as that person when you write, "and you will write accordingly," says Chartrand. "Your brain will take over, and you will carry that tone."

4. Draft freely, set the draft aside, and then come back to revise

You can let 'er rip with a first draft and include all details and side information you want, but expect to mercilessly rearrange and remove information during revision. "Put everything down, then let it sit for a little bit," says Polevoi. "Then go back and start to organize it."

This "little bit" can be a matter of minutes for an email, or a matter of days for a longer report, schedules permitting. But any time you can step away from your draft will improve your ability to catch mistakes and to strengthen the content of your writing.

5. Get to the point — quickly!

State your purpose and any action or decision you want the reader to undertake at the very beginning of whatever you write.

Getting to the point quickly is critical, Polevoi says. "Nobody has time to cut through a jungle of words to find out what you are taking about."

With email, Polevoi says, "The subject line and the first sentence (of the email message) should address what the communication is about. Then you can back up with as much detail as you need to."

Place the main point and any call to action at the beginning and the end of longer documents.

6. Organize your information for the reader

"List the most important thing to the reader first," says Torpey. For example, for a CFO, talk about budget first.

Use page design tools to visually organize information. "Think about using headings, bullet points, numbered lists and tables to get your points across," Torpey suggests. "Anything that helps readers find the information quickly."

7. Eliminate—or reduce and explain—IT jargon

Avoid using industry jargon and technical terms in writing because not all readers know this specialized information. If you don't need the jargon or industry terms, leave them out. If you do, "try to break that down," says Polevoi. Define technical terms and write out acronyms to help non-technical readers, for example.

8. Keep Your Writing as Short as Possible

Readers can get lost in or distracted by unneeded detail. Keep your paragraphs short —three or four sentences max, advises Torpey. Exclude all non-crucial information.

"A lot of times you can take a huge message that's about a thousand words, and trim it down to something that's about 15 words," says Chartrand. "The clearer it is, the faster it is to understand, the easier it is to read—Boom! You get action from that."

9. If you need help with grammar and punctuation, get it—ASAP.

Writing marred by poor grammar and punctuation mistakes can reflect badly on the writer, making readers consider the writer less capable. So if you need help in this area, study up (via free online resources such as GrammarBook.com or Grammar Girl) or invest in a brush-up course or two as soon as possible.

10. Read everything aloud

Read your writing aloud in a natural conversational tone, Chartrand urges. "This is a really, really simple trick that not enough people use." You might feel silly but Chartrand says, "It's actually one of the most important things you could do."

By reading what you've written at the same pace as if you were talking to someone, "you will spot mistakes, stiff areas, awkward sentences, or weak-sounding words right away," she says. "It's the fastest way to improve your writing."

Weekly Word on the Street: IT Pay Remains Stagnant

Jim Staats — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:46:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is you never know what to believe when it comes to industry reports, findings, statistics or surveys. One set of industry reports and findings might say the IT salaries are on the rise and the next week a new slew of fact and figures come out to counter those claims. The one constant seems to be that IT jobs remain a steady mover in a still stagnant economy.

IT Sector Value Up, Wages Not So Much

The increasing value of IT departments in the overall success of businesses has yet to be reflected in recent salary trends, according to industry statistics.

For an industry with a percolating job market and unemployment figures below the national average, the average wage earned by the IT professionals within has risen little in recent years.

Among the surprising statistics pointed out in an article this week in Computerworld, workers in this sector are seeing annual salary increases of less than one percent over the past decade.

Broken down, this means average hourly wages of $37.27 for workers in this field back in 2000 have increased by less than $2 an hour in 10 years, according to report findings provided by the Economic Policy Institute.

Increased use of contract labor, a still-struggling overall economy and inflation are among the factors attributed by analysts to the sluggish wage shift.

The continued existence of an IT skills gap and strong unemployment figures for the sector indicate such a disconnected wage rate can't remain for long.

Be Social, Get Hired

Any engaged job seeker is already keenly aware of the importance of social media avenues in achieving that end goal. However, being aware of a resource and being a pro at a resource are two different things.

A few helpful tips on how to better utilize social interactions for your career needs was recently discussed in an article at CareerRocketeer.com:

Keep in mind that the original social medium is the actual conversation. Don't wait for a job to be posted to introduce yourself to the hiring manager of an organization for which you have an interest. Could be helpful for when a job does open up.
LinkedIn Groups - another avenue to mix and mingle with other professionals. Learn about others and allow them to learn about you.
LinkedIn inMail - consider signing up for a LinkedIn premium account that comes with the opportunity to send their version of emails. Sometimes it's that extra effort to make a connection that could spark an interest.
Remember that Twitter levels the playing field and allows for a peer experience regardless of professional status, a pretty powerful tool when used wisely. A retweeted message or article from someone with whom you'd like to connect is a good first step towards "earning" the ability to begin direct messaging.

Winning at the Art of Negotiation

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Saying 'What are some ways we can both benefit from these negotiations? Let's invent some new ideas' can do wonders."

Dan Shapiro, Harvard International Negotiation Program founder and director

Years ago, J.R. Samples and his salesman walked into a CIO's office with a $250,000 network proposal, but as the conversation progressed, Samples, then an EVP at an IT engineering firm, had his salesman keep the proposal off the table. They walked out of the meeting with a $50,000 short-term contract to evaluate the company's IT challenges and alternatives — even though consulting wasn't really their firm's focus.

Still, the negotiation was successful.

Six weeks later, the consulting project ended, and the CIO gave them a $400,000 order. In addition to nearly doubling the business with the CIO, that project helped Samples and his company realize that consultancy itself could be a new business opportunity.

"The salesman thought we were in there selling a quarter-million dollar network," Samples recalls, "but when we met with the CIO, it was very clear that he needed some things done, but had a lot of pain and trepidation over understanding where his company was holistically and what its various (IT) alternatives were."

Negotiation success came from taking a risk (by not pushing the original proposal), closely listening to the CIO, and then coming up with an alternative—granted, a lower priced alternative—that addressed the CIO's immediate concerns and cleared the way for larger partnerships.

Negotiation skills are key for IT professionals at any level. "Technology companies are realizing that hard skills are incredibly important, but soft skills are what give IT companies the strategic advantage," says Harvard psychology professor Dan Shapiro, founder and director of the Harvard International Negotiation Program.

Learning Negotiation

How can an IT professional learn negotiation skills? Mentors, books and classes, suggests Samples, now CEO of the Chicago business consulting firm Accountability Partners.

Samples sharpened his skills by taking Karrass negotiation training after working seven years in sales. "I realized my mistakes and learned better methods."

The art of negotiation is not a science; it's more of a practice, says Peter Oliver, principal of Sandler Training | Adventus in Marlborough, Mass. "For me, it happened over time, through a lot of trial and, unfortunately, some error."

Oliver took a negotiations class as a college elective. "I wanted to understand the best way to put myself in a good position to get deals done in business." Later in his career, Oliver invested in Sandler Training classes and wound up buying a franchise.

"The best way to learn is to put yourself in to a position where you are actually negotiating," Oliver says, suggesting books such as "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, " a book first written in 1981 by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury, and also "The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them," a best-seller about David L.Sandler's selling system written by Sandler Training CEO David Mattson.

Negotiation Tips

Be prepared. "Being prepared means having a plan of negotiation," says Samples. "It's knowing 'How much am I willing to do today, how much tomorrow or how much later on?' "

Work to understand the pressures, pains, sense of urgency and needs the other party is experiencing. Oliver believes that "knowing what would give the other person the upper hand is more important than knowing what would give you the upper hand. The better you understand the perspective of the person you are dealing with, the easier it usually is to reach a deal."

How do to do this? Listen more; talk less. Ask open-ended questions that begin with "Why" or "How" to learn more about the other person's needs and objectives. Avoid closed-ended questions that start with "Do" or "Will." "The better job you do of asking open-ended questions, the easier it is to learn where the conversation should lead," says Oliver.

Know when you are negotiating. "Sometimes people are not savvy enough to understand when relationships with the prospect have moved from a selling, 'Why-should-I-buy-from-you' mode into a negotiating scenario," says Samples. "So they start discounting, unnecessarily." When the conversation shifts from sales into negotiation, "That's a completely different communication environment—one in which you become a business partner," he said.

Collaborate and Compromise. "In a win/win, both sides may need to give up something to get the deal done," says Oliver. "However, the more you collaborate, the less you'll compromise. What you don't want is a win/lose, or a lose/win. If the other party loses (in an negotiated outcome), the relationship usually stops there."

A Framework

Shapiro and Fisher promote their book and provide free negotiation skill tools at the Beyond Reason website, but Shapiro outlined the basics for CompTIA. According to this framework, the five rational components to address in any negotiation are:

Interests. Shapiro suggests focusing not on what people say they want, but on the interests underlying their requests. Getting to those interests requires listening, asking questions and research. If you know the opposing party's underlying interests, Shapiro says, perhaps those interests could be addressed in a different way than the original request.

Options. Shapiro urges people to move beyond the typical discussion of "my option" or "your option" by using creativity to "invent options for mutual gain." "Saying 'What are some ways we can both benefit from these negotiations? Let's invent some new ideas' can do wonders," says Shapiro.

Legitimacy. Move a negotiation beyond an adversarial battle of wills, by focusing not on what people will or will not do, but what they should do. "Bring in standards of fairness," says Shapiro. This can require research—to determine what's been done in similar situations, and to build a case for what is merited.

Commitments. People make assumptions, especially during negotiations, so Shapiro emphasizes that it's important that negotiating parties detail their commitments to make sure they are clear, realistic, achievable and mutually understood.

Alternatives. Alternatives are what can happen if an agreement isn't reached. Knowing your alternatives can help strengthen your negotiations, Shapiro says.

Beyond these rational issues, emotions are at play too. An IT professional can't directly address all the emotions flying around during multi-party negotiations, but he or she can deal with the core emotional concerns that matter to everybody. According to Shapiro and Fisher in "Beyond Reason," these core five emotional concerns include:

Appreciation. "Does each person feel heard and valued?" queries Shapiro.

Autonomy. Recognize that each party wants the freedom to make decisions, act, feel and think. "No one likes to feel imposed upon or unduly told what to do," says Shapiro.

Affiliation. Affiliation is the emotional connection between yourself and the other party(s). Need a simple way to build affiliation, maybe turn an adversary into a colleague? "Ask advice," says Shapiro. "Ask that person 'What's your advice? How do we deal with this problem together?' It's a very simple thing to say, but its impact can be very profound."

Status. "Don't compete over status during negotiations" says Shapiro. "Respect it."

Role. Take a hard look at how you approach negotiations. "Are you playing the role of adversary? Confronter? Accommodator? Problem-solver? Avoider?" queries Shapiro. "Is that role serving your purpose? If no, reconsider roles."

Negotiation is about dealing with differences, says Shapiro. "You can deal with differences in many ways—with hostility, suspicion, amicability. Each way has predictable outcomes. Recognize you have a choice."

So, he says, be hard on the problems within a negotiation, but soft on the people. "You want to build the best, most constructively positive relationships you possibly can so you can be working together on these differences and shared problems."

IT Industry Leaders: Nellie Scott on Selling IT and Being a Woman in the Field

Kelsey Wieties — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:17:00 GMT

Nellie Scott

Working in the IT services industry for 17 years, Nellie Scott has relied on her personal philosophy of "Nothing happens in an organization until somebody sells something to somebody."

In her role as channel services business manager at Lenovo, Scott is responsible for driving revenue by supporting business partners in the United States and Canada through sales and marketing campaigns. Lenovo is a $21 billion personal technology company and the world's second largest PC vendor.

Scott's path to success began after completing a two-year business management program at the University of Southern California. She started as a technology software trainer at CompUSA in California for enterprise customers such as Boeing and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

From there, Scott was promoted to training manager, where she broke sales records in her first quarter. She moved to CompUSA corporate headquarters in Dallas and became the national accounts manager, tasked with launching a new accounts program. Again, Scott was promoted, this time to director of sales, where in a single year she had a 100% closing ratio in her sales region.

Scott completed her career at CompUSA as senior director of sales, having built her business to over $120 million in annual revenue. In 2001, Scott was hired as senior manager by Dell where she launched a new business unit. Over a span of five years, she built the business unit from $50K to $60M in revenue.

Nellie Scott, Lenovo channel services business manager

Q. What do you do day-to-day in your job?

In my current role, Lenovo services can't be sold until my team enables our offerings. My team manages our service offerings and enables them in SAP and other systems that feed channel partner tools for North America and international markets such as Australia and Western Europe. My team also maintains monthly services catalogues for these regions.

In addition, I am an experienced sales trainer and conduct ongoing sales training for internal and channel sales representatives nationwide with a focus on "how to sell" solutions. As a 17-year sales professional, I'm called upon to meet with customers to design solutions to solve real-time business challenges.

Q. How did you get started in IT?

Out of necessity. I am extremely resourceful and anticipated the demand for Microsoft applications, so I landed a weekend job at my local CompUSA store where I could get the software training for free. Armed with these technology skills, I became a valuable resource to CompUSA as a Microsoft trainer. After three months of working the weekend trainer position, I was offered an opportunity to run my own training center. That's when I discovered that selling technology was not only natural to me, but even more lucrative than teaching it.

Q. How do you keep current with the latest trends in your segment of the IT industry?

I read a lot. Computerworld, books on solution selling strategies, CompTIA SmartBrief, IDC and Gartner trends are my go to resources. I also attend at least two industry webinars per month. Social media such as LinkedIn discussions with my alumni groups from Dell and CompUSA also keep me informed. When I want to gain in-depth knowledge on a particular subject, I leverage my network and schedule time with subject matter experts. I find that people are always willing to educate and share their knowledge especially when the favor is reciprocated.

Q. What advice do you have for people who want to get an IT industry job?

Find a point of entry even though it may not be the ideal job you want. This is a fast-paced industry where the only thing that is constant is change. Therefore, the job you have today may not be the one you'll have tomorrow. For any job, embrace new challenges and assignments with enthusiasm and a can-do attitude even if they are outside of your comfort zone. Demonstrate positivity even in adversity and network outside of your team early in your career. Remember that you are always being interviewed.

Q. What do you like to do when you are not working?

I recently celebrated 23 years of marriage to the most wonderful man. I enjoy spending time with him traveling, hiking, biking and swimming (anything outdoors). Music concerts, yoga and coffee dates are our favorite past-times. I also enjoy traveling and sharing new places like the White House, Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod and Fenway Park with my mom and sister.

Q. Describe your experience as a woman in IT. What advice do you have for women pursuing a career in the IT industry?

From my personal experience, the IT industry has been very good to me, but you have to like a fast pace, constant change, and often leading or managing without all the information or details. So you should be comfortable with ambiguity and be ready to catch up fast when strategies are finally released.

There is a lot of discussion about mentors, but I don't believe that just one person can help you through every event or circumstance. Therefore, I prefer enlisting a "board of advisors," several people with different perspectives. The plus factor is that each of your advisors will have a broader network that you can tap in to versus relying on just one person. Make sure that your "board of advisors" includes high-ranking officers because these relationships carry a lot of influential power. Finally, resilience is key. How you navigate, react and handle change is critical.

Weekly Word on the Street: How to Prepare for a CIO Position

Jim Staats — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is just because the holiday shopping season is in full swing, doesn't mean shopping for talented IT professionals has eased up. OK, that may have been an all-too-pat post-Black Friday/Cyber Monday tie-in, but the fact is top companies remain on the hunt to fill key technical roles in all sectors of the IT market. Learn more about the positive spin for IT, the expectations for a CIO and job candidate no-no's for HR.

Gartner: IT Means Business

Job seekers out in the IT market, you have a valuable ally backed by positive facts and figures.

The long-held view of IT departments - and those staffers within - as company-funded black holes is transitioning to a vision of the technical units as quite beneficial to business, according to Gartner.

Or, so say more of today's chief financial officers, to sum up findings gathered and presented by the research firm at its own symposium, reported on in a recent CIO.com article.

At the firm's Symposium/Txpo on the Gold Coast, Gartner executive Tina Nunno said that based on a recent survey of U.S.-based CFOs, more of the top number-crunchers were coming around to see the value of business analytics and in investing in technology to help their businesses.

Nunno, in discussing findings of her firm's recent survey, CFOs' Demand For IT, said CFOs put information and financial analysis as the top priority.

"This would help them run the business to make more dynamic decisions about sales and effectiveness in the organization," said Nunno. At the same time, Nunno said, there was less of a focus on cost management, also a good sign for the overall stock of IT departments.

However, Nunno stressed that for this stock to continue to rise, it falls upon IT executives and CIOs to continue to stress to CFOs how their departments help overall productivity and growth.

As she noted, the survey also found that only five percent of respondents saw IT as a competitive advantage resource.

CIO Lying in Wait? Find Out

If a CIO position is part of your IT career path, check if you have or will have what it takes as discussed by those who've held the position.

That's the essence of a recent commentary piece in InformationWeek based on chats with a handful of CIOs.

Beyond a wealth of both technical and business skills and experience, the executives suggest a handful of qualities as helpful to assume their position:

Multidimensional leaders: The more of a variety of leadership roles in both business and IT organizations, the better.
Public-facing product champion: As Kent Kushar, CIO of E. & J. Gallo Winery notes, a customer orientation is critical for CIOs. He is expected to discuss vintages at wine-tasting events as comfortably as he is presenting analytics at board meetings.
Knowing the Players: Get to know those senior executives accountable for core business units and buddy up with board members to better understand what results are expected and how performance is measured.

Hiring Manager Turn-Offs

Potential job candidates can be inundated with the positive things that hiring managers are on the lookout for, with small shift given to the things to avoid.

An item this week in glassdoor.com helps balance that out with a few suggested qualities - including the following - best to avoid if one has any hopes on attaining that dream job:

Lack of energy: In interview situations, energy level is on display the moment you one enters the room, so commit to an enthusiastic demeanor.

Inability to use free time: A lack of outside interests doesn't help hiring managers get to know the full person being considered; conversely, a list of hobbies shows potential employers someone interested in expanding current interests.

Uneven online presence: These days, someone without a valid online presence in social media sites, especially when it comes to technical roles, is viewed as a person not engaged within the industry of interest and not paying attention to the details needed to succeed in a tough job market. More than a third of hiring managers consult social media sites for candidate credentials.

Deadline for 'Certified for Life' Candidates to Enroll in Continuing Education Dec. 31

Leslie Hague — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 18:27:09 GMT

IT professionals who were certified in 2010 or earlier in CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ or CompTIA Security+ have until the end of 2012 to enroll in the CompTIA Continuing Education program.

Those certified in 2010 or earlier are considered "certified for life," but these individuals can enroll in the CompTIA Continuing Education Program to show they are versed in the latest skills and technologies. It is optional unless mandated by an employer. For example, enrollment is required for those using a CompTIA certification for compliance with the Department of Defense 8570 IA Directive.

Continuing education credits can be earned over a three-year period through earning the newest version of a certification, training courses, on-the-job experience or publishing articles.

Once the enrollment period is closed, "certified for life" individuals will need to retake the certification exam to earn a continuing education credential.

Individuals certified in CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, CASP or CompTIA Storage+ in 2011 or later are automatically enrolled in the Continuing Education Program.

Weekly Word on the Street: Career Mapping a Helpful Tool

Jim Staats — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:46:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that IT job search route will be significantly less bumpy when the right steps, tools and resources are applied. Take, for example, the use of a well-planned-out career map or the latest job-hunting gadget from the biggest social networking space on the planet. Or maybe just having someone with whom to collaborate.

Career Map that IT Employment Route

The forward-thinking process of career mapping, with a helpful, virtual hand from today's tools, can be a win-win for IT employees and employers alike.

According to a recent article in Computerworld, the act of mapping out "what's next" in the career path for an IT professional not only helps guide the individual, but allows invested organizations to engage in succession planning while reducing workforce turnover.

As one personnel executive noted, "I'd love to see more IT managers take more ownership of these activities because they are so critical to the performance" of an IT team.

Career mapping, as the article notes, allows both employee and manager to review where they stand and where they want to get to using various data sets. A career map can help match job titles to competencies, analyze skills gaps and positions to research and track.

As more firms are investing in these practices as ways of both retaining and attracting talented IT workers, tools are being put to use that allow IT employees to build detailed development plans.

One profiled firm utilized a tool called Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIAplus) that allowed the organization to create a platform for its employees to create their own such plans and in turn take more control over individual development.

This process, the article notes, isn't just for the individuals, but their managers as well. Outlining job requirements and the skills and experience necessary will help organizations answer the question, "What kind of talent do we need?"

To get started, try the CompTIA IT Career Roadmap.

New App Job Seekers Might 'Like'

Can the king of social networking be the next big thing in professional pursuits?

That's the leap Facebook is taking with the launch of its job hunting app to its audience of more than 1 billion users.

The Social Jobs app, according to the recent article in Wired.com, is the result of the firm's year-long partnership with agencies including the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, which produced research showing the usefulness of the site for job seekers and recruiters.

A survey to come out of the partnership indicated a large number of employers utilized Facebook in hiring practices and as a job-specific networking tool.

The app launched won't actually host job listings, but rather act as an aggregated search tool for more than 1.7 million openings through online job boards including BranchOut, Jobvite and Monster.com.

With existing services such as LinkedIn built for such career-specific functions, the big question going forward is whether the big player in social networking becomes just as big - or bigger - as a professional resource.

The Job Search Mentor

To those who've hit a lull in the often-agonizing job search, the jolt you seek could be the mentor you didn't know you need.

The collaboration necessary in a mentorship can produce positive results in several key areas of career transition, suggests the founder of an online employment firm in a recent post on Forbes.com.

Elena Bajic, CEO of IvyExec.com, stated that interacting with another professional within the dynamics of a mentor can help a job seeker "think outside the box," validate a career trajectory, prioritize a job search, prep for interviews and gain confidence.

However, before launching into those efforts, individuals seeking guidance have a few preliminary items on which to focus, Bajic said.

Selecting just the right mentor means factoring in employment, experience, specialized skills and professional similarities. In addition, one must set individual goals for mentoring sessions and be sure to be open to receiving feedback.

As Bajic said, just as mentorship within a company can boost a career, mentorship during a job search can certainly reduce the timeline of a job search.

A Day in the Life of an IT Tech: Andrew DiCosmo, Software Engineer

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Andrew DiCosmo

Andrew DiCosmo
Software Engineer, Peters & Associates, Oak Brook, Ill.

"I've been at the right place at the right time," Andrew DiCosmo says of his career. "And I had the right skills at the right time." Working at a local steel fabrication company in high school, he moved from a laborer to an office job, where his managers soon found out he was studying computers at ITT Technical Institute. So IT assignments, such as desktop maintenance and software upgrades, started coming his way. He went from working 60 hours a week, racking up overtime as a laborer inside the factory, to a 9 to 5 office routine, paying roughly the same amount of money.

As he progressed at ITT, the steel fabrication company's IT assignments became more sophisticated, as supervisors gave him programming-related tasks. Eventually, he became the company's IT manager at more than double his original laborer pay. At the same time, DiCosmo began to work on his second associate degree in computer science. Whereas the ITT degree focused on networking, his next associate degree, and his subsequent bachelor's degree focused on programming.

DiCosmo left the steel fabrication company in 2008, and was hired to be the CIO/IT manager of a global manufacturing company. "It wasn't a fun job—very high pressure," DiCosmo says. He eventually left the manufacturer to start his own IT consulting company. IT recruiters kept calling him, however. In January, DiCosmo, 28, accepted a job at IT consulting firm Peters & Associates, where he finds the work satisfying. "I learned that I don't have to own a business to be an entrepreneur. I can just work for a company that allows me to be one. I can still develop new products and apps and put those out into the world."

Education: Associate degree in computer science, ITT Technical Institute; associate degree in computer science, Prairie State College, Chicago Heights, Ill.; bachelor's degree in computer science, Governors State University, University Park, Ill. Currently pursuing a master's in computer science, also at Governors State.

Certifications: CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, MCPD: SharePoint Developer 2010; and MCTS: Microsoft SharePoint 2010, Configuring

Tell us about your current job.

The majority of my job is system design development involving IT system analysis, business design, software development, or all three of those things. I identify a problem, come up with a solution and develop software to help provide the solution. I work with clients, as well as project and account managers from our company, and report directly to the client.

I mostly work out of my home office, which is about an hour away from our company office. On occasion, I'll have to travel out to a client. My tasks vary daily. For example, last week, one day I was doing system design architecture for a client — just design, no coding. The next, I was developing a website for a client. And another day I was researching a new product coming out, and then I started working with a client to develop an Android application.

I take classes in the evening, and I'm also an adjunct professor at a local community college.

What's the best part of your job?

I like helping solve other businesses' problems. It always requires me to learn new technologies, and it doesn't require me to work on the same thing, day in and day out. I also like that I can work remotely.

What's the worst part of your job?

One of the best parts of the job is also the worst part of the job: Keeping up with all the technology changes can be very challenging. For example, after working with SharePoint 2010 for a couple years I feel very confident in that product. Now Microsoft just released SharePoint 2013.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to pursue a career in IT?

Focus on your fundamentals, get certified and get experience. If you want to do something in computer networking, for example, you need to have a high level knowledge of computer hardware—like with the CompTIA A+ and the CompTIA Network+ certifications. Get experience by doing freelance work or by volunteering in your local community.

For a computer network tech position, employers want to see you have at least CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and MCP professional certifications. For entry-level positions, they know you are not going to have much experience and will bring you on at below rate. But system engineers should have at least one to two years of experience, in addition to certifications.

Finally, I always suggest looking at job boards for your desired position to make sure you learn those skills that employers are looking for and don't spend much time learning proprietary skills or software.

Weekly Word on the Street: Government Can't Find Security Pros

Jim Staats — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:31:00 GMT

Takeaways of the week for talented cybersecurity pros is that your country needs you, it just doesn’t quite know how to find you; for would-be healthcare IT pros, your services are definitely in demand; for closed-minded executives, open your eyes to the new job market of today.

Cybersecurity Pros Wanted - 600 of ‘Em
The federal government is ready beef up its cybersecurity ranks to the tune of 600 new roles, if only officials knew how to find folks.

That’s the good and not-so-good news to come out of a recent cybersecurity forum, as reported in a recent article in CSO online.

At the forum, put on by the Washington Post, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano said the agency was ready to act on the recommendation of an internal Task Force on Cyberskills and hire at least 600 cyber pros, analysts and other IT specialists.

Other speakers at the forum, however, countered that similar goals have been in place for years with little traction as the agency isn’t tapping the talent pool properly.

Officials realize there’s an abundance of talented cybersecurity professionals, but the DHS is reportedly unable to define the skills and job descriptions for what it needs and is missing out on available talent.

Jason Miller of Federal News Radio stated that the Government Accountability Office “found in November 2011 that nearly every agency experienced difficulty in defining and hiring cyber workers.”

Other issues contributing to these vacancies going wanting, according to experts, are the perceived lack of “cool factor” in taking on a government job and the mismatch of individuals suited for cyber roles with typical bureaucratic hiring practices.

“It is much more interesting and cool to build new stuff in Silicon Valley than it is to toil doing cybersecurity” for DHS, said Paul Rosenzweig of Red Branch Law & Consulting.

In recommending the chunk of cyber roles added to DHS, the task force also encouraged a hiring process that was smooth and supportive with jobs that were “enticing in every dimension.”

From the sounds of it, there’s more work to be done to find individuals for the work to be done.

Think you could fit the bill? Test your cybersecurity know-how through the CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner certification.

Top Trends in IT Healthcare
Juggling a constant need to handle growth, privacy concerns and demands of trends such as cloud computing, it’s no wonder healthcare IT is pegged to be the most active industry sector for hiring in the coming year.
Or, as noted in a CIO.com article on trends to watch for IT healthcare job seekers, for the next few years.
Healthcare IT “will continue to be a hot job market for the next two-three years,” said Bill Spooner, CIO at Sharp Healthcare.

Some trends in this area to keep an eye on include:

Mobile healthcare: Devices allow healthcare workers to get work done on the go, yet HIPAA privacy regulations and security remain challenges.
Cloud computing and virtualization: For the executives tasked with growing infrastructure while reducing costs and resources, IT workers skilled in cloud and virtualization will be of particular interest.
Big Data/clinical analytics: Spooner said that “clinical analytics are a top priority for all providers, and big data is beginning to move from research to mainstream.”
ICD-10 compliance: International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, or ICD, is a diagnostic coding system that the World Health Organization requires healthcare providers across the globe to use. The U.S. is the only country yet to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
Telemedicine: Current offerings range from telephone consultations to video in conjunction with medical devices, with constant adaptation due to technology advances.

Take advantage of these trends and build your skillset through the CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certification.

Mind the Gap
Industry executives can’t find workers for an abundance of available jobs. College graduates can’t put their skills and knowledge to use in properly challenging employment.

Apparently, it’s one complicated job market marked by varying points of view, according to a recent article in the New York Times.

The piece, by a professional management consultant, was based on interviews with a dozen CEOs in a variety of industries and more than 135 recent college graduates.

The feedback seems to only strengthen the theory that a severe skills gap exists between those hiring in the workplace and those seeking to enter the workplace.

Executives stated that college graduates are exiting from institutions with weakened requirements that didn’t properly prepare them for the complexities of today’s working environment.

The former students, on the other hand, said the addition of part-time jobs and tip-top grades, regardless of the university, still weren’t enough to get their foot in the door to prove their worth.

Today’s economy isn’t helping matters as more employers are expecting incoming employees to be ready to hit the ground running.

As noted in the article, companies known for being technically innovative seem to be ahead of the curve in their hiring practices with a workforce not solely made up of technical-degree-toting individuals.

It may take some executives learning the hard way that valuable products and services can be created from a mesh of analytical and intuitive professionals.

Meanwhile, a generation of would-be workers still await their chance.

Keep Learning, Get Creative to Jump Start an IT Career

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 18:00:00 GMT

"Get the right education. Keep learning. Reinvest your skills. Influence others and make your presence known. Mentor those people who can benefit from your insights."

Ginger Moore, senior staffing consultant, Unisys

Building an IT career requires focus, hard work and sometimes creativity, but the opportunities are vast, even for those who don't currently hold a four-year computer science degree or aren't currently in the IT workforce.

That was the message of the Nov. 7 webinar "IT Careers: The Inside Scoop," produced by CompTIA's Advancing Women in Technology (AWIT) community.

"The information technology industry is the fastest growing industry in the world," said Ginger Moore, senior staffing consultant for Unisys' global managed services, as she addressed opportunities in IT. "Technology is power and it's changing the world, but our behavior is also changing technology."

Moore identified five key areas in which emerging social patterns and emerging technology are fueling job growth and job opportunities:

Security – a high skill, high demand, high wage sector. "Roles focusing on security systems across people, data, infrastructure, processes and facilities will be in demand," Moore contends. In-demand security roles include data security analysts, network security engineers, network security architects and virtualization specialists.
The Cloud – the Internet's massive intercommunication network offering on-demand, application-based services and information anytime, anywhere. Moore quoted a Forbes.com blog article by NetApp's Matthew Butter, stating that "The cloud is projected to create 14 million new jobs by 2015 – not all in IT or in US." In-demand cloud roles include software creators and developers, as well as infrastructure design, development and integration professionals. Moore said, "Folks are going to have to work across silos and be able to relate integrated IT understanding with business requirements."
Mobility – Mobile computing is evolving with the consumerization of IT, social computing and cybersecurity concerns. With the increased frequency of BYOD (bring your own device) to work initiatives, "There's more emphasis on securing users and devices," said Moore. In-demand mobility roles include application developers, system analysts, architects and security.
Big Data — Stored and transactional data from social media, retail, mobile phone usage, etc. has to be housed and supported. Walmart alone has more than 1 million customer transactions an hour. In addition, competitive success increasingly depends on how quickly companies can aggregate and analyze its data and get it to the people who use it. Citing the work of ComputerWorld journalist Tam Harbert, Moore noted that Big Data has created new types of jobs: data scientists, data architects, data visualizers, data change agents, data engineers, data engineers/operators, data virtualization/cloud specialists, and data stewards.
Projectization — Moore describes this as "project management on steroids." Given globalization of business amid time, money and resource constraints, she noted that "Program and transition management expertise and experience are very much in demand."

The IT Sales Opportunity

IT sales gives an IT professional "the opportunity to become a trusted adviser to the customer," says Sally Brause, director of human resources consulting for GreatAmerica Leasing Corporation in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Sales roles are hot in IT, but "A lot of people are scared off from IT sales because they don't think they're technical enough," noted Inside Scoop Panelist Sandra Ashworth, global director of channel relations and warranty at Unisys and chair of CompTIA's AWIT community.

IT sales professionals don't have to be technical gurus because they usually work in teams, paired with sales engineers, for example, says Brause. "It's critical that you know and like technology, but you don't have to be the sole person who knows what everything does and how it works."

Characteristics Brause looks for in an IT sales professional include:

Comfort with and effectiveness in a collaborative, team sales approach and ability to interact with all levels of an organization — from a CFO to end-users.
Proactive problem solving, being able to "connect the dots" between client problems and potential solutions.
A consultative sales approach.
Affinity for technology and learning about technology.
A competitive, tenacious and goal-driven mindset. "A vast majority of these roles have a budget that you have to achieve," says Brause. "Feeling comfortable with and motivated by that budget is critical."
Exceptional listening skills.
Knowledge and trustworthiness.
Sincerity.

IT Operations: Beyond Tech & Sales

Ashworth encouraged participants to fully consider the opportunities available in the IT industry's operations roles. She estimated that operational jobs comprise roughly 65 percent of the IT industry business, with overlaps in other areas, including technical areas, and noted that operational functions within IT can include: finance/accounting, procurement, supply chain, logistics, accounting, business processes, quality, distribution, operational consulting, facilities, customer service, project management, management, and human resources.

"There are a lot of really broad paths within IT operations," Ashworth said. "Depending upon your company, they may have some of these (job roles), all of these and probably more. "

From Point A to Point B

"Inside Scoop" webinar participants wanted to know how best to secure or jump-start their IT careers.

A college education can be an entry point, particularly if it includes computer science courses, says Moore, adding that internships, co-op programs and basic certifications such as the CompTIA A+ or CompTIA Network+ can also give an advantage. Ashworth emphasized the value of operations-centric certifications, including risk management, project management, Six Sigma, property management, accounting and supply chain credentials.

Beyond a degree and specific credentials, Brause added that there are some job opportunities that would recognize knowledge and skills gained from hobbies—how to repair, install and sunset computers, for example.

Knowledge and skills gained through on-the-job training, military training programs, and volunteering can also help win IT jobs, says Ashworth "Bring it up in the interview process and when filling out applications for positions."

Domestic life has its skill sets as well. For example, Ashworth recognized one woman's experience managing a household with children as a skill when the woman applied for a project management position. The woman held a four-year degree, and worked for worked for several years before raising her family. But Ashworth noted that if you can manage a household with children, "You can manage anything."

Alternate Routes

The Inside Scoop panelists encouraged participants to stay focused on their talents and skills, and to get creative in surmounting any obstacles in their career path.

One participant, a 40-year-old woman, was concerned about her age as she sought an IT career, but Moore advised, "I wouldn't focus on your age as much as I would the tool sets you have. Oftentimes, experienced people have a real value-add."

To the person who was 15 years out of the IT industry and seeking to re-enter, but couldn't get references, Ashworth suggested looking within local small-to-medium sized, IT-centric firms for a mentor. "Or join the CompTIA AWIT mentoring program, and sign up to be a mentee."

Answering a participant who asked what was the best certifications to obtain for re-entering the IT workforce after a hiatus, and a participant who was "stuck" in a dead-end job with no opportunities for advancement, the panelists encouraged each to identify the specific area of IT that interested them and focus on the specific certifications that address that segment.

"We see many resumes with many certifications," said Moore. "As we go to fill specific roles, we're looking for those certifications that really relate to those (positions) we have open."

Some participants were looking for work/life flexibility—to work from home, for example. "I work from a home office, and I have for five years," says Ashworth. "The trend in the IT industry especially, with more and more companies, small and large, is to sending people to work virtually from home." Some roles work solely from home; others use the home office as a base of operation for travel to the employer's campus and/or client sites, she noted.

Moore urged webinar participants to control their own destiny. "Get the right education. Keep learning. Reinvest your skills. Influence others and make your presence known," she advised. "Mentor those people who can benefit from your insights."

"Emerging technology is creating a lot of new roles, and you will have to anticipate the changes that are coming about," she said. "Embrace the change. If you do, you will enjoy the journey of discovery and build a very successful career for yourself."

Webinar to Discuss 'Training the Trainer' with CompTIA CTT+

Leslie Hague — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:00:00 GMT

NetCom Learning will present an overview of the CompTIA CTT+ certification in a webinar on Wednesday.

The Certified Technical Trainer certification covers core instructor skills, including preparation, presentation, communication, facilitation and evaluation in both a classroom and virtual classroom environment.

The free webinar, led by Carmille Agana, will be from noon to 1 p.m. (CT). Agana will discuss the value of the CompTIA CTT+ certification, prerequisites, training and the steps to become certified.

There will be time for Q&A, and the webinar includes an Amazon Kindle raffle.

Weekly Word on the Street: IT Salaries Going Upward in 2013

Jim Staats — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a fun mismash of this and that, starting with the increased amounts of money awaiting certain skilled IT pros in the coming year, a biz-minded admonishment for those in-demand IT security folks and, lastly, an honest-to-God thumbs up for video gaming.

Salaries get Mobilized Upward Next Year

IT roles in mobile and wireless sectors, among others, will see hefty pay hikes in 2013, says a well-known industry staffing service.

The money news to come out of Robert Half Technology's annual review of tech salaries in the U.S. is good news for a number of key professions, according to a recent Network World examination of the findings.

The report, which is based on a review of more than 70 IT positions, estimates an average increase of 5.3 percent in the year to come. Estimates are for starting salary figures only, so job seekers take heed.

The following is a sampling of the 15 top roles outlined in the article by year-to-year salary increases:

Mobile applications developer - tops list with 2013 salary range of $92,750-$133,500
Wireless network engineer - nearly eight percent increase for range of $85,500-$117,000
Data warehouse manager - starting salaries to increase by 7.4 percent next year
Web developer - next year's salary range $65,750-$106,500
Data security analyst - expected to see starting salaries increase by 6.8 percent

Survey: IT Security Pros Need Business Know-How

Businesses today realize the importance of IT security pros, but that understanding isn't always reciprocated, according a recent survey on the sector.

In discussing the findings of Ernst & Young's Global Information Security Survey 2012 for attendees at this week's Govnet Cyber Security Summit, Mark Brown, director of information security for the professional services giant, focused on the sector's business-specific shortcomings.

"Most organizations think information security professionals are not fulfilling the needs of business," he told his audience in London.

As noted in a ComputerWeekly article on the presentation, Brown said survey findings which showed 85 percent of respondents didn't feel IT security pros supported their businesses should be a "wake-up call" for the IT industry as a whole.

The problem, Brown said, is that businesses must be risk-takers to make profits whereas security pros are inherently averse to risk. The solution requires a wholesale transformation of the security industry as a business venture, with inroads in financial performance, brand and customer loyalty.

"They need to focus on meeting the needs of the business, align with business goals and begin demonstrating business leadership," he said.

When such a transformation takes place, IT security will become a wholesale part of the business strategy and help embrace new technologies the business demands.

For those considering careers in IT security, something to consider.

A Gamer's Delight

That ultimate resource to help developers gain key skills needed to secure that high-tech job?

Might just be that game console in your living room.

That's right, it's an ode - with some backing research - to the real-life, career-enhancing benefits of video games.

In a recent article in Forbes, Dr. Jane McGonigal, who invented the game SuperBetter, which tens of thousands of people have applied to real-life challenges, and some of her peers discussed general benefits to come out of video game playing.

Critical thinking/problem solving skills: "Being immersed in a video game... can encourage creative solutions and adaptations (which) can then be applied to real life situations," said a prominent healthcare professional. "The result can be surprisingly positive for individuals, communities, and society as a whole."
Collaboration: Success in multi-player games requires skill in working together toward common goals with limited resources.
Failure acceptance: Games have clear winners and losers, giving individuals experience in both the highs and the lows.
Happy to be smart: As McGonical said, "Games make us happy because they are hard work that we choose for ourselves."

While your significant other may disagree, that gaming time could be considered more career enhancer than waste of time.

A Day in the Life of an IT Tech: Phil Norton, Systems Analyst

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Phil Norton

Phil Norton
Systems Analyst, Sourcebooks Inc., Naperville, Ill.

As a teen, Phil Norton loved video games, computers and technology. He thought he'd become a programmer. But a high school internship working as a desktop maintenance technician at a local hospital led to a part-time desktop support job. "Working at the hospital, getting the feel of all the different aspects of IT, I realized I didn't just want to be coding," Norton says. "I wanted to get out there and help people."

Between 2005 and 2007, Norton ran the shipping, logistics and IT backbone of an auto parts retail business that he founded with a friend, while working 12-hour weekend shifts at the hospital. Eventually, he became full time at the hospital and held progressively more responsible support positions as he attended college, becoming the hospital's applications analyst in 2010. This fall, Norton, 28, became a systems analyst at Sourcebooks, a Chicago-based publisher.

Education: Associate degree in computer science, Purdue University; Bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems, National Louis University, Chicago

Certifications: MCSA (Windows XP, Server 2003 Environment, Server 2003 Infrastructure), SQL Server 2008, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician

Tell us about your current job.

I joined Sourcebooks in September. It's growing rapidly, and my first project has been to help to transition its financial records and systems onto an SAP platform. Previously I was a systems analyst at a hospital where I was one of 90 IT employees and one of 2,000 employees overall. At Sourcebooks, our IT team is seven people. So everything I do has a lot more impact.

Our SAP implementation project team includes the vice presidents of IT and financial accounting; several people from the IT department, including myself; managers from across all the different disciplines (customer service, sales, and accounting); and two consultants helping with the implementation. We meet twice weekly to discuss our progress—what's working, what people think about it, what we're going to do next.

I am working with my manager and one of my consultants to transfer every single record, every item, all customer records, all financial records, from the first journal entry, into SAP… we want all the data to be as clean as possible so we can run parallel systems for a month while people get use to the SAP system.

What's the best part of your job?

Watching this implementation from the ground up, watching the data get better and better, and being a part of it every step of the way. It's really cool.

What's the worst part of your job?

At the hospital, everybody in the IT department had their discrete role because of how big we were. Now at a smaller company, I'm involved in every aspect of IT, so I have more end-to-end responsibility. It's kind of cool, but at the same time it's a little scary. My team members will back me up if I ever have a problem. But I have a greater stake in my work so I must take more ownership of it.

How do you stay up-to-date with what's happening in IT?

I have more than 140 websites with RSS feeds going into my Google Reader. So at lunch I'll be scrolling through tech websites, gaming websites, Apple websites. It's basically like my newspaper: I'll send links to my friends and they send links to me. And I benefit from being on the CompTIA Subject Matter Expert Technical Advisory Committee (CSTAC). I go to CSTAC workshops and hear what everyone else in the IT industry is seeing and I get to talk about what I'm seeing.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to pursue a career in IT?

Learn by doing. Get your own computer, take it apart, and put it back together. Look for internships that interest you. Every company is always looking for help with something. And get involved with IT communities, both online or with organizations like CompTIA or the Microsoft Certified Professional network. If you have all that in place along with a degree, employers will consider you ahead of other job applicants.

CompTIA Helps Teachers Set Course in Mexican School

Jim Staats — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Gerardo Lorenzana, computer science teacher at Centro Cultural Anahuac, shows students how to assemble a computer.

A prep school in Mexico City is doing its part to educate and enlighten a region for generations to come.

With an assist from CompTIA, both the faculty and student body of Centro Cultural Anahuac are leading the way in technical skills and environmental know-how that extend beyond the classroom.

The private institution became the first of its kind in the country to roll CompTIA into its IT curriculum when CompTIA A+ training was included in 2008. This year, the school again earned trailblazer status with faculty trained and certified in CompTIA Green IT.

The CompTIA Green IT certification program brings awareness of eco-sensitive issues in the IT industry with a focus on reduced energy consumption, proper recycling methods, virtualization and international standards. With such a wide scope and breadth of areas covered, this training is likely to leave an indelible impression on young students being introduced to these issues for the first time.

Introducing Green IT

"We like innovation," said Gerardo Lorenzana, the school's computer science teacher and coordinator of its CompTIA Green IT classes, the first such prep school offering in the entire region.

"We believe that certifications are very important," said Lorenzana. "We also like to help the environment, so we were very pleased to offer CompTIA Green IT certification."

"We want to be conscious about the conditions of the planet and know which decisions are best for our (technical) equipment," he said.

To date, 20 of the 22 members of the school's academic and administrative staff who took the class have earned their certification.

The secondary school for junior high and high school students started incorporating CompTIA Green IT into its curriculum this school year with initial certification testing opportunities for the first 80 students beginning January 2013. Lorenzana said favorable feedback for the subject matter and community interest prompted staff to take an unusual step. For the coming year, plans are being put in place to offer classes for parents.

Teachers and Students Benefit

More and more people and companies believe that it is not only important to be an expert, but to prove it. That is the reason why certifications are very important nowadays.

Gerardo Lorenzana, Centro Cultural Anahuac teacher

School principal Ariadna Delgado, who earned her CompTIA Green IT certification this past July, said the newfound skillset is applicable "to the modern technologies and in activities that we do each day.

"My goal is to apply this knowledge every day in my work and in my personal life," she said, noting the classroom experience helped bring administrative staffers closer together "to develop our skills and to take part in our responsibility of helping the world."

Anahuac is a CAPP Academy. As part of the CompTIA program, Anahuac has access to information, tools, and resources designed to help school administrators and instructors plan, prepare, and deliver an effective IT curriculum.

Lorenzana, himself certified in both CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Green IT, said to date some 400 students have taken the required CompTIA A+ course. However, only a handful of students went the extra —and optional — step of earning certification.

He expects that gap to close a bit as more attention is directed toward earning certifications. About 60 students are expected to earn their CompTIA A+ certifications this school year, Lorenzana said.

"More and more people and companies believe that it is not only important to be an expert, but to prove it," he said. "That is the reason why certifications are very important nowadays."

The school has been a Cisco Academy for the past four years and also offers Microsoft and Adobe Systems certifications, but Lorenzana said CompTIA stands out for its practical applications.

"What you learn from CompTIA can be applied everywhere, not only at school, at work, but also at home," he said.

Luis Benigno, a school administrator who became certified in CompTIA Green IT in July, said his young charges have been very receptive to the technical foundation provided by CompTIA A+ and initial feedback to the new offering was equally impressive.

"(Students) are very interested because it gives them the possibility to apply it in their lives," he said.

Weekly Word on the Street: How to Prepare for a Job in Big Data

Jim Staats — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is, and I can't help it, that Halloween may have come and gone for another year, but it remains scary out there on the IT job market. Make it easier on yourself by using the tools at your disposal and the resources most likely to help you get noticed. Things are still good for IT folks who know how to take advantage.

Report: Tech Job Boost First Half of Year

The first half of this year saw good, but not great, high-tech job growth, according to recent data from analysts.

The nearly 100,000 new industry jobs added between January and June of this year actually represents a decline from the same time frame last year, TechAmerica Foundation noted in a recent article for Network World.

The non-profit, which analyzes data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found upticks in software services, engineering and tech services and technology manufacturing. The only sector found to have lost jobs during the first six-month period was communication services, which lost nearly 11,000 jobs.

The 99,300 jobs added during this time period increased the technical industry job count by 1.7 percent whereas the January-to-June 2011 increase of 118,900 gave a 2.1 percent boost to the industry, TechAmerica Foundation analysts noted.

"While the growth has been modest, it is up and fairly consistent," said a foundation executive. "With job growth in three of the four sectors, we remain optimistic about continued growth into the future."

Big Data, Big Job Growth

The onslaught of data available out of every virtual pore of consumer and enterprise activity makes for an unending job source for the near future.

That's the recent prediction of Gartner, which estimated Big Data will generate nearly 2 million U.S. jobs through 2015, discussed in a recent Computerworld article.

For those considering future employment in this sector following their college careers, the advice is to go beyond math, statistics and computer science prerequisites into linear and matrix algebra and additional coursework in areas including statistical programming.

Advice in the article is provided by Michael Rappa, who at North Carolina State University created the first program devoted to data analytics.

Rappa's advice for current tech professionals interested in pursuing Big Data jobs on the horizon included professional certification programs, online learning opportunities and intensive training programs, for those who can take that time.

Since Big Data jobs on the horizon will stretch across organizations, so will the core skills considered integral. Depending on the role, valued skills could include statistical programming, data management, data cleaning, data visualization and interpretation.

Wanna Work? Network

The power of social networking has created a seismic shift when it comes to the key components of a successful job search.

You can have the most amazing resume, keen interviewing skills, but often it's the ability to connect with peers online that gets that virtual "foot in the door."

For those still getting their feet wet in the new world of online networking, an article this week in TheGrindStone.com offers helpful tips to gain some traction.

Here are a few:

Make Use of Social Networking Sites: Simple suggestions include regular updates of your LinkedIn profile and reading up on the latest features for the sites where you have accounts to make sure you are using tools at your disposal to connect with others.
Professional Stalking: Use the information available on these same sites to research the people you plan to connect with so you'll be informed and prepared prior to a conversation, either online or in person.
Increase Your Online Interactions: Think of this as taking "baby steps" as you enter the online networking world, whether it's a comment on an industry blog or recommendation of a former colleague. It's a start and often leads to reciprocated feedback.

Talking Tech: How to Improve Your Communication Skills

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:00:00 GMT

IT workers have to be careful to speak so their listeners can understand. "No matter how talented you are with computers, you have to learn to communicate with all types of people and translate your ideas into their language," says Nancy Ancowitz, a business communication coach.

IT workers have to have sharp communication skills in order to succeed. Such skills don't always come naturally, but they can be learned.

"Just like with baseball playing and piano playing, you can actually improve your communication style and how you are perceived through practice," says Maren Perry, principal of Arden Coaching, an executive coaching and management-training firm based in Manhattan.

The stakes for learning to communicate well are high. "An IT worker may have all the technical skills in the world, but communication skills are something that you need to get the job, keep the job and advance in the job," says Nancy Ancowitz, a New York City-based business communication coach and the author of "Self-Promotion for Introverts."

A properly programmed computer typically performs according to expectations. "But people aren't like that," says Perry. "People are messy. They have feelings. They mis-hear things, misspeak. They react; they take things personally."

Good communication requires that IT workers navigate the human factor. "In order raise your level of communication, you are going to have to take some risks, or do things that feel like risks, and step out of your comfort zone," says Perry.

Ways to improve your communication abilities can include initiating casual conversations and practicing paying attention and listening to others. Building relationships with others helps you to figure out how to deliver your information so they will hear it properly and feel comfortable enough to respond.

So refrain from speaking "geek" to a human resources employee, for example.

Adds Perry: "The most valuable person on a technical team will be the person who can explain things to someone who is not a technical person." Practice describing technical information to a 10-year-old or to grandparents, she suggests. "If you can describe technology in non-technical terms, people will love you for it."

On Dealing with People

Perry urges IT workers to pay attention to and acknowledge the "messy" human emotions that can be attached to technology-related conversations. When answering help desk calls, for example, "just addressing the technical concern or complaint isn't enough," Perry says. "You have to address the whole person. The caller may have lost lots of data, lost sleep, or be in a time crunch with a boss breathing down their neck to get something completed."

IT workers will garner greater customer satisfaction or co-worker affinity if they acknowledge the human emotions tied to technical problems. "People just want to be heard and understood," says Perry.

Perry's basic ground rules for work place conversations:

"No profanity, no scatological conversation, no politics, no religion."
"More formal is better than less formal until you are told otherwise."
"If you wouldn't say it to your grandmother, don't say it at work."
Avoid taking part in or listening to gossip. It always will come back to bite you somehow."

In addition, she advises that IT workers learn how respond without negativity, and not react defensively, when a workplace conversation is unpleasant. "So if someone comes at you with an accusation or a high-pressure conversation, absorb what that person is saying, take a moment if you need it, and respond with your best judgment."

On the flip side, learning to apologize can also improve communication ability. If you've overreacted, overstepped a boundary, made an error, or offended someone, you can't expect a colleague to pretend it never happened, says Perry. "You need to be able to apologize so you can repair the relationship—so the two of you can move forward, and the other person can hear the next things you say."

Workplace Tips

Stop doing email, and look the person in the eyes. Put your pen or smartphone down. Stop checking the scores of the game, and pay attention to what you are talking about.

J.R. Samples, CEO, Accountability Partners

Communicating effectively at work also requires that you know your priorities and goals in order to effectively respond to others' requests throughout the workweek, says J.R. Samples, CEO of Accountability Partners, a business consulting firm in Chicago. "Having a good perspective on your objectives, and how you are going to accomplish them and when, is important so you can give your manager or co-workers a heads-up when new demands might interfere with somebody's expectations of you."

Asking "What do you mean by that?" can clarify the scope or expectations of another person's request or idea, says Samples, adding that this is true whether speaking to a low-key colleague or a hard-driving, Type A manager.

If you have a question or concern in the workplace, it's your responsibility to speak up, adds Perry. "Sometimes that means making consequences clear and asking a manager to make a choice—about which requested tasks should be done before 5 p.m., for example."

Samples also urges people to make time and space to communicate well. "Stop doing email, and look the person in the eyes. Put your pen or smartphone down. Stop checking the scores of the game, and pay attention to what you are talking about."

Finally, IT professionals can also seek outside help. "Ask your boss and colleagues for feedback about your communication skills," says Ancowitz. "Ask for specifics about your listening and speaking skills, as well as the effectiveness of your participation in meetings or PowerPoint presentations. And learn from what they say."

Reading books or blogs about business communication skills can help you learn. Ancowitz points out that learning public speaking skills through an organization like Toastmasters can be very useful. "A lot of people consider public speaking to be scarier than death, but it's an essential leadership skill and it doesn't have to take a lot of time to learn."

CompTIA Looking for Digital Information Management Pros for Beta Exam

Leslie Hague — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 16:00:00 GMT

CompTIA is looking for digital information management professionals to participate in a beta exam of the updated CompTIA CDIA+ certification.

IT professionals can take the test for free — and will be certified if they pass — but will not get their scores until the new exam version is released in 2013.

Beta testing is one of the final steps in the CompTIA exam development process. Beta testers take a version of the exam with more questions than will be on the final exam. CompTIA uses beta tester answers and comments to evaluate which questions most accurately predict technical competence and knowledge in each test area.

Only the best questions are selected for the final version of the exam, and any questions that are ambiguous, too easy or too difficult will be eliminated. CompTIA also sets the minimum passing grade for the exam after analyzing beta testing results, and beta tests are graded on this final scale.

In order for CompTIA to get useful beta statistics, it is important that those who take the exam be at the target experience level. The target participant is a records management or digital information solutions provider with two years of experience in business and workflow analysis, integration of content imaging systems with business applications and project management, knowledge and design of secure scanning technology infrastructure and capture solutions. Review the exam objectives to make sure you understand the issues on the test.

The first 400 people to take the beta exam using promo code CDIAENG (for the English exam) or CDIAJP (for the Japanese exam) will be able to take the test for free at Pearson VUE testing centers. Results from the exam will not be available until the live exam launches in 2013. Your results will be sent to you directly at that time, and those who pass the exam will become certified.

Weekly Word on the Street: Moneyball for the Tech Set?

Jim Staats — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 21:31:26 GMT

Takeaway of the week is another bit of reinforcement that skillsets in the mobile arena are a hot commodity if applied properly. Demand in this sector is only going to increase in the coming months while firms learn how to properly evaluate candidates. Some might apply the "Moneyball" mantra while others may throw piles of money.

What's Hot? Mobile Skills

Roles within the mobile space are in demand for firms on both sides of "the pond" with steady increases expected, new research shows. Feedback from hiring managers at 600 firms in the US and UK indicates three quarters of respondents are seeking candidates for mobile-based jobs, with demand increasing in the coming year.

The study, done by Antenna, a software firm specializing in cloud mobile services, also highlights the difficulty in finding candidates with the right skill sets for these roles, according to a new article in ComputerworldUK.com.

A quarter of the responding companies with vacancies requiring mobile skillsets are reporting such difficulty.

The research also noted a third of the firms had already employed several key mobile roles such as a mobile strategist, a trend that is expected to spread.

"As mobile matures, we expect to see a greater number of businesses expand their mobile teams and identify a mobile strategist to lead the way and ensure long-term success," said an Antenna executive.

The research found the sector's most in-demand skill-sets to be in mobile development, such as app developers, and mobile management, including those with device management (MDM) expertise.

'Moneyball' For the Tech Set

Just as a baseball team applied analytics to level the playing field in the movie "Moneyball," tech firms competing with the industry giants can do the same in IT hiring.

Or so a theory espoused in a recent article on CIO.com suggests.

In the movie and book of the same name, the true life wheeling and dealing of executives with the financially-strapped Oakland A's baseball team centered on identifying undervalued athletes using previously unheard of statistics which eventually formed the nucleus of a playoff-level team.

A firm called Catalyst IT is helping firms apply similar principles to the IT hiring process, focusing on metrics to recruit IT talent instead of the more traditional resume and interview route.

"Resumes and interviews have never been a great way to figure out whether or not someone is going to be good in a job or role," said Michael Rosenbaum, president of Catalyst IT.

Rosenbaum equates such practices to "playing a hunch" that rely on the interviewer's perspective too heavily.

He said his firm sifts through thousands of data points for companies they take on as clients to determine which candidates will be the high performers.

Factors taken into consideration include the number of functions or projects both a team and individual can complete within a specific window of time, defect rates, QA metrics, social networking and online application interaction.

Some tips provided by Rosenbaum that can be considered beneficial for both applicants and hiring managers alike:

Go beyond the resume - as an example, Rosenbaum said in screening more than 10,000 potential employees, he has yet to find relevant correlation between a degree held by a candidate and future success as a software developer
Big Data applies to people
Culture matters - Rosenbaum sees success in working together as a team rather than a bunch of loner types

Google Shows the Money

In the current manpower war waging across Silicon Valley and its environs, behemoth Google is winning the salary battle.

That's the finding of a new study which shows that software engineers with the Internet giant earn an average base salary of $128,336, more than the $123,626 pulled down by their peers at Facebook. The study, by job listings and information site Glassdoor, shows comparative figures for Apple engineers at $114,413; $108,809 at eBay; and $105,568 at Zynga Inc.

Study findings, discussed in a recent post for the Wall Street Journal, add heft to the point of Google making salary a key selling point in its recruitment process. The company issued 10 percent raises to all employees last year.

While Google may be king of the region in terms of base salary for engineers, Facebook is coming on strong. The difference in average salary between the two firms decreased to $4,710 this year from $6,852 last year, according to the study.

The national average for a software engineer's base salary, according to Glassdoor, is $92,648.

Featured Subject Matter Expert: Damien Manuel

Kelsey Wieties — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Damien Manuel

Damien Manuel
Information Security Governance Manager,
National Australia Bank

Which exams have you helped develop?

CompTIA Server+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP). I also review potential SME candidates for other exams.

Why did you become a subject matter expert?

I viewed the SMEs at CompTIA as a group leading the direction of the industry and I set it as a personal goal to become a subject matter expert for CompTIA. Being a SME is a great way to give back to the industry / IT community and it is a fantastic opportunity to expand your network and meet great people who work at CompTIA and other subject matter experts from around the world.

What’s it like working with other subject matter experts to develop CompTIA exams?

I would highly recommend the experience. CompTIA has a well-developed screening process so you know that the subject matter experts are either highly experienced technical specialists or leaders from the industry. Everyone works as a team and even though we may have different opinions when developing questions or exam topic areas, we all respect each other's opinions and views. At the end of the day we learn something new, as the industry is always rapidly changing. Working as part of a specialized team developing exams for the industry is definitely a real buzz.

How did you get into IT?

That is an interesting question. IT was a hobby and in my younger days I did a bit of hacking while at school. The good old days of dot matrix printers, 9600 bit/s modems and bulletin board systems (BBSs). My first computer was a Commodore 64, then an Amiga 500 and when it died I made the switch to my first PC which was a 386DX system just to play Wolfenstein 3D. I didn't specifically set out to be in IT as I was a secondary science teacher by trade. I guess my hobby took over and now I have new hobbies like for instance, photography.

What do you do for your day job?

I'm an information security governance manager for one of Australia's largest banks, National Australia Bank or NAB, as it is known in Australia. NAB is one of the leaders in the information security space in Australia mainly due to a visionary chief information security officer. The area of security governance is relatively new and I believe it will become a hot area in the industry over the next few years as more and more organizations move to cloud-based solutions and virtualized SaaS solutions.

What are you doing when you're not working?

When I'm not working I like to spend time on the farm with my family planting trees and tending to the alpacas. I also enjoy photography and growing rare plants. I have dreams of building a hydrogen powered motorcycle from scratch, but as you get older time becomes a precious commodity in life. There are too many things to do and too little time to do them.

What knowledge or abilities do you think is important for IT pros entering the field to possess?

Become a generalist and have a business background. It is rare to find highly skilled IT professionals who also have a business understanding with project management skills. Diversify, be personable, listen to people and most importantly, never stop learning.

Weekly Word on the Street: Big Data Jobs Abundant

Jim Staats — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that prospective IT job candidates shouldn't be shy when it comes to promoting a wide variety of skill sets that may very well apply to booming IT industries. Look at the blossoming Big Data sector, because more and more folks with out-of-the-box backgrounds are being considered.

Might Take a Village to Fill Big-Data Jobs Gap

The type of resume sought for the booming IT field of Big Data isn't as limited as one might think, if recent accounts are any indication.

Scientific research, understanding of algorithms and experience with strategic decision-making are just some of the out-of-the-box skillsets that are catching the eye of hiring managers who are almost always on the hunt for a data scientist role that is still evolving, according to tales in a recent article in CIO.com.

Locating individuals capable of handling Big Data, the term associated with gathering and analyzing large quantities of information at corporations' virtual fingertips, is proving to be a bit of a struggle for hiring managers who have become more open to a breadth of background options.

Technology and staffing executives note that not only is the field relatively new to enterprise IT, but the talent need to fill these roles is still maturing.

According to a report published last year, a country-wide shortage of workers with data science skills need to make strategic decisions using Big Data will reach 1.5 million positions by 2018.

Colleges are already doing what they can to prepare their students to fill this gap with degrees and certifications programs that address data science needs, but businesses are looking elsewhere in the meantime.

DataXu, a Boston firm with a product used for online ad campaigns, looks for Big Data staffers with strong math, code, and business skills, but often will take those who are strong in two out of three.

As one hiring manager noted, "Companies are really looking for higher level quantitative skill sets for these roles."

"It's not every developer you come across," the manager said. "It's someone with that business acumen who can parlay those skills into strategic decision making."

Top IT Skills

We all respect the value of IT industry certifications - heck, look where you are - but experience in the following skill sets is hard to beat.

That's the basis of a recent posting at ZDNet by technology maven Joe McKendrik, who broke down a list of in-demand IT skill areas that didn't necessarily need certification.

McKendrik did put in the caveat that certifications are especially valuable when times are tough in IT hiring, but having said there, here's a sampling of his hot handful of skills:

Mobile application development: Java, HTML5, Android, iOS and JavaScript
Database development: Oracle Developer Suite, Informatica, MongoDB and MySQL/MySQL Cluster
Big Data: Hadoop, Hbase, Cassandra, SAS and Greenplum
Infrastructure architecture: virtual computing, storage, network, backup and recovery, management services and mobility

As McKendrik said, when it comes down to it, employers want good, knowledgeable and experienced candidates.

Big Apple Tech Slowdown

Is the New York tech boom already a bust?

Some new statistics might point in that direction, but a deeper look shows there's still plenty of bloom in that boom.

According to findings from a headhunting group, hiring at technical firms in New York has slowed as this year has progressed.

Chicago-based Cook Associates pointed out, in a recent post on All Things D, that hiring at digital firms in the area increased 3.2 percent in the third quarter of 2012, yet that represented a slowdown from the 5.6 percent increase the prior quarter. The figure is nearly half the increase (6.2 percent) that took place the first quarter of the year.

A variety of reasons offered up for the lower hiring numbers include the still-stagnant overall economy and a lag in venture-capital funding.

However, it should be noted that there's still plenty of mad hiring going on in New York's tech environs. The 320 firms surveyed by Cook added about 900 new jobs during the third quarter, nothing to sneeze at.

And, lest we forget, tech giant Google - which topped the city's list of those adding tech jobs - is still filling the spaces within the block-long Chelsea building the firm snapped up a couple years back.

Another good sign: Many of the firms in the hiring frenzy are companies that weren't even around just a few years ago.

New York's top five tech hiring firms, according to Cook findings, are Google, Rent the Runway, Amazon, AppNexus and eBay.

Webinar to Discuss CompTIA A+ Updates

Leslie Hague — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Updates to the CompTIA A+ exam, performance-based questions and target job roles will be a few of the topics discussed in a webinar on Oct. 30.

"New Updates on CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ & CompTIA Security+ Exams," hosted by NetCom Learning, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. (CT) on Oct. 30. Registration is free.

CompTIA Director of Product Management Carol Balkcom will provide an interactive look at performance-based questions, which will be added to the CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ exams in the coming months. There will also be a Q&A session.

IT Industry Leaders: Mary Ellen Grom on IT Marketing, Women in Technology and Career Success

Kelsey Wieties — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Mary Ellen Grom

Ever since attending her first IT channel event in 1995, Mary Ellen Grom has been a self-proclaimed high tech channel marketing junkie.

In her role as vice president, US marketing at SYNNEX Corporation, Grom is responsible for leading all B2B activities, including implementing channel marketing strategies. SYNNEX Corporation is a Fortune 500 business process services company, servicing resellers and original equipment manufacturers in multiple regions around the world.

Grom's journey on the IT marketing path began at The Ohio State University where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communications and marketing. Grom’s previous work experience in IT marketing includes holding the positions of senior experience manager and experience director at Experience Engineering Consulting, where she worked for almost nine years. Following that, Grom became the director of marketing from 2004 to 2012 at ScanSource, Inc. in Greenville, South Carolina.

Throughout her career, Grom has received a number of industry awards, the most recent include being named CRN "100 People You Don’t Know But Should" in 2012 and being listed on CRN "Power 100: The Most Powerful Women in the Channel" in 2012.

Q. What do you do day-to-day in your job?
Let’s be clear—there is no day-to-day in my job. That’s what I love about it—the extremely fast paced technology environment keeps me completely engaged and I learn something new every day. But if there is a trend to my days, it’s about managing and servicing people—myself, my team, our reseller customers, our vendor partners and our own SYNNEX teammates. I believe profitability and business success are the applause our company gets from providing top-notch customer service in every instance. And if you treat everyone like a customer, then that’s the true definition of success.

Q. How did you get started in IT?

By complete accident. I’m one of the few early on (actually in high school in media class!) that knew what I wanted to do when I grew up: Marketing or advertising. When I relocated to South Carolina, my first career choice was the group promotions manager for Gates/Arrow Distributing (later acquired by SYNNEX). It wasn’t until I attended my first live, regional channel event in 1995 after working at Gates/Arrow for nine months that I realized I was hooked on an IT marketing career. At that event in Cleveland, Ohio, I saw the channel in action: Manufacturer partners pitching new products and programs to tech-savvy resellers at an event made possible by their trusted distribution partner. I’ve been a high tech channel marketing junkie ever since.

Always ask why — to understand, to reinforce, and to further explore. Asking 'why' gets you places."

Mary Ellen Grom, vice president, US marketing, SYNNEX Corporation

Q. How do you keep current with the latest trends in your segment of the IT industry?

How can you not keep current with the influx of information in today's connected society? While it can be overwhelming, 100% of the time I rely on channel and media news in various formats—print (magazines, journals, newsletters), websites, online communications, social media, email digests, mobile apps and face-to-face channel events. CompTIA, CRN, CIO online, TechTarget, and TechRepublic are my top five go to sources of information in different formats.

Q. What advice do you have for people who want to get an IT industry job?

Building/protecting your professional reputation and networking with industry pros is the name of the game. This is a very tight industry and you just never know when you will cross paths with someone again. It pays to stay connected and keep your eyes and ears open for every opportunity.

Q. What do you like to do when you’re not working?

In my downtime, my family comes first. I've been married 18 years to my high school sweetheart and we have two children, ages 7 and 8. They've taught me the importance of balance and have been so supportive of the times when "work happens." Together we enjoy the great outdoors, boating and tubing at the lake and taking one tank trips to undiscovered places. I personally enjoy PBR (professional bull riding), NASCAR and quality alone time reading, reading and reading.

Q. Describe your involvement in the Advancing Women in Technology (AWIT) Community. What advice do you have for women pursuing a career in the IT industry?

I'm an active member of the LinkedIn community group and I recently spoke on the AWIT panel at CompTIA Breakaway 2012. I participate in the monthly webinar events and I’ve just accepted an opportunity to be a mentor for another AWIT member.

In terms of advice, I believe good things come in threes:

Build your personal brand and become "The CEO of Me." Start where you stand, make a commitment to yourself and just do it.
Focus on financial planning as early as possible in life. "Smart Women Finish Rich" is a phenomenal book on this topic.
Remember that "why" is the ultimate question. Always ask why—to understand, to reinforce, and to further explore. Asking "why" gets you places.

Weekly Word on the Street: Software Developers Still in Demand

Jim Staats — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 20:40:20 GMT

Takeaway of the week is it's time to take stock of numbers: Numbers of job postings, numbers of big-time targeted skill sets, numbers of job seekers yet to connect with hiring managers and, lastly, both the good and bad of monthly unemployment numbers.

Thrilled for Skills

The IT job market continues to bubble with activity mostly around software development and ancillary skills, according to recent recruiting statistics.

A perusal of October's Dice report from Dice.com, the tech industry job site, reinforces the notion that having skill sets within the software development lifecycle amounts to a golden ticket in job opportunities.

Job postings on the site for these technology skills are nearing or surpassing all-time highs with year-long trends continuing to move in a positive direction.

Requests for open source programming languages such as Python and Ruby continue to be strong throughout 2012. Firms are ramping up the need for virtualization knowledge based on the increasing amount of job postings found on Dice.

Other trending technology sectors include Android development for mobile technology, JBoss and information security know-how.

Online Not Always On Target

The tendency of companies big and small to put the bulk of their recruitment efforts in the virtual hands of resume-screening software isn't doing any favors for job-seekers.

That's the basis of a recent article on CBS MoneyWatch, which notes that the trend of relying on technology to seek out a candidate that is perfect for a certain role often leaves both the company and qualified candidates high and dry.

With today's economy crowding the streets with job seekers and technological advances making online job search so simple and available, it's easy to understand how most companies come to rely on this route, but, as the article notes, employers are also in the current habit of setting recruiting expectations so high that talented individuals are being passed over during the process.

Suzanne Lucas, a human resources veteran who authored the article, said in a bad economy, online keyword searches aren't the best way to find the best match between employer and employee. As she notes, such terms "only represent how you (the employer) think the job should be done — it doesn't allow for the possibility of finding a better way to do a job, or exploring other options."

As another recruiting expert notes, such technology will weed out "out of the box creative thinking" in favor of those who just stick to the rules.

Often, roles that need to be filled require individuals who do things differently than the last person who held the job, while job descriptions tend to be based on what the last person did.

Employers are encouraged to actively network with job seekers. Yes, that's right, human hiring managers talking to human job candidates. Now, there's something.

IT Dip in Jobs Report

Amid all the recent hubbub over the nice, new dip in the U.S. unemployment rate, recent numbers for the IT industry weren't all that rosy.

That the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for the month of September included an unemployment rate below 8 percent for the first time in nearly a year rightfully took center stage, but the month wasn't a great one for the technology sector of the market.

Digging below the surface of the monthly report, released last week, a new article in The Register signals some alarming figures that might not get political parties riled up, but should have some people in the IT industry at least a little concerned.

While some 114,000 new jobs were added across the country in September with positive movement in teaching, construction, healthcare and transportation, jobs were being cut in several business associated with technology.

Computer and peripheral equipment makers cut 3,800 jobs last month, while semiconductor and electronic component makers slashed 2,000 jobs.

An area that has been a boost to the economy overall, computer system design and related services, had to chop 6,300 workers in September. Another 5,300 jobs were lost by workers in management and technical consulting services.

Granted, this is just one report and one month as the focus, but it's a sobering reminder that while the software development market remains hot, not every sector is home to a lively job market.

Rigor of New CompTIA A+ 800 Series Exams Reflects Change in Entry-Level IT Roles

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:01:00 GMT

Today, CompTIA launches the CompTIA A+ 800 exam series, which adds performance-based questions, new objectives for mobile devices and virtualization, and an increased emphasis on troubleshooting. The changes reflect new demands being placed on the entry-level IT technician, who must now help integrate and manage computer networks interfacing with a wide range of devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

The current CompTIA A+ 701 and 702 exams, which focus on assembling, fixing and troubleshooting computers and feature only multiple-choice questions, will be available until August 31, 2013. IT professionals can take either series to become CompTIA A+ certified.

Exam objectives for the CompTIA A+ 700 series and the 800 series exams can be downloaded from the CompTIA website. Educational materials and training resources to support the new CompTIA A+ exams are available from a number of CompTIA Authorized Partners, including: ExamForce, gtslearning, Kaplan, Logical Operations, McGraw Hill, MeasureUp, Pearson, uCertify and Wiley. Many are available on the CompTIA Marketplace.

Latest Testing Methods

We're making sure the test itself stays current, so that the candidates who pass it are current as well.

Phil Norton
Systems Analyst, Elmhurst (Ill.) Memorial Hospital and CSTAC member

CompTIA revised the new CompTIA A+ 800 series exams to contain a mix of multiple choice questions and performance-based questions to reflect the latest in testing methodologies. The performance-based questions require exam candidates to perform a task or solve a problem within a simulated IT environment to demonstrate specific knowledge or skills.

"It's one thing to take a written driver’s license exam," says Lee Myers, a member of the CompTIA Subject Matter Expert Technical Advisory Committee (CSTAC), who helped develop the 800 series performance-based questions. "It's another thing to actually drive the car."

"The performance-based questions are a great way to show that not only can you critically analyze a problem during a test, but you can also actually do the work," adds Myers, chief technology officer and associate CIO for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

As a result of industry feedback and Subject Matter Expert input during the Job Task Analysis, CompTIA increased the recommended experience level for candidates taking the new 800 series CompTIA A+ exam to 12 months—up from 500 hours or six months recommended for the 700 series CompTIA A+ exams.

"That experience factor is extremely important," says Carol Balkcom, CompTIA director of product management. "CompTIA's authorized content partners are updating training materials to address the new objectives and approach of the CompTIA A+ 800 series exams, and the courseware and training community have a big job to do. But these 800 series exams are testing for experience, in addition to knowledge. Successful candidates will have had significant hands-on experience in the lab or in the field. "

Updated Objectives

To earn the CompTIA A+ credential, candidates must pass two exams. The objectives for the two 800 series CompTIA A+ exams have significantly changed compared to the 700 series exams.

The first 800 series CompTIA A+ exam (exam code 220-801) will cover PC hardware, networking, laptops, printers and operational procedures. The second new CompTIA A+ exam, exam code 220-802, will cover operating systems, security, Android and iOS mobile devices, and troubleshooting.

The 800 series CompTIA A+ exams drop references to Windows 2000 while adding full coverage for Windows 7. Mobile devices and virtualization are both new subject matter domains. Troubleshooting objectives are more extensive, organized by specific hardware/software areas and include new troubleshooting objectives for wireless. In addition, the security domain now includes Small Office/Home Office-specific objectives.

Why The Exam Changed

The vendor-neutral CompTIA A+ exam is evaluated and updated every three years to maintain the exam's globally recognized ISO/ANSI accreditation status. The objectives were changed in consultation with the CompTIA A+ Certification Advisory Committee, which includes industry representatives from companies such as Lenovo, Dell, Ricoh and Sharp; system integrators; and the U.S. military. CompTIA also surveyed certified IT professionals to confirm the value and relevance of the new objectives added to the exam.

"We're making sure the test itself stays current, so that the candidates who pass it are current as well," says Phil Norton, a systems analyst with Elmhurst (Ill.) Memorial Hospital who serves on the CompTIA Subject Matter Expert Technical Advisory Committee (CSTAC).

“The changes in the exam objectives track with changes in technology,” explains advisory committee member Kelly Thompson, owner of the technology services company PC Express in Ava, Mo.

"Everyone and their grandmother have smartphones now," says Thompson, who worked on the job task analysis mapping the new CompTIA A+ exam objectives to current job roles and responsibilities. "Many of my help desk technicians with only one year of experience are fielding an increasing number of calls about smartphones, tablets and voice over IP questions."

Adds Norton: "The new objectives attest to the trends in the marketplace, and with the deeper-level, performance-based questions, we are making sure the exam is the benchmark we want it to be."

What Is A Performance-Based Question?

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:00:00 GMT

CompTIA is adding performance-based questions to its CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ certification exams in the coming months, and many candidates are wondering how this type of question will be different from the exams' traditional multiple-choice format.

Multiple-choice questions in CompTIA exams ask a candidate to select one or more correct answers to a specific question, and the candidate clicks on the correct answer or answers.

However, performance-based questions require the candidate to perform a task or solve a problem in simulated IT environments. For each performance-based question, the exam prompts the candidate to perform a specific task or solve a specific problem. A simulated environment is then launched in which the candidate completes the required steps.

Each question is designed around real-world computer scenarios that will test a candidate's skills and knowledge. Depending on the nature of the exam and the exam question, the simulated environments may include different aspects of IT infrastructure, such as command prompts, Windows or networking environments.

Once candidates use the simulated environment to perform the requested task or solve the stated problem, they click a "Done" button to submit their answer.

Exam candidates must pay careful attention to the wording and details of each question in order to form the correct answer.

To prepare for exams with performance-based questions, CompTIA encourages candidates to gain hands-on practice with the topics covered by the exam objectives, in addition to engaging in their preferred methods for study and training.

Weekly Word on the Street: Cloud Jobs on the Rise

Jim Staats — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:31:09 GMT

Takeaway of the week is regardless of the season, it seems, the binge continues for talented IT workers with the right combination of skills and experience. Cloud computing isn't just big in the IT industry, but in the IT job market as well, and don't count yourself out of the market just because you might be thought of as "over-the-hill."

IT Jobs in the Cloud

Wondering where to find today's high-value IT jobs?

They're right where the industry as a whole is going: The cloud.

At least that's the predominant analysis of industry executives, insiders and hiring experts, according to a recent article in InfoWorld.com.

The time is right — and right now — for talented IT professionals with skills and experience developing, deploying and managing applications and services in the cloud.

As David Foote, whose Foote Partners tracks IT compensation, certifications and employment, states, "The light has gone on in the heads of CIOs and CEOs, and a gap between supply (of IT personnel with skills for the cloud) and demand has opened up."

The article notes that a number of high-profile public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, are in the midst of a hiring frenzy.

Job market statistics back this up.

According to recent figures found at Dice.com, there were 10,771 job postings deemed cloud-related this past August, a 31 percent increase when compared to 8,217 such postings a year ago.

Some of the specific skills sought include Linux experience, hands-on scripting experience with Python and Ruby, networking and languages such as Java, C++ and Ruby on Rails.

Candidates interested in diving in, but not necessarily equipped with specific cloud experience can still apply.

Hiring managers in this space realize the cloud sector is still relatively new and aren't likely to turn away great talent.

As one executive said, "A great software engineer is a great software engineer."

IT professionals can demonstrate their cloud knowledge through earning the CompTIA Cloud Essentials certification.

Survey: Older Workers Valued

No matter how many pierced, tattooed twenty-somethings are spotted roaming — with coffee or green tea in hand — the high-tech corridors of New York, Silicon Valley and Seattle, recent economic trends have strengthened the value of an older workforce, a new survey suggests.

Nearly two-thirds of hiring managers state a preference for hiring older workers over candidates from the millennial generation, according to the survey from recruitment firm Adecco Staffing US.

As Joyce Russell, president of Adecco said, "The rise of mature workers in today's workforce is a direct result of economic and societal factors.

"These are individuals who long ago paid their dues, and given their years of experience and work ethic, they make excellent job candidates and strong employees — and the results of this survey show how overwhelmingly appreciated and valued they are by hiring managers," Russell said.

The survey, conducted by Braun Research Inc. and discussed in a recent post on Forbes.com, also points out that more than 90 percent of respondents believe older workers are more reliable, and 88 percent value their professionalism.

The biggest barrier for the more mature workers, according to respondents to the survey, is the challenge in learning and adapting to new technology.

Russell said older workers in search of employment need to understand "what they want out of a job and to seek out opportunities that allow them to combine their skill sets with their personal interests while keeping in mind what hiring managers want to see during their interview."

How to Keep that Hot IT Hire

You've just landed one of the hottest, most in-demand items of the fall season — a gifted technical professional.

Congratulations on making it through the hiring hurdle. The next task is to keep this hot commodity within your grasp.

With so many options available to talented technical workers these days, employee turnover in the engineering world is a tricky and costly affair for employers.

A new item in CIO.com offers a handful of helpful tips to be considered by employers seeking to make their organization an enticing one.

Some of their tips:

Set strong expectations: Clear and concise job duties from the start help to simplify and strengthen the career path of today's inundated IT worker.
Open communication: Walk the walk and talk the talk, from the veteran worker to the newbie, in whatever form or fashion will help build morale.
Promote from within: Witnessing co-workers add to their responsibilities offers an immediate career map.
Perks: Offering more than annual cost-of-living raises, stock options and other perks such as employer-supplied meals always helps.
Meet your employees: Don't wait until an exit interview to probe the mindset of an employee; learn what you're doing right to retain the workers who stay with a "stay interview."

How to Interest Youth in IT Careers

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:00:00 GMT

High school sophomores from Louisiana and Arkansas participate in a robotics challenge during the 2012 Cyber Discovery Camp at Louisiana Tech University.

How can America better interest its youth in IT careers?

Although nearly all of teens and young adults report they "love" or "like" technology, only 18 percent say they have a "definite interest" in an IT career. These findings from CompTIA's recent study "Youth Opinions of Careers in Information Technology" point to a career interest gap that's especially troubling for the IT industry, given the amount of jobs that are currently going unfilled for lack of qualified candidates.

The IT career interest levels among girls and young women are especially low. Only 65% of females in the Youth Opinions survey reported that they "love technology," and only 9 percent report they are definitely interested in an IT career. In comparison, 82 percent of the males in the Youth Opinions study reported they love technology, with 26 percent definitely interested in a career in IT.

Youth interest resonates with technology-centric career such as video game design, mobile app development and web development—not necessarily a generic IT career. The top reasons youth gave for not being interested in an IT career were:

Don't know enough about the IT field (cited by 47%)
Not interested in IT (44%)
Not good at math/science (24%)
Don't want a job sitting behind a desk all day (21%)
Too expensive to go to school to get the required training (16%)

Educational programs across the country are tackling the problem in various ways, but the message is the same: IT is a highly viable and incredibly fascinating career.

Start Early with Hands-on IT Experiences and Info

A high school junior enrolled in South Bend's IT program demonstrates how to disassemble a computer to a freshman visitor. South Bend's IT program hosts "field trips" that allow teachers and students from around the district to visit its classrooms.

In some education systems, this is a matter of early and aggressive program promotion and recruitment.

For example, student ambassadors from Frederick County Career and Technology Center in Maryland regularly travel to elementary schools to tell younger students about the school's Computer Tech Analyst and Cisco Networking classes. Instructors and students from South Bend, Ind. Community School Corporation's four-year-old Information Technology Program undertake recruiting new students starting in middle school, and each year after that.

Getting girls excited about IT and its career opportunities at an early age is especially important, says South Bend IT Instructor Walt Jaqua. "By 10th grade, they're already in a clique and following friends into programs such as culinary or cosmetology."

Other programs bring hands-on IT experiences and curricula into the younger grades. These include Florida's new Middle School IT Career Academies and the camps and curricula from the Louisiana-based Cyber Innovation Center's National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center (NICERC).

This school year, as a part of a state pilot, Martin County School District in Stuart, Fla., opened three middle school Microsoft Information Technology Academies, small learning communities that in addition to normal middle school curricula will enable students to earn MS Office and entry-level Adobe certifications. "Students are starting earlier and earlier with technology," says Martin County CTE Program Administrator Constance Scotchel-Gross. "So we are bringing typically high school level courses down into middle school. They will be relevant tools for any occupation."

Students attending the new Middle School IT Career Academies can graduate into Martin County's high school IT academy, where they can earn CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ credentials, plus Microsoft certifications.

The Cyber Innovation Center's NICERC instructs teachers on how to use its project-driven, application-based STEM curricula in formal settings like high school and middle school classrooms and in informal settings like NICERC's robotics competitions and Cyber Discovery camps. NICERC's goal is to train teachers not only to teach STEM principles, but also problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and communication skills. "We must change the way we engage students in a classroom," contends G.B. Cazes, vice president of the Cyber Innovation Center. "We don't know what problems kids will face in the future, so we better teach them how to think."

Integrate Career Prep with College Prep

Students assemble computer systems from new, boxed components during the "Project Build" highlight of South Bend, Ind. Community School Corporation's first year Information Technology Program. The first year, IT students are training for PC tech support and CompTIA A+ certification.

In some high schools, IT training programs operate separate from a college-bound curriculum; IT class times and locations can prevent students from including college prep courses in their schedules, for example. But many programs are building college preparatory learning and credits into IT career prep.

In both high school and middle school, students in Martin County's IT Career Academies are taught by a core group of teachers that include not only IT instructors, but also science, social studies, math and language arts instructors. In South Bend, the IT program was recently mandated to incorporate language arts and math objectives and learning into its IT curricula. "Technology lends itself well to that integration," says Jaqua.

Many IT programs offer dual credit options, so students can earn high school and college credits, in addition to industry certifications. For example, the Frederick County CTC IT program enables students to earn the CompTIA A+ certification, and Cisco's CCENT and CCNA certifications, plus college credits recognized by nearby Frederick Community College and Stevenson University.

Still, some parents and even some district guidance counselors don't always recognize that CTC's IT program is for college-bound students, says Jim Dorsch, instructor for Frederick County's Computer Technician Analyst class. "So we keep pounding home the message: If you come here you're going to get college credit, get certifications and be able to go on to college."

Parents are typically "blown away" once they learn what Frederick County CTC's IT program offers. "We know the value is there," says Dorsch. "We need to make sure everyone knows about it and that they should take advantage of it."

Many IT instructors see career prep as a mandatory requirement for college prep, given these tough economic times. "My kids are getting jobs because I'm preparing them to get jobs," says Jaqua. "One of the reasons I push my students to get these jobs is that they are going to have to work when they get to college."

Teach Students What It Takes to Earn a Living

Some IT instructors report that young people arrive in their programs with a lack of motivation, poor discipline and/or weak problem solving skills. High school students frequently want an IT job when they sign up for Ed Spink's IT classes, a part of the Center for Workforce Development program at Monroe 2-Orleans Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in Spencerport, N.Y. "But they're unaware about the discipline they have to have within themselves to get it," says Spink.

Mark Hibner, who frequently has high school graduates drop out of his IT certification training classes at the publicly funded Baldwin Park (Calif.) Adult Education center, believes students' understanding of how to earn a living needs to start "in the home," and that "students need to have more internships and apprentice-oriented activity" in high school. Introducing students to career options early and often can build motivation for and excitement about IT careers, he believes.

Martin County's IT career academies have forged relationships with local businesses for job shadowing, internships (paid and unpaid) and guest lectures.

Students need real-world information about career options early, Spink says. "There should be more workshops, in 7th and 8th grade, in which industry people explain to students what it's like to work in this environment and provide honest outlooks about future opportunities."

"We have to demystify the whole IT career thing," adds Jaqua, the South Bend instructor. "There are hundreds of possible IT careers. We need to find what in IT sparks the interest in these kids and let them know what's available to them. We need to be getting students at a younger age, letting them play with technology and introducing them to where technology and technology careers can take them."

Align IT Programs to local Workforce Opportunities

Aligning an IT program with local workforce opportunities and needs is a big picture goal that can become a rallying point for the education system and local business community. Its potential benefits include:

An IT program that trains students on market relevant, in-demand skills
Improved relationships with local business/industry
Greater student exposure to the business world and IT career opportunities
Greater opportunity for local student internships and jobs
Greater business community support (financial and in-kind) for the IT program

Martin County Career & Technical Education involves business partners with its Academies' strategic planning. "Funding is always difficult, but if there's a will, there's always a way," says Scotchel-Gross. "It takes time to build those advisory committees, but once you develop your business partnerships and advisors, they will help you."

Create "Landing Spots" for Students

IT instructors like Dorsch and Jaqua frequently cultivate ties with local businesses to help place their students in internships and jobs. Such IT-centric landing spots—in the workplace and also in higher education—give students opportunities and goals to strive for. They also validate the worth of an IT training program.

Some programs reach out at multiple levels. For example, the mission of the Cyber Innovation Center's NICERC, based in Bossier City, La., is to "build a sustainable knowledge-based workforce that can support the needs of government, industry, and academia." As such, NICERC has built "landing spot" connections at all points, including local middle schools and high schools; the Cisco Academy and other IT programs at Bossier Parish Community College; Louisiana Tech University's math, engineering and science programs; local businesses and government agencies.

"We're breaking down silos," says Cazes. "Everyone's getting on the same page and pulling in the same direction."

Don't Make These Common IT Job Interview Mistakes

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 17:28:23 GMT

Before you head into your next IT job interview, check out these common IT job interview mistakes to learn how to avoid them. Hiring professionals from IT staffing firms TEKsystems and Robert Half Technology, as well as companies in the telcom and energy industries, told CompTIA their solutions for how candidates can stay clear of common IT job interview pitfalls.

Mistake #1: Not researching your prospective employer ahead of the interview.

Solution: Always visit the company's website to learn about its business before the job interview. "Candidates gets a much higher initial reaction from interviewers if they appear to have taken even 10 minutes to learn about the company," says Kevin Doheny, manager of information security for the industry consortium Electrical Power Research Institute in Charlotte, N.C.

Beth Kennedy, consultant community manager for the IT staffing firm TEKsystems, suggests IT job candidates draft a list of questions about the company to ask during the interview. Such questions to ask during an interview for a contract job might include:

What kind of deadlines and deliverable dates are you expecting for this project? What do you expect the deliverable to look like?
Who will I be working with on a day-to-day basis and, if necessary, whom can I rely on for questions?
What are the biggest challenges your company is facing with this project?

"You don't want to project an 'I'm the only one in the world who could do this job' sort of attitude. No one wants to work with that guy! Hiring managers are looking for team players."

John Reed, senior executive director, Robert Half Technology

Mistake #2: Not knowing the IT fundamentals needed for the job opening.
Solution: Spend time (invest a matter of hours) reviewing the IT fundamentals used in the job you are pursuing. "Know the basics of your target position," advises Doheny. "Most hiring managers are willing to train people up to a certain point. But if a candidate can't demonstrate they know the fundamentals—the difference between discretionary and role-based access control, for example—they're never going to make it past the phone screen."

Mistake #3: Listing every technology buzzword on your resume and not being able to speak to it in detail during your interview.
Solution: "Only list your hands-on experience — honesty is the best policy," TEKsystems' Kennedy says. "It will definitely come out in the interview."

Mistake #4: Only speaking "geek" to non-geeks involved in the hiring process.
Solution: Recognize your audience and speak accordingly—using non-technical language when talking with human resources representatives, for example. Speaking "geek" is fine when talking with an IT manager, says Jill Blumer, vice president at FMHC, a real estate site development firm in the telecommunications industry. "However, if a job candidate is not able to communicate clearly with HR, that gives us information about how that individual will communicate with our general employee population when they explain IT problems."

Mistake #5: Not admitting what you don't know.
Solution: If you don't know the answer to a technical question, admit it and show that you know how to acquire the needed information. "It's not possible to know everything in IT," says Doheny. "If you don't know something, the next best thing is showing that you have a process to find the answer on your own — using TechNet or Google, for example."

Mistake #6: Running late for the interview.
Solution: "Aim to arrive a minimum of 10 minutes early, and plan out your route to the office the night before," advises John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology (RHT).

Mistake #7: Coming to the interview without a printed copy of your resume and your references.
Solution: Bring printed copies of your well-crafted resume and your references to the interview. "If you have them ready, it tells the interviewer, 'This candidate came prepared and ready for next steps'," says Doheny. Make sure you spellcheck your resume and scrutinize its layout, urges Blumer. A well-designed, typo-free resume shows that a candidate has good attention to detail.

Mistake #8: Bad mouthing your old boss, coworkers or place of employment to interviewer.
Solution: "Describe your old job/work environment as not being the right fit and parlaying that into what you like about the job you are interviewing for," suggests TEKsystems' Kennedy.

Mistake #9: Coming across as arrogant.
Solution: Know the difference between confidence and arrogance, urges Reed. Speak about specific accomplishments and use concrete examples, while making it clear to the interviewer when something was a team effort. "You don't want to project an 'I'm the only one in the world who could do this job' sort of attitude," Reed says, adding, "No one wants to work with that guy! Hiring managers are looking for team players."

Mistake #10: Dressing unprofessionally, not making eye contact with the interviewer and/or slouching during the interview.
Solution: "Dress professionally," advises Blumer. "Even if the job isn't going require you to wear a tie and jacket, it's not a bad thing to still show up that way." Make sure your body language — your eye contact and your posture — demonstrates that you are interested and alert. "Eye contact is critical because that's how you are going to quickly establish trust with the people interviewing you," Doheny says. "If a hiring manager doesn't feel they can trust you, then the interview is dead." Sitting up straight "makes the candidate seem much more like a higher-energy, go-getter."

Mistake #11: Conveying nervousness and desperation during the job interview.
Solution:Relax and sell the interviewer on your skills and qualities. Make no mention of personal finance issues. "In this economy, lengthy unemployment can lead candidates to feel desperate to get a job," says FMHC's Blumer. "But even if they feel it, they need to not show that desperation. Don't talk about how hard you've been searching, how many interviews you've gone on, and how you really, really want this job. Instead, be your professional self."

Mistake #12: Not closing the interview.
Solution: Emphasize how much you'd love to join the firm, or ask what the next step in the process will be at the end of an interview. "Technology professionals typically don't like to 'sell' themselves, but by not taking these steps, they risk appearing unenthusiastic about the job," says RHT's Reed.

Mistake #13: Telling the IT hiring manager you are the "perfect" candidate.
Solution: Speak clearly and boldly about what skills and qualities you can bring to the job, and convey your interest in joining the company, but don't overreach. "I know people have been taught to say they are the 'perfect' candidate for the job, but that doesn't close it," says Blumer. "It's old school. As a candidate, you don't really know what (employers) need, but hopefully you can grow into what we need."

Weekly Word on the Street: IT Skills Wanted for Marketing and Finance Jobs

Jim Staats — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:36:56 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that your next IT role might be in one of those places you'd least expect it — say, Wall Street or surrounded by marketing professionals. Expand your horizons and your job search. If you're in the Baby Boomer generation, though, you're probably already doing that.

Next Big Thing in IT? Marketing

The increased use, critical nature and technical goals of social networking for many organizations have inched marketing and IT denizens toward a match made in tech heaven.

Firms heavily embracing social applications and practices are committing more IT staffers to marketing and communication projects while technical skills are an increasingly valuable commodity for marketing professionals.

As a recent article in InformationWeek suggests, opportunities to integrate these roles previously found at opposite ends of the org chart abound, thanks to recent technology trends.

As one high-ranking executive put it, having an IT person within the marketing department "makes perfect sense, and ideally allows the team to be even more creative and realistic in their approach. Less time wasted, more time implementing cutting-edge creative campaigns."

Another CEO touts knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript as a "big plus" in the hiring process for marketing team members.

And vice versa.

"We look for IT team members who know more than just how to code," the CEO said. "We hope they have a basic understanding of the e-commerce conversion funnel, SEO, and social media."

A sampling of one company's requirements wish-list to fill a marketing/technical role:
Understand website design and functionality

Ability to add social media icons to product pages, checkout pages and blogs
Design email templates for newsletters
Assist branding initiatives with design and programming

Coders Wanted on the 'Street'

A new survey on the most in-demand skills on Wall Street produced results likely to surprise most folks.
In the land of finance and investment banking, IT skills such as programming and database management are topping hiring managers' wish lists.

On the list of top 10 skills searches released by eFinancialCareers, a career site for investment banking and like-minded industries, those IT skills and others dominated job postings, an eWeek article on the findings noted.

According to eFinancialCareers data from the past three months, those in charge of hiring on Wall Street are most interested in candidates with IT talent such as C and Java programming, Big Data wrangling, SQL and high-speed trading.

As one Wall Street insider noted, the increased sophistication and expectation of today's financial services clients require firms "to innovate, not just in the products they offer, but also in how they adapt and run their businesses."

Baby Boomers Best at New Wave Job Search

A new survey centered on today's job market suggests the youth-infused generation thought to be the most tech-savvy isn't when it comes to the job hunt.

That "old fogey" Baby Boomer generation, not the aforementioned Gen Y, is doing the most to take advantage of online job searches and social networking avenues, according to a survey by Millennial Branding and Beyond.com.

The survey, which analyzed job-search trends by more than five thousand job seekers across various generations, does highlight a greater degree of job-related optimism among the younger set, however.

Findings from the survey, reported on in a recent Forbes article, include a higher percentage of Boomers using online job boards and social avenues including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for their job hunts compared to the younger generation.

As the article notes, likely reasons for Baby Boomers taking more comprehensive action in their job search is that they likely have more at stake and have been out of work a longer length of time.
Baby Boomers, survey findings note, are much more likely to maintain their own professional websites, while younger job seekers tend to rely more heavily on Twitter and LinkedIn profiles instead.

As one recruiter posed, "What happens if Twitter suddenly goes under. Your presence is gone," he said. "The best way to ensure and control your online presence is a personal website - because you own it."

Away from the computer screen, Baby Boomers are also leading the way, with a higher percentage seeking offline networking as a means of finding employment, though numbers remain low for that angle across the board.

That could present an opportunity for the enterprising job seeker: use online resources to scout openings and then put in the time to build real-world connections to get one step closer.

CompTIA to Increase Exam Security

Kelsey Wieties — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 20:38:56 GMT

In order to enhance certification exam security, CompTIA will require all test-takers worldwide to have their photo taken and signature recorded as part of the admissions process at all Pearson VUE testing centers. These changes will take effect December 1, 2012.

CompTIA believes these new measures will decrease the likelihood of test item theft, proxy testing and other forms of exam fraud.

Both the photo and signature will be securely stored and protected at Pearson VUE and CompTIA. All testing centers, with the exception of high schools (that primarily test candidates who are 13-17 years of age) and U.S. government/military sites (on base) must comply with these changes.

These security enhancements align with CompTIA's commitment to preserving the integrity of the testing process and protecting the value of CompTIA certifications. In addition, these changes will increase the validity of all CompTIA certifications held by individuals.

IT Industry Leaders: Aaron Woods on Change and Services Revenue Streams

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:00:44 GMT

Aaron Woods

For Aaron Woods, director of Xerox Corp's North American Reseller Relationships and Partnership programs, information technology has been his ticket to a long and satisfying career. But at first, IT was simply his way out of a boring Army job.

Newly enlisted in the Army in 1967, Woods expected to be sent to finance school after basic training. But thanks to a military paperwork snafu, he wound up a clerk typist. “That's not something I wanted to do forever,” Woods recalls. So he signed himself up for a class on repairing automated data processing systems (ADPS).

The yearlong ADPS course was brutal—at one point, Woods was attending class from 11 p.m. until 7 a.m. But soon after completing it, he was stationed in Germany for four years, working in an Army Strategic Communications detachment to protect the secure messaging systems for the Pershing 1 nuclear missiles deployed in Europe. “It was a 365-day, 24-hours-a-day endeavor—very, very interesting,” says Woods.

Upon leaving the army in 1974, Woods worked as a field service technician repairing Brokerage terminals in Chicago's finance markets. That role launched a long career in IT support services.

Woods worked in progressively more responsible service management roles for Tandy Corp., NEC Home Electronics, Bell & Howell Service Company, industrial automation firm ITT Servcom, computer reseller Intelligent Electronics and testing device manufacturer Tektronix.

In 2000, when Xerox purchased the Computer Printing & Imaging division of Tektronix, Woods joined the Xerox Services team as program manager for its Authorized Service Provider program and continued his rise, becoming director of Xerox's North American Reseller Relationship and Partner Programs in 2009.

Woods holds a bachelor's degree in business management and an MBA in Organizational Communications from Marylhurst (Ore.) University and also his Green Belt certification for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) quality improvement processes. He is also a certified sponsor for LSS projects.

Q. What do you do day-to-day in your job?

My current job is two-fold, tied to relationships and partner programs serving our value-added reseller customers, all small- and medium-sized business. It's is a very senior position within Xerox and very unique because it involves indirect services, and is a focal point between our resellers and Xerox.

In the relationships piece, I work with North American resellers' senior staff to ensure that we're providing everything they need, in terms of services, to support their go-to-market strategies. Whenever the North American Resellers organization introduces a new program, it nearly always has a service piece tied to it.

With our partner programs, we work with authorized resellers, third-party maintainers and self-service providers who deliver services on Xerox products. We help each become certified on our products to become authorized service providers. We have over 6,000 certified technicians in 1,100 SMB organizations in North America, including Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Puerto Rico.

Q. How did you get into the IT services industry? What do you like about it?

I've been in it about 28 years. I got into it from the military working with secure messaging processing computers. It was a direct link for me to go out and work in this environment.

In these 28 years, I've had a broad spectrum of not only issues to solve and initiatives to create, but also just across-the-board excitement. IT services is always changing. You never become bored—at least I haven't. There's always something new to explore and learn about. That's why I love it: It's a constantly changing environment.

Q. How do you keep current with the latest trends in your segment of the IT industry?

I read everything that I can: Computerworld and Computerworld This Week, CompTIA SmartBrief, also briefings from Aberdeen Research about service related topics and warranty fraud, and also from Noventum Service Management.

I am incessant reader, but I also get a lot of up-to-date information by being a member of CompTIA and by serving as an executive council member of its IT Services and Support Community. Interfacing with my peers, listening to them and taking about the same issues that we have, helps me learn what's going on with the trends.

Q. What advice do you have for people who want to get an IT industry job?

First of all, understand what it is you want to do in IT. Fortunately, there's so much information you can pull from the Internet. Use Google. If you are interested in networking, educate yourself on networking as a whole: the different areas of networking and their requirements. If you are interested getting Cisco certified, that's good. But Cisco has many certifications. Which one is best for you and how should you prepare yourself to get it? Also look at the websites of organizations like CompTIA that have information about how to get into a particular career area in IT.

Q. What do you like to do when you're not working?

Cooking is one relaxation for me. Fishing is another. I love to fish for salmon and steelhead. I like to fish on the Columbia River several times a year. I have yet to catch a steelhead, though. It's a very elusive fish.

Also my wife and I like to travel—to Colorado to visit the kids and grandkids, to Chicago to visit family. We enjoy any place new. Next year we're going to Panama.

Q. What's the biggest challenge in the services industry right now? What's its biggest opportunity?

The challenges that we have today are trying to keep up with all of the things that are changing within the industry. The cloud is one of the biggest things that touches on all areas in the IT environment, including services. The emphasis on certifications is shifting—it's no longer as frequently required by OEMs; it's more a self-improvement tool for individual IT workers. Also social media: How do we use Facebook or Twitter within our own organizations? How should I use social media with my authorized service providers? How do we implement social media into customer service/customer satisfaction? And then there's BYOD, “Bring Your Own Device” — how do we integrate that into our services within our own group?

Personally, I do believe that having at least one or two certifications—particularly the CompTIA PDI+, CompTIA A+ or CompTIA Network+ credentials—is important, not only to an individual's self-esteem, but also from a knowledge standpoint. The more you equip yourself with information, the more valuable you will be to your employer and to yourself.

Finally, there's no money in the (IT hardware) box today, so it's important for the SMBs to understand how they can maximize their service revenue stream and to spend the needed dollars to put those programs into place.

Q. As an originator of the CompTIA A+ certification, what do you think of the new 800 series CompTIA A+ exams due to launch this fall?

From what I've seen, it's the right direction. It clearly includes those components that are going to help a technician be really well rounded with the basic skill sets. It will provide a comfort level to consumers and employers that a technician can support their products in a professional manner.

Weekly Word on the Street: Washington, D.C. Needs IT Pros

Jim Staats — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:43:44 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a nice and tidy set of fun-filled nuggets that just about everyone in and around the IT job market will find interesting. Tech hiring hotspots are examined West Coast to East Coast with some surprising results; big-picture career decisions are broken down in ways that every candidate should be doing them if they haven't already; and sometimes career advancement begins outside of working hours.

Tech Hotspots with a Shocker Up Top

So long Silicon Valley?

Nice knowin' ya, New York City?

Ok, so that's not exactly the case when analyzing a new report on the best U.S. cities for finding software employment, but it's quite a surprise to see what city earned the title of top city for developers to find jobs.

The head of the U.S. government, Washington, D.C., has the highest demand for computer science professionals, according to data compiled by job search site, Indeed.com and reported in an item on VentureBeat.

Of course, the aforementioned locales remain high on the list of developer-friendly cities, with San Jose and San Francisco sandwiching New York City for the top four spots in Indeed's findings.

Officials with Indeed cite the bevy of defense contracts as a big reason for the tech demand in the nation's capital.

Cities rounding out the top ten are: Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Dallas.

The report also provides data on the top employers for targeted professionals and invariably most tend to have satellite offices in regions including Silicon Valley, Seattle and Washington.

Indeed data notes the most in-demand technical job titles tend to be software-related, such as sysadmin and network engineer. Top language-specific engineering positions were for Java developers.

Average salary for the in-demand roles for those equipped with computer science majors is more than $88,000, according to Indeed.

Considerations for the In-Demand Developer

We all know the technical job market is frothing at its veritable mouth for any skilled programmer these days.

But, beyond that, do the aforementioned coders really know what they need to know to make good career decisions?

From "big-picture" considerations to resume reboots, a recent article in InfoWorld offers up a handful of IT-centric career issues to consider before jumping at the bevy of jobs out there.

Here are a few:

Certification: When it comes to developers, the big question is what the true demand is for specific certifications. While the latest technologies are unlikely to be the subject of testable standards, the biggest certification base is often the fundamentals that some companies target.
Programming language specialization: Though quality programmers can code in any language, which one to specialize in is a toughie. New languages may be tempting, but one can't really go wrong with Java, C++, PHP and JavaScript.
Location, location, location: The importance of where a company resides usually differs according to age and level of life responsibilities of a candidate. Because of this, residing in tech hotbeds like Silicon Valley becomes attractive not just for the young coder jumping from startup to startup, but also for the rooted professional who can also shift employers without packing up the homestead.

After-Hours Effort

Career advancement is often more than just an eight-hour workday.

Whether looking to make life easier in your current role or eyeing future advancement, it's often the little things that are done outside of working hours that can add a nice complement to your persona.

A recent piece on CBSnews.com offered a few help suggestions on after-work actions that can help one's career. Here are a few:

Share a hobby with co-worker: "Doing activities together outside of the office can be a great stress reducer and can help you solidify your working relationship with the other person," said author Amanda Haddaway. Suggested activities include sporting events, group TV viewing parties and company volunteer projects.
Happy hour: After-hour gatherings with or without the adult beverages can often help reduce tense work environments. Remember to keep alcohol consumption to a minimum.
Networking: Take the time for networking opportunities sponsored by industry-related trade associations that will help increase your visibility and credibility.

CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician Exam Supports EHR Security

Kelsey Wieties — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:46:12 GMT

As healthcare providers are transitioning from paper records to electronic healthcare records (EHR), the need for tight cybersecurity has become essential. In order to prevent cybersecurity attacks, healthcare providers must have trained IT professionals with the knowledge and skills required to implement, deploy and support healthcare IT systems.

Though extreme, a recent case highlights some of the potential issues. This summer, hackers breached The Surgeons of Lake County's computer network and then held the medical data they had acquired for ransom, demanding payment for the password, according to Bloomberg News. In response to the attack, the Illinois-based healthcare provider turned their server off, refused to pay the ransom and notified authorities.

About 9 in 10 healthcare practices have taken some action toward the adoption of EHR and it is only a matter of time before some or all of their information will be digitized and they will be required to comply with new requirements, according to CompTIA's Healthcare IT Insights and Opportunities study. In addition, a recent study from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suggests more than 7.8 million people had their medical records compromised as a result of 252 major security breaches during 2009-2010.

CompTIA recognizes the growing demand for EHR protection in the healthcare environment and has developed a certification exam with more than 20% of the material devoted to security. The CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician exam covers everything from encryption types to wireless security protocols and security best practices. The remainder of the exam includes sections on regulatory requirements, organization behavior, IT operations and medical business operations.

IT professionals who earn the CompTIA Healthcare IT Technician certification are able to use their broad understanding of cybersecurity as it relates specifically to healthcare IT systems to prevent against hackers and security breaches.

CompTIA Helps Achieve Liftoff to the Cloud in Malaysia

Jim Staats — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:00:00 GMT

If you work in today's technical industry and your job title contains words like "transition" or "transformation," you had better have a solid grasp of cloud computing for your job security and your employer's success.

For IT veteran Jimmy Hooh, whose professional moniker has both, CompTIA played a major role in accomplishing just such a task.

Jimmy Hooh

Hooh, transition and transformation manager for HP Malaysia, turned to his industry's global trade association for a solid foundation in the ever-expanding cloud sector through his CompTIA Cloud Essentials certification in early 2012.

“CompTIA Cloud Essentials is the best certification because it covers a range of cloud computing principles and concepts from both the business and technical perspectives,” said Hooh.

He noted that folks who pass the exam have a better understand of “what’s involved in moving information to the cloud, and what the important considerations are.”

In general, cloud computing is defined as anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. The name of the concept itself, which has been around for years, is derived from the cloud symbol used to represent the Internet in flowcharts and diagrams. The cloud can be private — through a proprietary network or data center — or public.

The reason Hooh and more of his peers are clamoring for cloud computing expertise is the speed with which all kinds of businesses across the globe are being powered by the cloud.

Computing giants including Amazon, Google and Microsoft are competing for that growing business revenue with their own public cloud computing services.

The reality is that this off-site, shared network of resources allows a company to accomplish a lot more computing with a lot less in the way of resources, manpower and expenditures.

Hooh, who counts CompTIA Project+ among his industry certifications, knew he needed a solid understanding of cloud computing and how it can be applied to his project management work. He now considers himself equipped to address both the risks and rewards of governing a cloud-based system.

CompTIA Cloud Essentials, Hooh said, offered the foundation upon which to build.

"As a start, CompTIA (Cloud Essentials) certification will provide a basic knowledge and understanding of the terminology used in the cloud and (help) to move to the next level of cloud specialty certification," he said.

Hooh said he's already reaped the benefits of understanding the concepts involved to better advise customers who have come to him seeking guidance. As for his employer, Hooh said he envisions putting his newfound knowledge to use to help HP Malaysia increase IT responsiveness and flexibility while lowering expenditures and overhead.

Hooh described the benefits of his and other organizations doing business in the cloud as giving co-workers and clients the freedom and flexibility of doing business by "joining the conversation."

If that's the case, Hooh now has the tools to serve as interpreter.

Weekly Word on the Street: Soft Skills a Big Plus in Hiring

Jim Staats — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 17:01:33 GMT

Takeaway of the week is something akin to a broken record: Notably, that another publication touts the value of "soft skills" in the hiring process, IT certifications tend to bump up one's pay grade and IT hiring continues to be on the rise. Nothing new, yet good to know.

The IT Skills That Matter Most

Just about anyone worth their salt in the IT job market these days can code, so what can set a candidate apart from the pack?

We'll give you a hint. It's not hard.

As a recent item in TechRepublic highlights, today's CIOs are high on the need for "soft skills" in managers and new hires, just the latest in a veritable flood of like-minded posts within industry publications.

As one IT executive put it in his firm's pursuit of young, talented techies, "We look for students that come to us very well prepared - not only in technology, but in the 'soft skills' that you need to be successful."

As other IT executives with a hand in the IT hiring process attest, skill in human interaction techniques such as open communication is no longer being under-appreciated.

According to several CIOs in the know, the following are "soft skills" that job candidates should have in their back pocket:

Read, write, listen and speak: Be able to go beyond technical jargon, especially with end-users and customers.
Remember the human element: The skilled project manager not only manages task charts, but the performers who meet those tasks, nuances and all.
Collaboration: It's all about cross-communication when it comes to making team members feel like a part of the solution and not just a project tool.
Visibility: Regardless of the role you currently inhibit, transparency will build trust and respect in those around you.

Report: It Pays to Certify

If you're visiting this site, you're already getting the idea of the importance and value of certification in this industry.

But, hey, which ones help the most in bringing in the big bucks?

The recently published IT Skills Demand and Pay Trends Report, put out by the Foote Research Group, notes that individuals with 23 specific certifications are getting paid a premium over others in the same role without the credentials, according to a recent CIO.com item on findings.

Premium skills pay is defined as "an additional monetary compensation or skills premium tied specifically to a certification (or skill)."

A few of the certifications that add a premium to salaries include:

8-13 percent premium: Red Hat Certified Architect, Microsoft Certified Architect, HP/Master Accredited Solutions Expert
10-15 percent premium: Certified Secure Lifecycle Professional, Cisco Certified Design Expert
12-16 percent premium: Open Group Master Architect, Program Management Professional

IT Employment Goes in the Right Direction

If the folks scouring the latest jobs figures to come out of the U.S. government are reading things right, things remain on an upward tilt for the IT sector of the job market.

Reporting on some of the groups that study the latest U.S. Labor Department jobs data, a recent article in Computerworld.com paints a rosy picture for the industry's job market.

Janco Associates, a research and consulting firm, estimated that 13 percent of the overall 96,000 jobs added in the U.S. in August were IT jobs. That's quite a healthy chunk.

The group surveyed CIOs with the takeaway that based on job data and other parameters, it is expected that overall hiring will improve significantly in 2013.

Industry group TechServe Alliance put the month-to-month increase at 5,100 IT jobs, contributing to nearly 4.2 million positions.

While the unemployment rate for computer hardware engineers and software developers both shrank from the first quarter to the second quarter of this year, the rate actually increased slightly for computer support specialists over the same time period.

For computer hardware engineers, the unemployment shrinkage was a significant one: a 4.4 to 0.5 percent dive from quarter-to-quarter.

CompTIA to Retire CTP+ Certification Exam

Kelsey Wieties — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Due to changes in the information technology industry, CompTIA will retire the CompTIA CTP+ certification exam at the end of this year.

The CompTIA CTP+ certification exam, launched in 2010, covers the topic of convergent technologies, more commonly referred to today as unified communications. Since the exam launch, new forms of technology have developed, causing changes in the way business is conducted. These technologies include new mobile technologies and business models such as cloud computing. As a result of these emerging technologies, the standards for measuring and testing a unified communications professional have changed and will continue to change as even newer technologies are introduced.

In response to emerging technologies, CompTIA is in the development or planning stage for new Professional Series certification exams that will cover topics like cloud computing and mobility. In early 2012, CompTIA launched the CompTIA Cloud Essentials exam. This certification demonstrates that an individual knows what cloud computing means from a business and technical perspective, as well as what is involved in moving to and governing the cloud.

The last day to take the CompTIA CTP+ certification exam will be Dec. 31, 2012. The exam is available only at Pearson VUE testing centers. Those who planned on taking this exam before the end of the year are encouraged to continue their studies and seek certification. Previously purchased vouchers for CompTIA CTP+ exams will be valid only until Dec. 31.

CompTIA CTP+ certifications will not expire.

See How Your Salary Matches Up

Leslie Hague — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 15:00:00 GMT

What skills are in demand? How do certifications impact salary? How does your salary compare to national averages?

Global Knowledge and Windows IT Pro are undertaking these issues and more in the 2013 IT Skills and Salary Survey. Participants receive a complimentary copy of the final report. Those who enter by Oct. 19 will be entered into a random drawing for one of eight $250 American Express gift cards.

The annual report is one of the industry's most extensive surveys of IT and business professionals. It covers what IT and business professional earn, what training and certifications matter most, and other critical issues facing workers today.

The survey takes about 15 minutes to complete.

Weekly Word on the Street

Jim Staats — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:16:51 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a nice and tidy summation of the key ingredients to a good IT job search: Know the value of the industry you're in and how many others hold it in high regard; learn some tips on how to remain relevant whether as a candidate on the outside looking in or working your way up from within; and, of course, the monetary value others place on your work, which in the IT world these days is not too shabby.

Study: IT a Hot Do-Over Thought

Given the need to alter directions on that career path, the most popular detour U.S. workers would select is the IT field, a new study indicates.

In addition, computer and technical skills are considered the most crucial career building blocks by a third of the respondents to the study by the staffing firm Randstad.

However, a recent post in TechRepublic discussing these findings did note that those already employed in the IT industry didn't necessarily remain with the profession. The IT industry recorded one of the lowest retention index scores among various industries (the only profession with lower scores being human resources/recruiting).

It could be a sign of the increasingly competitive and teeming job market for IT engineers that half of the study respondents who are in the IT industry expected to be either considering a job offer or accepting a new job within the coming six months.

Or is that some of the shakeout from all those who entered the IT industry high on the concept of working with the latest technical gadgets, but unprepared for the amount of work involved?

Career Relevancy on All Eight Cylinders

Read up on the industry. Be "social" at all times. And, yes, certify.

These are just a few of the seemingly-obvious-on-the-surface suggestions for IT professionals looking to keep current in their career and become potent candidates for recruiters.

As noted in the recent article on CIO.com, the world of IT is one that is constantly changing and those who make a career within it are faced with the challenge of keeping pace on a daily basis.

Here are a few of the suggestions detailed in the article to get started:

Conferences, boot camps and classes - as opposed to reading up and building a skillset via book: these resources will be more well-rounded and relatable within a resume.

Online user communities: find peers to garner advice and utilize discussion forums, FAQs and resume posting services on focused topics including Oracle Technology Network Community, Java, Ruby, Reddit and DZone.

Google Alerts

Industry certifications: as another CIO.com article stated, "Certifications indicate to employers you take your job seriously and that you are knowledgeable on the respective technology."

Mobile Movin' On Up

Engineers involved in mobile technology are the earning some of the highest salaries in the tech industry, a new survey finds.

While workers in the communications technology sector earned a median salary of $135,087 last year to top the IT profession, the new IEEE-USA survey revealed that those working in energy and power engineering were considered the lowest paid engineers with a median salary of $107,820, according to a new Computerworld piece on the findings.

Engineers within the IT industry as a whole, were found to earn a median income of $120,000 last year, per the survey of more than 10,200 IEEE-USA members.

IEEE-USA executive Ed Kirschner said the mobile technology category is a broad one that includes circuit designers, software engineers, computer engineers and network engineers.

"It is literally everybody who would fall under the umbrella of electrical or computer engineering," Kirschner said.

He also noted, with the explosion of the smartphone industry as well, the type of engineer who can work in mobile today "has really spread out."

On the whole, engineering and IT salaries increased by just under 2 percent last year, an increase that is less than half of the bump of the previous year, findings show.

Some other compensation figures for various engineering sectors, all at median levels, include: $129,000 for circuits and devices; $127,000 for signals and applications; $110,000 for industrial applications; and $112,000 for systems and control.

UKI Announces Social Media Security Professional Certification

Justyna La Pay — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Ultimate Knowledge Institute (UKI) and Examplify, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CompTIA, have partnered to develop the industry's first social media security exam and certification. The new Social Media Security Professional (SMSP) certification designates professionals with the knowledge and skills to safeguard sensitive information and prevent potentially devastating security breaches emerging from social media channels.

The SMSP beta exam, powered by CompTIA, will be available starting Sept. 17. Candidates can prepare for the exam by attending an official UKI training course, or they can opt to challenge the exam without official training. Click here to view the training schedule and to register for the beta exam.

The SMSP certification is designed to fill the growing demand for IT security professionals with verified skills in identifying and mitigating social media risk. The certification is geared toward IT professionals in job functions such as information security/assurance technician, network technician, security administrator, systems administrator, network administrator, security architect, security engineer, or any other information security role.

"In these tough economic times, organizations continue to live by the do-more-with-less mantra while navigating the dynamic and more complex than ever nature of the current risk landscape," said Tony Akers, UKI co-founder. "Having a current and diversified set of skills that differentiates one from peers is important in order to excel in this challenging environment and become an indispensible part of the infosec team."

Growing demand for social media cybersecurity experts

More and more, organizations rely on social media as a tool to support marketing efforts, enable greater collaboration, spread important causes, and generate positive change. Unfortunately, with the many benefits of instant communication comes an array of security risks, as hackers target employees through social media channels to steal critical business information. Many organizations are aware of the risks involved: In a 2012 RIMS Benchmark Survey, 60 percent of risk managers identified social media as both an asset and a liability to their organization. According to the 2011 Barracuda Labs report "Social Networking Security & Privacy," 86 percent of respondents fear that employee use of social media networks can endanger company security.

These growing concerns reflect the need to take an active part in protecting critical business information. In a recently published Gartner report, 60 percent of corporations revealed that they plan to monitor social media channels by 2015. Having a skilled workforce that can anticipate potentially devastating security breaches, minimize the impact of attacks, and collect necessary evidence for prosecution will be key to securing organizations.

CompTIA and UKI partner to address a lack of comprehensive social media security education

Development of the social media security training began when the U.S. Department of Defense approached UKI with a request to design and teach an information security course focusing on social media security. The goal was to enable a wholesome protection of the DoD's infrastructure.

"The training courses came about as a collaboration of military experts and information security researchers." said Dr. Scott A. Wells, UKI co-founder. "The success of these courses and the skyrocketing demand for cybersecurity professionals trained in social media security led us to modify our curriculum and partner with Examplify to develop a solid certification exam for the general public."

Examplify, a custom exam development company, leverages CompTIA's nearly 20 years of successful exam development experience. It has co-developed the SMSP exam with UKI to offer a credible, reliable way to validate the skills of individuals in the exploding IT arena of social media.

Individuals who sit for the SMSP beta exam will help determine the passing score for the industry's first social media security certification through their participation. They will be eligible to obtain the SMSP certification upon successful completion of the exam. The beta phase is expected to be finalized before the end of October 2012, and the exam is scheduled to be in the market January 2013.

The SMSP beta exam will be administered in conjunction with the following training courses in September:

September 17, 2012 - Arlington, VA
September 20, 2012 - San Diego, CA
September 24, 2012 - Columbia, MD
September 27, 2012 - Atlanta, GA

Additional training courses will be held nationwide. View the full training schedule.

If you would like to challenge the SMSP exam without attending the training or get more information about the SMSP certification and training options, contact UKI at info@ultimateknowledge.com or 1.888.677.5696.

IT Industry Leaders: John Mehrmann on Technology, Contract Workforces and Long-term Success

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:00:00 GMT

John Mehrmann

The powers of technology and human motivation have been central to John Mehrmann's decades-long career.

When he started as a service operations manager at Toshiba America Consumer Products in 1986, business was done via fax machine and maybe a personal AOL email account. Advancing to progressively more responsible roles within Toshiba's service operations, Mehrmann latched onto new technologies to develop websites, implement call centers, automate business processes, and integrate business intelligence to improve business performance. The success of each solution depended on long-term employee buy-in and customer satisfaction.

An employee with Toshiba for roughly 20 years, Mehrmann founded his own executive coaching business in 2005 and co-authored "The Trusted Advocate: Accelerate Success with Authenticity and Integrity," a guide for building lasting sales and business relationships, in 2008. "I like to see people becoming the most they can be," Mehrmann says.

Mehrmann was regional sales director at supply chain solutions provider Data Exchange Corporation (DEX) from 2006 to 2008 before joining global systems integrator ZSL Inc. (formerly Zylog Systems Ltd.) as vice president for business development. In February 2010, Mehrmann became CEO of Zylog Systems (Canada) Ltd., a subsidiary formed after ZSL acquired the Canadian IT consulting and engineering staffing services company Brainhunter.

At Zylog Systems Canada, Mehrmann now runs a company that leverages Oracle databases, SaaS and other cloud-based solutions, plus outsourced application development to provide its clients with IT and engineering staffing, human capital resource management applications, and technology solutions. The company works with about 2,000 IT consultants in Canada and plans to expand its services into the United States.

Q. What do you do day-to-day in your job?

I work with teams in our organization to help clients analyze their business objectives and their ability to meet those objectives, identify any gaps, and fill any gaps. Filling a gap may involve adding headcount resources or developing software to improve business processes. In addition, I visit clients and talk with our partners to better understand their needs and how we can address them. It's a leadership/mentoring position.

Q. How did you get started in IT?

My father was with IBM for almost 50 years. He's my role model. He grew up in a Saugerties, N.Y., farmhouse, with no electricity, no plumbing, just an outhouse. He started with IBM as a mechanic and ended his career there in corporate security, working on privacy and identity theft issues and conducting corporate audits.

I remember going with my dad and seeing the punch cards, the reel-to-reel tapes, and the computers with gas vacuum tubes—that's all in the Smithsonian now.

Q. How do you keep current with the latest trends in your segment of the IT industry?

I participate in CompTIA workshops, committees and communities. I look at CompTIA SmartBrief headlines daily and read InformationWeek from cover to cover. Also lots of magazines: PCWorld, Macworld.

An article can be well written and informative, but participating in industry communities and also meeting with clients gives you a fascinating perspective about the real-world application of technology. That's where you find out where the rubber meets the road, how technology really touches people.

Q. What advice do you have for people who want to get an IT industry job?

Identify your passions and your strengths and how those fit with IT. If you like to work with your hands, you might want to pursue computer repair or networking. If you like unscrambling puzzles, you are probably more suited for the software side, where you solve problems with code.

Once you know your passion and talents, you can match your profile to different certifications—general industry or vendor-specific—to plan how you want to develop as an individual.

Technology is always changing, and you will have no choice but to change your career with it. But if you know where your interests and passion lie, you can help direct your path.

Q. What do you like to do when you're not working?

Work! I really enjoy what I do, so I spend more time working than most people do.

Q. Where do you see the world of contracting going?

At the recent CompTIA Breakaway session conference in Las Vegas, I participated in the IT services sessions. All day long, one of the topics of conversation was about contracts and contract workers, 1099s vs. W-2s in the United States.

That trend is growing stronger. There's very much a desire to hire more people on contract and to leverage consultants. However, employers have to learn how to handle the responsibilities of hiring 1099s versus employing W-2s.

Starting in 2007 through 2011, mainly big companies—Fortune 500 and enterprise companies—struggled with how to manage a contract workforce; now we're seeing that spreading as the small- and medium-sized business sector seeks pay-as-you-go expertise.

For the next three to five years, I don't see the trend going away. It's a good way to organizations to be able to adjust to market conditions.

Weekly Word on the Street: CompTIA A+ 'Delivers Career Advancement'

Jim Staats — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is how helpful it often is to step back and take stock of career decisions from a "big picture" perspective, whether that means an analytical career assessment tool or choosing the right resources to achieve that career goal in the first place. Then again, sometimes it all comes down to the money.

CompTIA A+ Among 'Certifications That Deliver Career Advancement'
CompTIA A+ is one of 12 certifications that delivers career advancement, according to CIO magazine.

CompTIA A+, which validates that IT pros have the skills and knowledge to install, secure and troubleshoot networks, "is an industry standard for IT and tech support folks," according to the magazine.

CIO culled data on more than 1,700 certification offerings from Robert Half Technology to come up with the list of most relevant IT certifications. Also included were: Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Information Systems Security Professionals (CISSP), various Cisco certifications and a bevy of Microsoft certifications.

"Certifications are a great way to break into a new technology, cover gaps in your resume or advance your current position," the article advises. "The best people in the IT business are the ones who are passionate about learning and that is a key to being successful."

The article notes the results of a recent poll that asked respondents in the industry why they chose certification: More than half responded they wanted to position themselves for a promotion or potential job.

It's All in the Matrix
Sometimes it's hard to sort out all the pros and cons when making a career decision, especially when multiple attractive options are available.

Such is life these days for many skilled IT professionals.

A recent post in the Harvard Business Review revisited a helpful resource - the career objective matrix - to help focus the decision-making process.

A well-established career assessment tool, the matrix is a fundamental process that can provide help in all life-altering decisions through a few easy steps:

Categorize objectives for the work such as personal growth, impact, money and the company and then rank them.
Evaluate alternatives against these objectives because these objectives now become the criteria by which you judge, rate and record the reasons.
Subjectively quantify performance by weighing criteria in some fashion may take more time, but allows for a more well-rounded assessment.
Interpret the results, as the matrix won't provide an answer, but will help organize your thinking if done right.

As the article suggests, the career matrix can help someone presented with multiple career options imagine what various jobs will be like and how alternatives measure up against the objectives that matter most to each person.

Tech Among Lucrative Jobs for College Grads
One of the factors guiding college students is the potential earnings of a future career.

With that in mind, a recent AOL Jobs item used some national salary statistics to break down the average starting salaries for current college graduates with a rosy picture painted for leaving college with their computer science and engineering degrees in hand.

According to the most recent salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting salary for a class of 2012 graduate is $44,442.

Within the most common academic disciplines, the eight highest paying bachelor's degrees, based on survey findings, are business, communications, computer sciences, education, engineering, health sciences, sciences and humanities and social sciences.

To break it down further, for computer sciences, the median starting salary is $58,300, a 4.3 percent change from 2011. For engineering, the median starting salary is $67,800, a 0.6 percent change in salary from 2011.

One caveat from the salary survey is that only certain starting salaries were available at the time the survey was conducted, so not all majors were factored into starting salary comparisons.

Apple Recruits CompTIA Network+ Certified Mobility Technicians

Kelsey Wieties — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:34:42 GMT

As mobile computing and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies are on the rise in corporate environments, there is a growing demand for certified technicians with the knowledge to deliver services for Mac and/or iOS mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad.

According to Computerworld’s recent forecast survey looking at hiring trends in 2012, 61% of IT executives plan to hire people with skills in programming and application development, the area of mobility where companies will be focusing the most in the future.

Smartphones are currently in place at more organizations than standard cell phones, and tablets are the top choice for purchase intent next year, according to CompTIA's "Trends in Enterprise Mobility" study. As a result of this increase in enterprise mobility, companies like Apple are recruiting technicians for their Apple Consultants Network (ACN), a collection of independent professional service providers and technology consulting firms that deliver on-site technology services and support to home users and businesses.

Less than a year ago, ACN began accepting CompTIA Network+ certification as a prerequisite for Apple’s mobility program. Since then, people like Jonathon Praay, a CompTIA Network+ certified IT technician at Preferred Computers Inc., have benefitted.

“When we were first approached about joining the Apple Consultants Network and getting the Mobility Competency, I noticed that CompTIA Network+ was now an accepted prerequisite. A few weeks later, I was enrolled for the next CompTIA certification class in my area," Praay said. "Mobile computing solutions are built on the networks they operate on; so when these topics came up in class I had no trouble grasping the concepts and challenges. This class helped me see yet another exciting application of my network knowledge in a relatively new area."

CompTIA Network+ is an internationally-recognized and ISO/ANSI accredited certification that verifies that a candidate has the knowledge and skills required to implement defined network architectures with basic network security, as well as configure and troubleshoot network devices using standard network tools. Praay was able to take the knowledge and skills he had gained from the CompTIA Network+ certification and use it to acquire Apple’s Mobility Technical Competency Designation (MTC).

The MTC was designed to certify that Apple consultants have the necessary knowledge of the Apple mobile platform. Consultants who reach MTC status can then make recommendations to their clients who choose to integrate iOS mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad into their corporate environment.

“The CompTIA Network+ certification really enhanced my network knowledge, something I use every day," Praay said. "As my experience continues to show me, this certification gave me a foundation to build on. I learned the basic standards and concepts as well as troubleshooting methods."

The recent synergy between CompTIA and Apple boasts well for not only individual technicians, but also for the IT industry as a whole.

“I am very grateful for the CompTIA/Apple link," said Praay. "I would recommend CompTIA Network+ to anyone who will ever configure/design/sell/manage Apple devices for a business to get their Apple Mobility Competency. I think it’s great when different organizations such as Apple and CompTIA can work together to find ways to reach a greater number of IT professionals with new and innovative programs."

CompTIA can provide the vendor-neutral foundation that vendors can build upon with specific technologies, said Rick Bauer, CompTIA Director of Research & Development.

“Being able to leverage the broad foundation of vendor-neutral standards and technologies from CompTIA Network+ in support of specific products is a key skill for IT support professionals, and companies like Apple can rely upon CompTIA to validate that level of preparedness,” Bauer said.

Weekly Word on the Street: Hiring In-Demand IT Pros

Jim Staats — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that while it may not appear that way to long-term unemployed IT pros, the job market for experienced and highly-skilled technical professionals remains red hot without any signs of easing up - emphasis on the "highly-skilled" part. That's right, the skills gap remains a thing which explains why overseas outsourcing snaps up some roles and others don't always go to the most well-suited candidates.

Finding the Needle in the Haystack

Talk the tech talk. Trumpet the perks. Glorify the culture.

These are a few of the tips one tech hiring guru offers up as ways HR and IT managers can collaborate to recruit top IT talent.

In a recent article for InformationWeek, John Reed, senior executive director at Robert Half Technology, provides a half-dozen key ways the leaders charged with snapping up the best IT pros the job market offers can succeed.

The not-too-subtle theme of Reed's commentary is that human resources and IT management must work together as a team.

Some other tips include:

Speak the language of the IT candidates - Educate the non-technical HR person with the knowledge necessary to delve into technologies with candidates.
Go beyond compensation - In a competitive market, the enticing offer isn't all about the money, but also about perks such as funded transportation costs and flextime.
Know the culture - HR reps not only must talk the talk, but know and understand the organization's day-to-day culture to effectively describe it.
Move swiftly - Ditch the lengthy search process for a speedy screening process so as not to miss that gem of an IT pro.

Sourcing Out Amid the Cloud

Global outsourcing may dip as a means of taking advantage of today's hot technology trends as one of those trends rises, says a new industry report.

Companies will still spend money and time on overseas outsourcing to compete in a skills gap world, but it won't be relied upon as heavily, states the report, "2012-2013 State of IT Outsourcing," by IT staffers Bluewolf, as noted in a recent InfoWorld article.

Apparently, unemployed IT pros in the U.S. need not fear the overseas competition as much as the growing presence of cloud computing, according to Bluewolf.

Per the report, "Cloud as a delivery model - which can be implemented in weeks, modified on the fly, and abandoned just as quickly - is gaining momentum.

"Businesses are leveraging the cloud to outsource applications (Salesforce, Google Apps, Eloqua), data storage, and even the management of entire data centers to third-party providers."

Report findings also state that 73 percent of companies outsource at least some application-related functions, from application development to hosting. More than half of the firms included in the report are outsourcing infrastructure-related functions including IT security, networking and data center operations.

One of today's biggest tech trends - mobile development - is a big spot for outsourcing, too. Nearly 40 percent of all outsourced app development tasks are for Web or mobile devices. Although companies plan to increase outsourcing here in the coming months, only four percent of these types of jobs are going overseas, per the report.

Other hotspots for outsourcing include database admin tasks for big data, network operations and data recovery services.

A Good Worker is a Well-Tested Worker

Finding and keeping talented workers is a struggle no matter what the industry, but it's even more of a challenge in the IT industry.

As one of the key speakers said at the recent XChange 2012 conference in Dallas this past week, a thorough examination of technical candidates is a must in a field where skills development plays as big a role as enthusiasm for the job in determining future success.

In an article for CRN this week, Terry Booton, president of Advanced Marketing Instruction in Atlanta, was quoted as saying in his conference presentation, "If you make your (hiring) decision based on an interview alone, you've got only a 14 percent chance of success."

Booton touted the importance of defining what makes up the key qualities for a particular role being recruited and then matching prospective individuals with that role through extensive testing for background, character and other attributes.

For the in-demand candidates who pass such testing, it's important for employers to tout their benefits, including flex time and other attractive options to retain the chosen workers.

As for how employers can go about finding the next in-demand worker before he or she is too in-demand, Booton suggested IT managers should keep a database of prospects and produce monthly newsletters along with the standbys such as newspaper ads, technical journals, job fairs and social media.

Project HIRED Finds IT a Good Career for Disabled

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 18:51:00 GMT

Jeremiah Gaches, Project HIRED Warrior Workforce client and decorated Army veteran, is now able to return to work in an office environment, thanks to support services from Project HIRED and its Wounded Warrior Workforce Service Dog Program. With the support of his canine partner, Rocky, Gaches now lives independently and holds a position through a Project HIRED AbilityOne contract for call center services at the Livermore, CA VA Medical facility.

Companies looking for qualified IT job applicants should actively consider people with disabilities as a part of their applicant pool, urges Project HIRED, a San Jose, Calif.-based non-profit that helps people with disabilities obtain and sustain employment.

"As employers open up jobs and start hiring, they need to look at this population that is being ignored," says Project HIRED Executive Director Gwen Ford. "Some of them have some darn good skills and are very loyal employees. We need to start making sure people with disabilities have access to those kinds of jobs."

Founded in 1978, Project HIRED helps people with disabilities—of all kinds, physical, cognitive and/or emotional—get hired and stay hired. It helps clients develop their resumes and interview skills, and target appropriate jobs. It shops client resumes to a network of employers, and also connects clients to any needed support services.

The organization currently has about 400 active clients. Most are based in and around Silicon Valley, but the Project HIRED also works remotely with clients across the United States and has placed many in such states as Colorado and Virginia. Funded by grants and donations, Project HIRED does not charge clients for its services.

The need is great. In May 2012, the unemployment rate of people with disabilities was 12.9 percent, compared to 7.7 percent among people without disabilities, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Only two out of 10 people with disabilities participate in the U.S. labor force, compared to 7 out of 10 people without disabilities. For the disabled, chronic unemployment can be a vicious cycle of homelessness and increasing disability. Project HIRED's goal is just the opposite: Get disabled clients employed long-term to create a cycle of stability.

IT Placement a Focus

The tech field is growing. And the opportunity is not just a job, but a long-term career. People can go far in those careers.

Gwen Ford, Project HIRED Executive Director

Project HIRED places clients in all sectors, but has seen a "big increase in demand for IT skills," says Ford. More companies are hiring disabled people for IT roles because the jobs typically don't require a lot of physical work. In addition, she notes, some Project HIRED clients come highly skilled in IT.

Project HIRED clients have landed jobs in such IT companies as Brocade, Juniper Networks, Oracle and Yahoo—within and beyond Silicon Valley.

"The tech field is growing," says Ford. "And the opportunity is not just a job, but a long-term career. People can go far in those careers." Project HIRED is developing an Injured Veteran Apprenticeship Program as part of its Wounded Warrior Workforce Program, which is designed to assist injured or ill military service members to gain new skills or enhance skills to gain well paying and sustainable careers. This program is due to begin operation in mid-October and will begin by first focusing on high-growth jobs in the tech field.

In addition to working with clients, Project HIRED also teaches employers how to evaluate, hire and manage people with disabilities. It will support employers who have hired a disabled client. "We want employers to be able to keep the person once they hire them," explains Ford.

Veteran-Specific Programs

Injured or ill military services members and veterans comprise approximately 40 percent of Project HIRED's client base. Working closely with the military transition units and VA hospitals and clinics around the nation, Project HIRED runs a Wounded Warrior Workforce program for disabled military service members and veterans that:

Offers career exploration and development services
Facilitates retraining, job searches, and job retention
Provides wrap-around support services
Operates a Service Dog Program for qualified military service members and veteran clients (in partnership with local dog training company)

Project HIRED's Service Dog Program matches the clients with dogs. The dog and the client train together daily so the dog becomes a therapy dog matched to the client's need—picking up dropped keys (for a physically disabled individual) or helping to calm an individual with Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, for example.

"We had two injured veterans who had pretty much given up hope of ever getting a job," says Ford. "It took us a little over a year to work with them and the service dog, but now they (the veterans) are back to work."

How to Help

Ford urges IT companies to actively consider disabled job candidates for open positions. "Project HIRED will help you every step of the way," says Ford. "We're used to working with tech companies here in the Silicon Valley."

The organization can also train staff how to work with and manage people with disabilities.

In addition, companies and their employees frequently volunteer with Project HIRED (for resume review, mentoring and workshops) or donate items cited on Project HIRED's "wish list" of needs.

Inspiring a New Generation of IT Professionals

Brian Sherman — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 20:30:00 GMT

Despite the experiences of many solution providers, some suggest that there isn't a real IT skills shortage, but a lack of key talent in the right location. Regardless of whose opinion you believe, the IT community needs to do a better job of inspiring youth and other industries' displaced workers to pursue a career in high tech. With the continually rising demand for service and support technicians, developers and integrators, many companies can't onboard new hires fast enough—and it's only expected to get worse.

While the need for skilled computer and networking professionals increases, the percentage of women in the IT workforce is in decline. A number of factors may be in play here, beginning with a lack of encouragement from intermediate and post-secondary school systems. Despite all the gains they've made in other vocations, the latest statistics show a significant disparity in the number of undergraduate computer science degrees going to women compared to men—just 18 percent in 2009. And, when you consider that 57 percent of those receiving a bachelor's degree that year were of the female persuasion, it's a sure sign of problems ahead.

The high point for female employment in the IT industry was all the way back in 1991, when they made up 36 percent of the workforce. By 2009, that number had dropped to approximately 25 percent, according to the same study by the National Center for Women & Information Technology, and the downward trend shows no signs of stopping. This contrasts significantly with the overall U.S. workforce, which currently enjoys the highest participation level of women ever.

That downward spiral should be troubling for everyone in the IT industry, including men. A diverse workforce contributes to business productivity, creativity and employee loyalty, and according to a number of reputable personnel studies, allows organizations to better address the needs of their customers. When companies employ a cross section of people with varied genders and ethnicities, idea generation and market opportunities generally multiply. Without that diversity, the IT channel may lose the edge it has enjoyed for so many years.

An Advocate for the IT Industry

CompTIA Breakaway attendees flocked to an early morning meeting in support of the Advancing Women in IT Community.

In order to address the gender challenges, a number of CompTIA members championed the foundation of a new peer group earlier this year. The Advancing Women in IT Community (AWIT) is committed to empowering women with the knowledge and skills needed to help them build successful IT careers. Under the leadership of chair Sandy Ashworth and vice-chair Jean Mork Bredenson, the group already has received broad industry support, readily noted by the standing-room only audience at their early morning meeting at Breakaway this month. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of its founding members, the community membership is growing quickly with a diverse collection of IT professionals (including men). As an attendee of the Breakaway meeting, I can attest to the energy and ideas being generated by the group, each focused on ways to create greater diversity in IT workforce.

AWIT's mission is to serve as a vital information resource, provide mentorship and create networking opportunities for its members, and inspire the next generation of IT professionals and leaders. In a similar format as other CompTIA communities, the group will create and develop initiatives that allow them to accomplish their many goals. Awareness and educational programs are the basis of their initial activities, with members also engaged in promoting legislation that expands the IT industry opportunities for women.

The AWIT team already is capitalizing on their members' enthusiasm, launching a mentoring program for those interested in pursuing a career in computer technologies. Through the CompTIA Advancing Women in IT webpage, visitors can learn about the vocational opportunities available in IT industry, access a variety of educational resources and request a mentor to help them better navigate a career path. Those interested in volunteering their time also can register so that CompTIA can match them with the appropriate program applicants.

The community also created and recently introduced a new video that highlights the reasons women should pursue a career in IT, no matter their age or background. With great advice for those interested in joining the industry and words of encouragement from several successful industry leaders, the video is a great tool to share with students and adults who are searching for a rewarding profession. While the video is produced by AWIT, the message is appropriate for both men and women. In the end, the group's efforts will bolster career opportunities for everyone.

Brian Sherman is founder of Tech Success Communications, specializing in editorial content and consulting for the IT channel. His previous roles include chief editor at Business Solutions magazine and industry alliances director with Autotask. Contact Brian at Bsherman@techsuccesscommunications.com.

Weekly Word on the Street: Soft Skills Needed for Career Advancement

Jim Staats — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a tidy set of suggestions to help the would-be IT job candidate: Expand your horizon from the technical know-how to "business 101" skills, be opinionated, flexible in your approach and cognizant of the big picture.

Oh, and employers without fully-formed technical training programs? Your valued staff may not be yours for long.

Five to Strive

To reach the altitude of the rising stars of the IT industry, it takes a little bit more than rock-star coding.

Knowing how to properly communicate, negotiate and lead are a few of the seemingly simple professional abilities that help distinguish professionals more often these days, according to a recent piece in InformationWeek.

Such "soft skills" may be the key to standing out as a strong candidate in a percolating IT job market. Here are five key ones:

Ability to express strong opinion - it's not just having the technical knowledge, but being prepared to weigh in on how to use that knowledge when asked. Be opinionated.
Be curious - the good IT pro is always striving, seeking and willing to try new things in order to stay up-to-date.
Good writing skills - writing code is one thing, but being able to communicate what you've done in system documentation, email and instant messaging is sometimes valued just as highly.
Flexibility - just as technology changes at the speed of light, so are the professionals in the industry expected to take on the new languages and trends that make it go.
Big picture attitude - while it's nice to have a specialty, don't overlook the benefits of seeing the big picture of applications and the like.

Good Growth in the Market

Things continue to look up for the IT job market, according to recent labor statistics.

A confluence of cloud computing and heavier reliance on Web offerings to bolster businesses is reflected in a net increase of 20,400 IT jobs in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

As pointed out in a report this week on the Total Training site, during a time when many people are looking at gloomy job prospects, candidates with solid technical skills and an IT background are in high demand.

The statistics, when broken down, show positive growth in several categories including computer system design (10,400 jobs), telecommunications (7,000), data processing, hosting and related services (1,900) and other information services (1,100). As Victor Janulatis, CEO of the management consulting firm, Janco Associates, said, "This looks like a marked improvement of the job prospects for IT professionals."

Training: The Missed Opportunity

More software engineers and related professionals aren't getting the necessary training for their skillsets from their employers, a new survey says.

In part because of this, an overwhelming number of respondents to the poll done by employment agency JAM recruitment say they're considering career moves as career growth.

A new article on ComputerWeekly on survey findings noted that 79 percent of the more than 400 engineers surveyed were planning a move due to dissatisfaction with pay and opportunities for career progression.

More than half of the engineers who took part in the survey felt their current employers were not investing enough in improving the skills of their workers.

"With fewer skilled people around, employers need to look seriously at how they can engage and retain key staff," said Daniel Turner, director of engineering and manufacturing at JAM. Survey findings also show a good deal of blame for the current skills gap should be pointed towards education standards.

More than half of the respondents felt computer science degrees don't do enough on their own to prepare graduates for the workplace. A large percentage of respondents also believe teaching methods may be turning young people away from careers in software and electronics.

Weekly Word on the Street: Your Country Wants You, Cyber Pros

Jim Staats — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a bit of reinforcements of items previously mentioned in this space. Yes, politicians wrangle over cybersecurity legislation, but the end result could mean more money and perks for those with cyber skills. Yup, the looming cloud could spell doom for some traditional IT roles, but there might be a silver lining. And it's looking like Tony Bennett isn't the only one whose heart is in San Francisco.

Security Pros, Your Country Wants - To Pay - You

As politicians metaphorically arm-wrestle over the fate of cybersecurity legislation, the men and women seeking future roles in that industry could see monetary benefits in the end result.

Homeland security department officials are making urgent pitches to bump up pay packages for cybersecurity professionals as part of the bill being discussed on the Hill, a recent article in Nextgov notes.

The department has high hopes for what increased salaries and better benefits could do to attract talent - both in and out of government - amid a competitive job market.

"This legislation takes an important step in terms of hiring and retaining personnel," said DHS Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute in reference to the bill currently stalled in a partisan gulf.

The specific measure would give the Department of Homeland Security Secretary the same authority that the Secretary of Defense has with respect to civilian intelligence personnel "to establish as positions in the excepted service, to appoint individuals to those positions and (to) fix pay," according to documentation.

Department officials such as Lute are pushing for passage of the bill to bring in additional personnel to help protect the networks' operating critical infrastructure, such as power lines and dams.

Experts, however, estimate any such computer security bill isn't likely to be resolved until next year, after election campaigning subsides. According to government sources, the Air Force reports a current cyber workforce of about 17,000 staffers while the Army has an estimated 21,000 information security workers. The Defense Department and Government Accountability Office have less than 1,500 cyber professionals compared with nearly 88,000 professionals across all defense industries.

The Cloud vs. IT Jobs

As cloud computing services expand, it's clear that many IT jobs will vanish, but that doesn't mean necessarily mean the people in those roles will be out of a job.

That's the gist of comments provided by Gartner executive Gregor Petri on what the rise of the cloud means for the IT job market, in a recent item for TechRepublic.

Petri, who serves as a research director for the tech research firm, likened the current technological shift to that of 19th century manual laborers being replaced by industrial machines.

Petri used an example of pin makers putting out a measly four pins a day versus a factory with an output of 10,000 pins per hour. "That is what cloud computing is making possible: you can carry out these computing tasks on an industrial scale," he said.

The cloud will allow for more automation of IT infrastructure to handle the management of such things as providing additional storage, servers or network capacity for a particular application, Petri said.

"Cloud is allowing the industrialization of IT, that is why to some people it is very scary," he noted.

However, Petri did say while some roles will vanish, new roles will be created that can utilize these individuals' technical skills to continue to add value to the business.

A shifting computing landscape that is also factoring in big data and increased mobility, he said, will continue to allow for new roles to develop.

When this could all take shape is still likely in the future, Petri said, but not too far.

By 2020, the majority of companies will rely on the cloud for more than half of their IT services, according to Gartner's 2011 CIO Agenda Survey.

New Frontiers for IT Jobs

There are the big players when it comes to the U.S. states with high-tech employment and there are those locales for the "out-of-the-box" thinkers.

That's the message to come out of the recent report based on data from Dice.com, the technology job placement firm.

Most everyone following the IT job market can spout off the states that hold most of the cards when it comes to tech employment. California, New York, Texas, Virginia and Florida account for more than 650,000 tech pros in computer systems design and related services, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But folks may not be aware of the following:

The greatest amount of growth for jobs in that category this year is taking place in Maryland, with an increase of nearly 6 percent in 2012. In addition to defense contracting, companies recruiting tech professionals include hospitals, biotechnology and healthcare services firms.
Great growth is taking place in Massachusetts, with figures just slightly below that of Maryland. The state is home to more than 3,500 job postings for tech professionals on any given day, an increase of 12 percent over last year, according to Dice.
Minnesota officials are targeting 2020 to make the state one of the country's top-five technology states. Hiring spans well beyond technology firms to include retail, healthcare firms, consulting agencies manufacturers and insurance companies.
Oregon is increasingly becoming a draw for tech talent with world class mobile software and open source communities, as well as an average tech salary greater than $80,000 in the state.
As the tech workforce begins to percolate in Utah, figures released by the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development indicate that state over-indexes in software at close to 1.5 times the national rate.

Tech Startups Heat up in San Francisco

As noted recently in this space, the epicenter of Silicon Valley seems to be edging north into the pointy skyscrapers and cable car-strewn streets of San Francisco.

To reinforce that point, a new article from the San Jose Mercury News highlights how the "City by the Bay" is now home to more than 4,000 start-ups in just one section of town alone.

With name brand tech companies including Twitter, Zynga and Yelp calling San Francsico home to their headquarters, it's no wonder the city has led the world in venture capital funding for three years running, according to the article.

"Silicon Valley is starting to migrate to San Francisco," said one real estate analyst.

The topography is one reason for the change -- the expansive Silicon Valley requires a car to drive from one business park to another, compared to a one-mile radius walk in the city.

"It's about running into people and building relationships, because people want to work with and invest in people they know and trust," said Bill Maris, managing partner of Google Ventures.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has made no secret of his administration's effort to woo the start-up crowd. The politician has sought out policies that can attract and retain tech companies. He has persuaded the city's Board of Supervisors to place a measure on the fall ballot that would replace the city's payroll tax with a more broad-based tax on receipts that won't ramp up as quickly when firms expand.

Though the city remains an attraction to firms, settling down doesn't always come cheap. Some have remarked that rising office and housing costs could threaten San Francisco's domination in this arena. Others retort the region still remains cheap when compared to the trendy high-tech wonderland of New York.

How Veterans Can Use Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits to Pay for IT Training and Certification

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Veterans and transitioning military members interested in building a career in IT after their service in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars can use their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to pay for IT training and certification. Since October 2011, the benefits can be used to pay for IT training via non-college degree training programs, as well as graduate and undergraduate degree programs.

Here's how to do it.

A veteran's best source of information about the Post 9/11 GI Bill is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website http://www.gibill.va.gov. Unless noted, the information that follows is from the GI Bill website.

Veterans, service members and their families use the VA's eBenefits website, to research, find, apply for, and, in time, manage Post-9/11 GI Bill education benefits, along with other VA benefits.

Post 9/11 GI Bill Basics

The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides financial support for education, books, and housing to individuals with at least 90 days of aggregate service after September 10, 2001, or individuals discharged with a service-connected disability after 30 days. You must have received an honorable discharge to be eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

"Veterans come to us knowing they want to take some IT training, but they don't always know that they have available benefits," says Steve Betzold, national director of consumer sales at New Horizons Computer Learning Centers' corporate offices, which operate non-college degree IT training programs toward CompTIA certifications and other credentials.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill can help a veteran pay for a variety of training programs:

Graduate and undergraduate degrees
Vocational/technical training from non-college degree programs
On-the-job training
Flight training
Correspondence training
Licensing and national testing programs
Entrepreneurship training
Tutorial assistance

All training programs must be approved for GI Bill benefits. You can search the VA's database of approved education and job training programs here. CompTIA certifications can be found in the VA's database of approved licenses and certifications when searched for by name (i.e., "A+," "Network+" or "Security+.")

How much can a veteran receive under the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits?

The Post-9/11 GI Bill disburses your tuition and fees directly to your school and makes housing and other payments directly to you. The direct payment of tuition is a boon for veterans, because the original Montgomery GI Bill only reimbursed veterans for their education expenses.

Post -9/11 GI Bill benefits can be used pay for:

Tuition and fees. As of August 1, 2012, the benefit is capped at $18,077.50 per academic year at non-degree programs or private institutes of higher learning. If you are a resident student at a public institution of higher learning, all in-state tuition and fee payments are reimbursed.
Housing during the training, via a monthly allowance that varies by local cost of living rates
Books and supplies, up to $1,000 annually if attending school full-time

The Post-9/11 GI Bill can provide up to 36 months of education benefits. Generally benefits are payable for 15 years following your release from active duty. Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits are calculated as a percentage based on:

Length of active duty service
Education enrollment status (full-time or less)
ZIP code of the education program you attend (for housing allowance)

"If a veteran has served 36 months active duty after 9/11, they get 100 percent," explains Latoya Mack, academic advisor for military programs at Tidewater Community College's Center for Military and Veterans Education on TCC's Virginia Beach, Va., campus.

With more than 5,500 veterans and roughly 2,000 active duty service members enrolled, TCC in 2010 and 2011 ranked number one among community colleges for the number of veterans enrolled using the Post-9/11 GI Bill and in the top five among all higher education institutions. TCC's new Center for Military and Veterans Education provides one-stop support service — including counseling, academic and benefits advising, and workforce development — to veterans, military service members and their spouses and families.

How to Apply for Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits

The VA provides a "Road Map for Success" that outlines steps for deciding what veterans' benefits are best for your educational goals and financial needs.

STEP 1: Determine your best benefit

Many veterans and active duty personnel can qualify for more than one education benefits program, including the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty, the Montgomery GI Bill – Selected Reserve, and the Reserve Educational Assistance Program. However, an individual may not use a single period of service to establish eligibility for more than one education program. So a veteran who had only one period of service must chose which benefit is best for his or her goals and needs.

"Once you chose to use your Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, you have to give up your Montgomery GI Bill benefits," explains TCC's Mack. Because veterans frequently can't afford to pay tuition out of pocket, they often opt to use the Post 9/11 benefits, she added.

You have to compare the type of training you plan to take, where you plan to take courses (online or on-campus), and the rate you plan to study (full-time, greater than half-time, half-time or less) with the provisions of the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

At TCC's Center for Veterans and Military Education, Executive Director Bruce Brunson says his advisors work with veterans to identify whether they want to advance their education with a non-degree program, an associates degree or, to get into the workforce rapidly, a career certificate.

IT is among the top 10 degree programs that veterans select at TCC, say Brunson. "When veterans come in, they frequently know they want to enter into the IT field, but they don't understand the different areas."

A comparison of VA education benefit programs can be found here.

STEP 2: Collect Your Paperwork & Information

The information needed to apply for Post-9/11 benefits includes:

Dates and service status for each period of military service
Whether you have participated in the $600 buy-up program

The documents needed for your application for Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits include:

DD214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty for all periods of active duty
Transcripts for all periods of education after high school
Kicker contract (if applicable)

STEP 3: Choosing A School or Program

You will need to gather information about tuition rates, tuition per-credit hour charges, any mandatory fees, and the school's ZIP code (which determines the monthly housing allowance given under the Post-9/11 GI Bill), and living expenses (housing, food, transportation, parking etc.) for each school you plan to attend. This information is important because:

You must choose a school that's been approved for GI Bill benefits in order for your education expenses to be reimbursed by the VA.
You must know your financial obligations at each school — what will be paid by Post-9/11 benefits and what expenses you must pay directly.

It's important to calculate the cost of a school's entire program and the maximum benefit the VA will pay in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Will you have the degree, certification or experience you need to achieve your goals by the time you have exhausted your benefits? The VA offers many resources to help veterans choose a school and also offers a search engine to help veterans find approved schools and programs.

The VA encourages veterans to review multiple factors when choosing a school, including whether a school has agreed to adhere to the Principles of Excellence for educational institutions receiving federal funding. TCC and New Horizons both participate in the program. Among other things, the institutions in the Principles of Excellence program:

Provide students with a personalized form covering the total cost of an education program
Provide educational plans for all military and veteran education beneficiaries
Designate a point of contact for academic and financial advising

STEP 4: Compare the Programs

You should determine the best VA benefit program and school for your objectives. By now you should have enough information to decide whether you want to apply for the Post-9/11 GI Bill or another benefit program.

New Horizons' Betzold encourages veterans to carefully estimate the education program's cost and time versus its outcome. "Veterans have to be very choosy," says Betzold. "They have a limited amount of benefits through the Post-9/11 GI Bill — roughly $18,000 a year for three years. If they pick the wrong school, that amount of money can be exhausted very rapidly, and they still might not have the degree or credential they were trying to pursue."

Few colleges or community colleges will offer veterans the type of wrap-around support and advisory services provided at TCC's Center for Veterans and Military Education, so TCC's Mack, herself a Navy veteran, encourages all veterans to intensively research their benefit options and their school options. Do some online research and call each school to ask how they handle veterans' benefits. "Each school will say something a little bit different, and you learn something new from each one," Mack says.

"You must do that research," says Mack. "You really have to know what you want to do, what benefits you want to use, and then formulate that all together."

STEP 5: Apply for Benefits

You can apply for Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits online or via paper forms. Use the VONAPP Veterans Online Applications website to apply online. If you have trouble with the application process, you can call a VA Education Case Manager (1-888-GIBill1) to ask for help. If you prefer to use a paper application, use Form 22-1990 mailed to a VA Regional Processing Office.

At TCC, Mack says the VA usually responds to a veteran's Post-9/11 GI Bill application within 60 days; paper forms take longer. TCC recently reworked its registrar system to permit a "class hold request" that would enable veterans to enroll and attend classes for up to 60 days while they wait for Post-9/11 benefits to be approved. TCC also will loan veterans money on a case-by-case basis for textbooks while waiting for their books and supplies stipend.

If you opt to train at a local New Horizons center, an education consultant will help you estimate your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits and assist you through the application process. "Through the Post 9/11 Bill, veterans now have more of opportunity to get their training paid for, which is what they've earned," says Betzold.

CompTIA Exams to Include 'Performance-Based' Questions

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 16:00:00 GMT

CompTIA will add performance-based questions to its CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ certification exams in the coming months.

Performance-based questions require exam candidates to perform a task or solve a problem within a simulated IT environment to demonstrate specific knowledge or skills. Currently, the three exams employ only multiple-choice questions.

The CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) exam, introduced in September 2011, was the first CompTIA exam to employ a mix of multiple choice and performance-based questions. Now, CompTIA will expand its use of the latest exam delivery technology to its top three foundational exams in order to more accurately gauge the skill level of exam candidates.

The Performance-Based Difference

All CompTIA exam candidates take their tests on computers at authorized Pearson VUE testing centers.

Multiple-choice questions in CompTIA exams ask a candidate to select one or more correct answers to a specific question, and the candidate clicks on the correct answer or answers.

However, performance-based questions require the candidate to perform a task or solve a problem in simulated IT environments. For each performance-based question, the exam prompts the candidate to perform a specific task or solve a specific problem. A simulated environment is then launched in which the candidate completes the required steps.

Each question is designed around real-world computer scenarios that will test a candidate's skills and knowledge. Depending on the nature of the exam and the exam question, the simulated environments may include different aspects of IT infrastructure, such as command prompts, Windows or networking environments.

Once candidates use the simulated environment to perform the requested task or solve the stated problem, they click a "Done" button to submit their answer.

Exam candidates must pay careful attention to the wording and details of each question in order to form the correct answer.

To prepare for exams with performance-based questions, CompTIA encourages candidates to gain hands-on practice with exam objectives, in addition to engaging in their preferred methods for study and training.

When New Questions Will Be Added

CompTIA's schedule for adding performance-based questions to its exams is as follows:

CompTIA A+: The updated versions of the CompTIA A+ exams, 220-801 and 220-802, will contain performance-based questions in addition to multiple-choice questions and are scheduled to launch by October 2012. The current CompTIA A+ exams, 220-701 and 220-702, do not contain performance based questions and will remain in the market until CompTIA retires them on August 31, 2013.
CompTIA Network+: Performance-based questions will be added to the CompTIA Network+ exam (N10-005) this year, during the fourth quarter of 2012. The older CompTIA Network+ exam, N10-004, which does not contain performance based questions, will be retired on August 31, 2012.
CompTIA Security+: CompTIA will add performance based questions to the existing CompTIA Security+ exam, SY0-301, in the first quarter of 2013.

What to Expect From Your First Tech Job

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:00:00 GMT

So you are aiming for an entry-level IT job. Do you know what that entails? An IT Help Desk or Tech Support role can be very different depending on the size, structure and culture of the company. Below is a snapshot of three opportunities on the market.

Tier 1 Help Desk/Desktop Support

Contract worker employed by Randstad Technologies (IT staffing and recruitment agency) at an enterprise-sized client company with 1,000 or more employees.

Required skill-set, work experience and/or credentials:

CompTIA A+ to demonstrate knowledge base and ability to "hit the ground running"
Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) also helpful
2-3 years hands-on IT experience (can include internships or work/study)
Should have experience working in a large enterprise environment
Should have experience answering on average 50 inbound calls per day
Good communication skills

Job responsibilities:

Answer in-bound user calls for support
Perform any troubleshooting necessary to help resolve user issue and enter the user's problem into the company help desk ticketing/tracking system
Escalate tickets to tier 2 and tier 3 help desk levels as needed

Possible shifts: 9 a.m. -5 p.m., 8 a.m. - 4 p.m., or 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. (4 days on, 3 days off)

Compensation: $18 to $25 hourly, depending on experience, plus health benefits at discounted rate and access to a 401k plan through Randstad. Also paid overtime.

Work Environment: Open office desk environment on site with a contracted company. Typically, the help desk worker will be sitting at a desk, in front of a computer, as a member of a helpdesk team. Team members have similar backgrounds and frequently share information and ideas for solving user problems.

Stability: "There will always be a need and high demand for this type of position," says Kara Mancinelli, senior technical recruiter, Randstad Technologies. "IT is always changing so there will always be help desk environments needed to support those changes."

Networking opportunities: Beyond immediate teammates, LinkedIn user groups are also a great resource. "I encourage entry-level employees to network, not only within their own company, but also outside their work environment to learn how other companies operate and share best practices," says Mancinelli.

Advancement opportunities: A Tier 1 Help Desk worker can advance to Tier 2 Help Desk and eventually to Tier 3. In addition, a Help Desk worker can increase specialization — into network engineering or system administration for example.

Training opportunities: Randstad offers discounted training through New Horizons Computer Learning Centers. Credentials that can benefit help desk employees' career growth include CompTIA A+, Microsoft's MCTS, MCSE and MCSA; and Cisco's CCNA and CCNP.

Final comments: "In IT you have to learn, you have to grow, and you always have to expose yourself new technologies in order to advance," says Mancinelli.

Help Desk Consultant

A salaried worker at Miles Technologies, a Moorestown, N.J., business technology consulting company for small- and mid-sized businesses. Miles Technologies itself has about 90 employees.

Required skill-set, work experience and/or credentials

Demonstrated interest and aptitude in computers
Demonstrated ability to think logically and follow a trouble-shooting process to solve a problem
Certifications (such as CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and Microsoft Windows OS-related) helpful but not required

Job responsibilities:

Provide telephone help desk support to client companies ranging from 20 to 100 computer users in size.
Troubleshoot customer's problems with laptop, desktop, smartphone or network over the phone or via remote PC connection.
If necessary, involve other IT specialists to assist client

Possible shifts: Mostly 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., with some 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. workers

Compensation: $30,000 to $50,000 annual salary (depending on experience), with benefits (medical, dental, 401k, paid time off)

Work Environment: Help desk employees sit at a desk, wearing a telephone headset, looking at multiple monitors to do their job. The help desk employee works in Miles Technologies' "Mission Control"-like open office in Moorestown near about 15 other help desk consultants, who often collaborate to solve clients' IT problems.

Stability: "Our customers always need help desk; so there's always a need for it," says John Bialous, COO, Miles Technologies "People who can perform and have that ability to provide that helpdesk support — they have a job."

Networking opportunities: Open office environment enables help desk workers to easily interact with other Miles Technologies employees.

Advancement opportunities: After a year working the phones, a help desk worker typically becomes an IT consultant (more advanced level of technical support) and from there often becomes an advanced technical specialist or project manager.

Training opportunities: Miles Technologies conducts frequent in-house training and also provides incentives and bonuses for employees to obtain certifications through self-study.

Final comments: "We are hiring," says Bialous.

IT Support Representative

A salaried position at Pennsylvania Trust, an investment services firm in Radnor, Pa.

Required skill-set, work experience and/or credentials:

Technical experience supporting multiple desktops (could be via internships, technical school, etc.)
Experience with ActiveDirectory, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Office
Knowledge of software tools used in financial services industry
No certifications or specific education level required

Job responsibilities:

Day-to-day frontline support of 55 users (software or hardware related)
Interface with third-party software and hardware vendors

Possible shifts: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Compensation: $35,000 to $45,000 annual salary plus benefits (health insurance, 401K, and paid time off)

Work Environment: The IT Support Technician will work in a workstation area with computer, reporting to two other IT technology team members.

Stability: "It's a newly created position, but the company is stable. The demand for the job is there," says Lee Anderson, CFO/CIO, Pennsylvania Trust. "We've gone from 16 to 55 employees in 14 years."

Networking opportunities: This worker will have lots of exposure with all departments of the company, says Anderson. "The right person will have opportunity to interface with all levels of management and help the company improve operations."

Advancement opportunities: Increasing responsibility, plus opportunities for promotion within the position as the employee develops.

Training opportunities: Nothing formal planned beyond on-the-job training. Adoption of new internal systems might require the employee undertake off-site vendor training.

Final comments: "Out of the 100 resumes we received for this position, I put 10 of them in the 'yes' pile to bring them in for interviews," says Anderson. "In my mind most important thing about this person or role is the applicant's personality. I need this person to work with 55 people. If they don't have a comfortable, two-way relationship working with people, it could be a useless hire. "

Weekly Word on the Street: Job Coaches for IT Pros?

Jim Staats — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 20:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is some outside-the-box thinking when it comes to job search in the IT industry, be it that professional personality coach in your corner or some helpful reminders on the importance of communication. Oh, and cybersecurity professionals prepping to see how that big federal bill sure to shape your world pans out? Your time is almost here.

Find Me A Job, Coach

World-class athletes seek them out. Why not high-class IT professionals looking for that extra edge in a crowded, competitive job market? We're talking about personal performance coaches. Yes, the addition of coaches to shore up professional presence, style and other crucial areas may just be the next big trend in the industry, according to a recent Computerworld article.

Insiders including senior managers, CIOs and other executives suggest the IT professional seeking a career boost could benefit from such assessments.

As the article notes, the costs for such services could range from $200 to $500 per hour, though some firms foot the bill.

"Most companies hire executive coaches for more senior leaders - director, VP and above," said John Baldoni, a Michigan-based coach and author of multiple leadership books. "That said," Baldoni noted, "anyone can benefit from coaching, and some companies do provide it to emerging leaders."

Those familiar with the process say working with coaches can't be pegged into one specific type of arrangement, but rather dependent on the expectations and coach's style.

Baldoni said his process involves a lot of talking and listening, along with homework assignments such as allowing others to voice their opinions for those trying to improve communication skills.

"Coaching is a guided form of self-discovery," he said. "You get out of it what you put into it."

White House Thumbs Up for Cybersecurity Legislation

IT job seekers with cybersecurity skills on the resume or the currently employed considering a career shift to the sector are keeping close tabs on a questionable federal bill being dissected that has some high-placed supporters.

The Obama administration last week showed its support for the revised Cybersecurity Act, scheduled to be debated on the Senate floor soon, while tech groups are raising question about what is being called a "watered-down" version of earlier legislation.

According to a recent article in Network World, concerns by technical organizations surround the degree of authority given to a new National Cybersecurity Council over the nation's cybersecurity practices and standards.

The council, it is noted, would be made up of presidential appointees from various federal agencies to form a group with ultimate authority over such crucial matters.

Other questionable aspects of the legislation include new powers granted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and limits placed on threat information shared between businesses.

In a press release touting the bill, however, the White House Office of Management and Budget showered praise for its "strong protections for privacy and civil liberties."

All interested parties -- potential cybersecurity professionals included -- expect a lively discussion on the Senate floor.

Survey: Big Data Not a Priority

A majority of IT professionals responding to a recent survey have no plans to roll out big data analytics in the near future, offering a counter to the view of big data as a major industry trend today and in the months to come.

Findings to come out of the data storage survey by market research firm TheInfoPro state those that aren't pushing to roll out Hadoop and other analytics software saw no specific business case to support such an effort, a piece this week in Computerworld reports.

The survey, which included 255 IT professionals of such ilk as data storage professionals, IT managers and CIOs, reported that 56 percent of those who responded wouldn't be deploying big data analytics applications, even when looking beyond 2013.

Companies that are planning to roll out big data processing in the near-term tend to be financial services and healthcare enterprises, traditionally bogged down by reams of massive data, said analysts with TheInfoPro.

Communication is the Key

As more information comes to light cementing the belief that compensation isn't always the key factor for heavily recruited IT professionals in our competitive job market, it sometimes really is as simple as good communication.

Often, people who seek out career changes are looking to be dazzled and the shining star may those special leaders who communicate so well they can bring people together to create amazing products and services.

In a recent post on Smartblogs.com, chemical company executive Gretchen Rosswurm shared a few of the key communication habits of leaders she's been fortunate enough to observe.

Share an inspiring vision of the future -- done well, this can help create a shared sense of purpose among staff.
Listen -- sounds so simple, yet the truly successful leader listens with compassion and humanity and make people feel heard.
Commit to "no surprises" -- transparency and honesty are crucial in whatever takes place with plans to keep employees' respect.
Wide circle of involvement -- the strong leaders are always looking for ways to expand the level of engagement.
Match your message with your audience -- the right leaders can respond to any particular audience style, expectation level and response trigger, be it data, social media or impassioned talks.

You Get Out What You Put In

Lisa Fasold — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 22:00:00 GMT

At one point in her long IT career, Nellie Scott's superiors didn't want to train her female staff because they thought women were more likely to leave the company, particularly as they approached motherhood. Scott, now a manager at Lenovo, gave a winning argument back, ending with, "What if you don't train them and they stay?" That line finally got her superiors on the ball with training her entire staff.

How to get more women in IT and how women in the industry can use different resources to shape their careers were the topics of discussion at CompTIA's Advancing Women in IT Community meeting today at Breakaway 2012.

Stephanie Young, VP of distribution at Xerox, has worked remotely for her entire career, and she advised attendees, "You're only going to get out of an organization what you put into it. Your company, your associations, your networking groups – you only get out what you put in."

Mary Ellen Grom, U.S. marketing VP for Synnex Corp., commented, "Every person that you meet is an opportunity."

The panel noted that often women aren't aggressive enough in pursuing their career goals. John Mehrmann, CEO for Zylog Systems Ltd., remarked that in his company, men are more likely to ask what they can do to further their career, where women wait to be recognized for what they've done. Mehrmann encouraged attendees to step forward and ask their company executives what they can do to move forward.

Scott built on that thought and commented that women at home often tell their spouses, "Well if you don't know what I did, then I'm not going to tell you." Scott said that doesn't work in the business setting. "We need to do self-promotion."

To bring more women into IT, Scott asked that the industry take a page from military recruiting. Go with the message of "Be the best you can be. You can make a difference." Scott added, "IT makes a difference in companies, in society and in everyone's daily lives."

Farmhand to an IT Man By Way of Certifications

Jim Staats — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Working in Western Australia more than a decade ago, Michael Boughton was more committed to working on the land than LAN.

A family man in his early 30s, Boughton was working as a farm technician, harvesting crops and maintaining 5,000 head of sheep.

That changed when his boss handed him an old, secondhand computer. In no time, a new hobby was born, eventually spilling into classes, part-time and full-time work.

"I saw that you didn't have to be a guru to work in the computer industry, especially in the 'break/fix' area of PCs so I thought I would give it a shot," Boughton said. "If it didn't work out, I could always go back to what I knew."

With the knowledge, confidence and experience Boughton said he gained through his industry certifications, there seems little chance of that. Today, Boughton is a support technician quickly moving up the IT career ladder, thanks in no small part to his CompTIA Network+ certification.

"I have always seen certification as very important and more so as time goes on," Boughton said. "Businesses that hire IT support want to ensure that the guy doing the work is qualified to perform it and is committed to doing the work. To commit yourself to study for a certification shows your commitment in the work you perform."

Boughton, who counts Cisco ESTQ and several TAFE (Training and Future Education) technical certificates from Pilbara Institute among his accreditations, held CompTIA Network+ in such high regard he was willing to make a nearly six-hour round trip to the nearest testing centre to sit for the exam.

He said he appreciates CompTIA exams are vendor-neutral.

"It focuses on the common concepts behind technology rather than on how a specific piece of software or equipment is designed to run by the vendor," he said.

Boughton's CompTIA Network+ experience has given him a better overall feel for computer networks in their entirety, he said.

"I understand more clearly what is expected of me and where my boundaries lie, especially with regard to escalating (issues) to someone else where needed," Boughton said. "The training for the certification helps keep you grounded when it comes to dealing with clients at all levels."

He estimated about 70-80 percent of what he learned through the CompTIA Network+ process could be applied to his job duties, especially when it came to troubleshooting and general network maintenance.

Boughton, who for years has reviewed the fundamentals of CompTIA A+ in self-study, is encouraged by his positive experience to take the plunge of certification in CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Server+ next.

"This is apparently going to become the basic requirement for the future," he said.

He encouraged other IT technicians to pursue industry certifications to better understand their jobs and how they fit into the big picture.

Said Boughton: "Studying for a certification forces you to look at your role as a whole, not just knowledge in technology and how it works, but how to treat clients, product management and troubleshooting."

Taking Your Security Training to the Next Level

Leslie Hague — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Techopedia recently interviewed Carol Balkcom, CompTIA Director of Product Management, about security certification. Balkcom discussed the topics covered in CompTIA's two security certifications, as well as differences between CompTIA certifications and others in the market. See what she said.

CompTIA A+ Increases Knowledge, Confidence for Employees at MicroMates

Jim Staats — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Within the corridors of one of Japan's top technical consulting firms, a new skills training program is producing whiplash-fast results for those involved.

At the heart of this initiative is a core belief in the value of CompTIA A+ certification.

In the past year, the client services division of MicroMates, which provides IT equipment support for Ricoh Technosystems, implemented the "skills map" program to boost staff knowledge through a four-pronged focus on practical skills, communication skills, hardware skills and software skills.

Successful immersion in the latter two has benefitted greatly from mandatory certifications, including CompTIA A+, the international, vendor-neutral standard that validates foundation-level competence in areas such as installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting.

Immediate Impact on Employee Productivity

"Certifications have made me become more presentable both to my coworkers and clients," said Reika Takiguchi, a call center operator in the firm's Tokyo office. "They are the proof that my knowledge is legitimately demonstrated."

The 29-year-old, one of several dozen employees in MicroMates call center group to successfully complete the training program, described herself as a living, breathing embodiment of the immediate impact delivered by such industry certifications.

Takiguchi recalled a helpdesk role for a previous firm in which customer queries about software brought about self-doubt and hesitation.

"Currently, it's the opposite," Takiguchi said. "Through using the software that I provide support for, I notice more things, such as what feature or function will improve workflow or how a certain change could streamline operations."

Positive Feedback All Around

She isn't alone in her strong positive feelings toward the upskill effort.

With 16 training sessions completed over the past year, results show remarkable improvement, based on internal surveys and feedback.

Seventy percent of training participants credited CompTIAA+ with a positive impact on their daily work activities.

Newly-hired staff commented on more confident customer interactions based on a well-rounded understanding of software and hardware components. Experienced technicians were surprised to find their previous training insufficient in the areas of newer operating systems, network systems, server and hardware equipment.

Emphasis on Practical Problem Solving

Takiguchi, who counts CompTIA Server+, MCAS and the System Administrator Exam and Information Technology Engineer Exam among her certifications, was by no means a neophyte when she entered training, yet she came away impressed.

"As inquiries regarding complex machines such as copiers, printers, and facsimile are on the rise, the training I received helps me explain issues with accuracy," she said, noting the skills program "taught me practical ideas on their usage and troubleshooting."

Takiguchi understands the value of all-encompassing call-handling skills. She said the true value of a CompTIA certification is its universal reputation.

"Because their domains do not depend only on specific vendors or newer trends, you have to approach (their certifications) with systematic learning," she said. "You are also required to have knowledge about legacy systems."

Takiguchi sees the program as nothing less than a win-win for her employer.

"As a company, having CompTIA-certified employees demonstrates to our business partners and clients that we have the IT workforce to assure quality of our offerings," she said, noting many colleagues are becoming more active in certifications and other training. "We have established not only high assessments, but also credibility from our partners and clients."

Glowing early returns of programs such as MicroMates reinforce the ideal of a bright future for technicians truly invested in advancing their IT careers.

Said Takiguchi, "I think certification becomes more important and its need will grow because those individuals who want to change or grow in their career definitely need proof to display what they are capable of."

Weekly Word on the Street: Conflicting Reports on IT Job Market

Jim Staats — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 17:07:43 GMT

Takeaway of the week is it's hard to know who, or what, to trust. The future is bright for the IT job market. No, it's not. Oh yes, it is. Wait, maybe some of it is sunny and other parts are cloudy. No wonder the weather reporter always takes a beating from the public.

Survey Says: Sunny Days for IT Job Seekers

If you're equipped with IT training and in need of employment, consider yourself luckier than most job seekers, according to a new survey.

More than half of the respondents to CareerBuilder's IT mid-year job forecast plan to fill IT positions before the end of the year, a CNET News item on report findings notes.

Though that figure represents a 1 percent decrease from the prior year, this particular hiring sector is much stronger than other industries, analysis from the employment firm suggests.

"Despite a small slowdown in hiring year-over-year, the IT sector remains strong, with an ever-growing need for strong talent in this area," said CareerBuilder executive Ben Jablow.

"With IT employers planning to hire in numbers more than 10 percentage points above the national average, the second half of 2012 promises a pattern of steady growth for the industry."

Other figures of interest:

Seventy-eight percent of employers say they will fill IT slots before roles in other departments.
Forty-three percent of IT hiring managers report current open positions are unfilled for lack of qualified candidates.
Forty-six percent of IT employers hired full-time staffers in the second quarter of 2012, just down a tick from 48 percent at the same time last year.

The nationwide survey consisted of 180 hiring managers and human resource professionals.

More Firms Make IT A Global Venture

It's a small world after all, especially when it comes to IT operations.

That's the refrain more globally active businesses big and not-so-big are singing today while engineering their IT processing around centralized hubs.

With end goals including savings, competitive advantage and economies of scale, companies are consolidating IT business services worldwide for value and consistency, a recent CFOWorld article reports.

Companies such as Proctor & Gamble that have ramped up in this direction are finding that such big-picture positives must balance the need for regional processes, insiders say.

"No matter where you are in the cycle, you should be targeting global business services," said Forrester Research analyst Bobby Cameron.

Proctor & Gamble's global shared IT services is the result of a decade-long process that began by consolidating core IT infrastructure and ERP systems.

P&G executive Filippo Passerini said the firm has cut its IT costs by a third and saved $1 billion over the past nine years.

Other firms taking the plunge include the Vanguard Group, Bank of America and Equifax.

An IT Job Market Full of Contradictions

Job openings are up. Jobs are hard to fill. The market is hot. The market is ice cold.

When all everyone wants to know is definitive black and white answers on the IT job market, it seems to be more shades of gray

Employers aren't making it easy on themselves with expectation for IT superstars while the few that meet such high-level criteria are the focus of a hiring frenzy that leaves those just out of school or entering the industry in their wake, according to a new Computerworld article.

Those at the center of the IT hiring boom these days are professionals with trendy skill sets including mobile app development.

"We're always looking for the most skilled people, the most talented people, who are capable of inventing the future, not just doing the same old type of work that's become a commodity - fixing code, testing code that someone else wrote, that someone else invented," said Michael Beckley, an executive at Appian, which provides business process management software.

Beckley said his firm has hired 40 people so far this year, with plans to hire another 60 before the year wraps up. He said the type of people they look for are ones who've built an app available in Apple's App Store or received rave reviews for a contribution to an open-source code base — in other words, exceptional performers.

Figures tracking the IT labor force are even inconsistent in their reporting, with conflicting figures feeding the analysis.

According to Foote Partners, the U.S. saw a net gain of 8,200 IT jobs last month compared to the prior month. While at Janco Associates, the figure for that same calculation came to only 3,400 jobs in IT.
Seems the only thing analysts can agree on is that it's a difficult market for job seekers right now.

Report: Tech Layoffs on the Rise

One can be excused for a slight bout of motion sickness from reading the reports on the state of tech sector these days, apparently.

One report says it's up, the next says it's down, then up, then down, then up again.

See what we mean? Sit down if you need to.

The latest item to bring things crashing down is the surprising news that 2012 layoffs to date in the tech world have reached the highest level in three years, a new report shows.

The 51,529 planned job cuts the first half of this year in the technical sector represents a 260 percent increase over the 14,308 layoffs planned during the same timespan last year, according to a CNET News item on findings of the report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

A big chunk of that, of course, comes wrapped in Hewlett-Packard's announcement in May that it planned to cut 30,000 jobs, to be completed by the end of fiscal 2014.

Report findings point to the fact that while a few companies are finding success, the majority continue to struggle to remain viable. More cuts can be expected in the coming months.

"While consumers and businesses are spending more on technology, the spending appears to favor a handful of companies," said Challenger CEO John Challenger. "Those that are struggling to keep up with the rapidly changing trends and consumer tastes are shuffling workers to new projects or laying them off altogether."

A silver lining: indications were that jobs are still to be had across the industry, mainly for those in mobile app development and big data.

CompTIA Certification Exams Now Offered Exclusively Through Pearson VUE

Kelsey Wieties — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:00:00 GMT

All CompTIA certification exams will now take place solely at Pearson VUE testing centers and no longer at Prometric testing centers. The goal of this change is to simplify the overall testing experience for all candidates who wish to take a CompTIA certification exam.

If you have a Prometric exam voucher, it is now valid at Pearson VUE testing centers as long as it has not expired. You can schedule an appointment at Pearson VUE either in advance or on the day you choose to take the test, as long as availability remains. If you have not already done so, you can schedule an appointment online. In addition, appointments can be made by phone or in person at the Pearson VUE testing center.

Weekly Word on the Street: Surprising Spots for Most Open Tech Jobs

Jim Staats — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is in the form of a catch phrase from the old game show, "Family Feud," that goes, simply, "Survey says..." Yes, it's one survey after another coming out as we hit the midpoint of 2012, and most all indicators are that it's a good time to be a skilled IT professional on the hunt for a job. Depending on your skills and location, the growing job market just may find you first.

Salary Survey: Good News for IT

While not all is rosy in the IT job market, compensation in one area on the rise, a new salary survey indicates.

Janco Associates notes that compensation and bonuses are reaching early 2008 levels in its "Mid-Year 2012 IT Salary Survey," as reported in a recent InfoWorld article.

In terms of hiring, however, reduced layoffs and a rise in in-house IT operations can't mask what is expected to be a rather soft hiring period for the industry, the survey suggests.

"Our main conclusion is that for information technology, the recession has not bottomed and that hiring of IT professionals will remain soft for the next several months," said Victor Janulaitis, Janco's CEO.

He did add that there's a number of firms "who will proceed to expand IT departments in anticipation of the start of a strong recovery in the first and second quarters of 2013."

According to the survey, mean compensation (including bonuses) for all IT pros has seen a bump from $77,229 to $78,759 since last year. IT executives at large firms have seen a slight decrease in mean salary from 2011, while executives at mid-size firms are seeing a rise in compensation from last year.

"Bonuses are a leading indicator that companies are looking for enterprise revenue improvements and want to motivate employees to focus on improving the company's bottom line over and above everything else," Janulaitis said.

Is the Cloud Good or Bad for Hiring in General?

There are plenty of factors that play a huge role in the economy and hiring trends. Folks both in and out of the IT industry are still trying to determine how big a role cloud computing will play.

Ironically, the folks who may feel the biggest impact of the cloud could be workers on the outside of the IT industry, according to a recent item in IT Business Edge.

As the cloud continues its roll across firms to help automate tasks that previously required countless workers across enterprises, it's becoming clear those jobs aren't coming back, experts note.

At the recent Technology and Business Solutions Conference, Simon Wardley, a researcher for conference host CSC, stated that while it's inevitable that the cloud would bring about a hit to the economy, it remains unclear to what extent the trend will be responsible for new jobs and just where those will pop up.

As the saying goes, you can't stop progress. Technological upgrades may have been responsible for eliminating manufacturing jobs in the past, but it's a relatively new thing for information-centric roles in various industries.

IDC recently released a forecast, done on behalf of Microsoft, which indicates cloud computing would create 14 million new jobs by 2015, yet it remains, er, cloudy just where where exactly those jobs sprout up.

Scoot Over Silicon Valley and Big Apple

Sure, technology job seekers can flock to San Francisco or New York, but why not Baltimore, Detroit or Pittsburgh?

That's a bit of the surprising news supplied as part of the July 2012 employment outlook released by Simply Hired.

As reported in a recent article in VentureBeat, the best places in the U.S. to be looking for a job are Baltimore, Detroit, Charlotte and Portland, based on a comparison of the number of available jobs and the number of currently employed technology workers.

Conversely, the worst places in the U.S. to be looking for that new engineering position: Newark, Birmingham, Riverside/San Bernardino and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Nationally, job openings were up nearly 10 percent from May. The ration of job-seekers to jobs, however, stayed even at 3:1.

Technology firms, according to findings, came a close second to the healthcare industry in terms of top hiring companies.

Dice: Software Developers in Short Supply

If you're a skilled software developer, especially with those skills residing in Java, Microsoft and mobile technology, you're one in-demand commodity, according to another new hiring survey.

Technology job site Dice.com, in its most recently industry-centric survey, found that the aforementioned fields represent four of the top five most difficult positions for IT managers to fill at the moment.

The first most difficult skill set to locate is in the security sector, a new eWeek article on the Dice survey notes.

The survey of 866 IT hiring managers and recruiters was just the latest reinforcement of trends showing that hiring is on the rise for developer talent, as well as a widening skills gap making the act of filling those roles so difficult.

The report states that, "In some cases, such as mobile developers, the market is expanding faster than the talent pool can adapt. That, in turn, impacts software developers who can fairly transition into the mobile space."

Corporate hiring managers today tend to seek IT pros with two to five years of experience in the workforce; however, they all want the same thing to make the competition for qualified talent fierce.

As of July 2, there were 84,940 available tech jobs on Dice.com. The metro area with the most positions listed on the site was New York/New Jersey, with 8,871 positions listed, down just under 10 percent from one year ago. The metro area to come in second based on the same parameters was the Washington D.C./Baltimore area, with a total of 8,334 positions available. Silicon Valley was the third highest region, with 5,684 postings.

Buy CompTIA Certifications From Anywhere in the World

Leslie Hague — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 14:00:00 GMT

IT professionals worldwide can now buy certification exams directly from CompTIA, thanks to an expansion of the CompTIA Marketplace.

The marketplace website now allows visitors to pick their country before browsing, which provides for more localized content and information.

CompTIA customers in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong can now buy exams in local currency from sites with localized information. CompTIA introduced customized marketplace content for EMEA countries last year.

It's part of a broader CompTIA effort to make IT certifications more accessible to growing markets where IT skills are in demand. Previously, IT professionals in these countries had to buy their exams from a testing provider.

Customers in all other countries interact with the English-language site and purchase products in U.S. dollars.

Dedicated marketplace websites for China, Japan and Korea are in the works.

CompTIA Linux+ Will See Minor Changes to Exam Objectives this Fall

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

CompTIA will make minor changes to the CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI exams this fall. The objective changes are reflected in the current exam objectives available for download and will be reflected in both CompTIA Linux+ exams, LX0-101 and LX0-102, by the end of August 2012.

The CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI exam is a high-stakes, vendor-neutral certification that validates the fundamental knowledge and skills required of junior Linux administrators. The certification is the result of CompTIA's partnership with the Linux Professional Institute (LPI). LPI recently modified its own LPIC-1 exam objectives. With this planned change, CompTIA will align its exam objectives with LPI's.

The modifications to the CompTIA Linux+ exam objectives (LX0-101) include:

Adding objectives pertaining to systemd, Upstar, LVM, GRUB 2, and ext4;
Deleting LILO from list of terms; and
Adding bash_history to list of terms.

Modifications to the CompTIA Linux+ exam objectives (LX0-102) include:

Adding Environmental Variable TZ to list of terms, and
Adding an objective pertaining to IPv6

For more information on specific changes visit the LPI wiki. CompTIA Linux+ exam candidates can check with their respective publisher to find out if they plan to provide addenda for these minor changes to the existing objectives.

These revised objectives will be referenced in CompTIA's regular cycle of republication of the CompTIA Linux+ exams, due in the market by late August. These exams, although modified slightly, are not new exams. The CompTIA Linux+ exams are scheduled for full revision sometime in 2014.

Weekly Word on the Street: Better Job Incentives Than Money?

Jim Staats — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:44:24 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that the IT industry truly offers something for everyone, especially when it comes to today’s job seeker. Whether you’re fresh out of college with a bright future, but a lack of job-seeking acumen; a prospective technician with a hankering for something more challenging than a run-of-the-mill IT role; or a chance to influence your government’s public policy, IT has got it.

Want a Challenge?

If it’s not just a job in the IT industry you want, but one that gives you a true run for your money, one recent survey has done the legwork for you. IT procurement, operations, security and data center manager are a few of the top ten most demanding jobs, according to the international survey conducted by business management firm Emerson Network Power.

The survey of 800 IT pros from the U.S., Asia, Europe and Latin America – discussed in an article in Network World – zeroed in on the number of hours worked along with situational necessity to be working at peak capacity and accuracy. Professionals in a multitude of roles, industries and from firms big and small were queried, the article notes.

The Top Ten Most Demanding IT Jobs

Executive director/administrator
IT procurement
CIO
IT manager/director
IT operations
Data center manager
Engineering
IT security
Applications/software development
Database management

Show Me the Time, Not Money

With many of today’s firms still stuck in "cash-strapped" status, doling out raises to employees remains a pipe dream, but other quality incentives abound, recent research out of Britain indicates.

Incentivizing options for businesses include allowing more autonomy over work decisions, providing active acknowledgement for achievements and allowing flexible working arrangements, according to a new article in The Telegraph.

A recent survey conducted by Amarach Research for Microsoft indicated that the ability to spend more time with family was just as important for employees as a pay raise.

“Far too many companies work on the basis that money motivates,” said Malcolm Higgs, Director of the School of Management at Southampton University in England.

“But, money is not a motivator. If you give people more money you might get a quick lift in productivity, but the effect of that dies off incredibly quickly. By and large, that is not what employees are there for.”

Higgs said workers are primarily motivated by the extent to which they are given freedom over the way they work.

Experts suggest business owners should shift their focus away from money as a solution for employee happiness and toward other solutions for keeping their staffers happy.

Cary Cooper, a professor at Lancaster University in England, said what employees really want is more flexibility in the workplace. And, the best way to find out just what they want? Ask them.

“Ask your employees what you can do to make them feel good about their job,” said Cooper. “Nobody ever does that.”

Techies, Your Government Wants You

Computer technicians would be wise to seek out government jobs, says one high-ranking IT expert already in the fold.

As the keynote speaker at a USENIX conference in Boston recently, Edward Felten, chief technologist for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, said government posts for fellow technicians could allow them to have direct affect on public policy and valuable industry influence, a recent Network World article noted. Felten told his audience, according to the article, that his time in his federal post has been “highly educational,” as he urged others to join him. “Even if you make one iota of difference, you’ve done a lot of good in the aggregate,” Felten said.

He provided a series of guidelines on how techies can begin their government interaction, noting there are various levels of officials wishing to be tech-heavy, but somewhat "clueless" in reality.

Rather than just telling policy makers what the proper decision regarding a technical issue should be, Felten said technical professionals would be wise to take the route of asking his or her audience questions in an effort to steer them away from undesirable options.

He said he knew about this approach before he entered government work himself, “but I didn’t fully appreciate (it) until I spent time working here.”

IT Job Tips for the College Grad

You’ve just graduated college and you’re ready to enter the IT profession, but don’t know how.

Well, you’re in luck.

A tidy capsule of industry-centric tips ranging from the best use of social media to interview preparation and resume makeover doled out from hiring experts was recently published in CIO.com.

A recent hiring survey by technical job site Dice.com suggests demand for technology professionals will remain strong through 2012.

Hot IT fields job-wise include healthcare, financial services, energy, government and mobile technology, according to the Dice survey findings.

Employers for IT roles are looking for “workers who have current technical skills and business acumen that can increase revenue,” according to a separate study by CareerBuilder and CareerRookie. The students this study indicated were most highly sought-after were business majors, followed close on their heels by computer and information science majors and engineers. Those with math, statistics and communication technologies backgrounds were also considered hot ticket items for IT recruiters, the CareerBuilder survey noted.

IT Certifications Help Veterans Advance Civilian Careers

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Air Force veteran Shawn Cooper and Navy veteran Jeremiah Mane followed different paths to the same point: After serving as IT network administrators while in the military, they turned to New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Orlando, FL, for IT certification training and job search assistance to launch their civilian IT careers. On the same day in early April, they both began work as technical engineers for Convergys' Orlando, FL, contact center.

"It was a lot harder to look for a job, to find a job than I expected it to be," says Cooper. "Thank goodness New Horizons helped me out."

New Horizons and vet-friendly employers like Convergys are working with CompTIA's Troops to Tech Careers campaign to help qualified vets use their military benefits to build careers in a growing IT industry that desperately needs skilled workers.

Convergys is partnering with New Horizons Orlando to aggressively recruit for a Fortune 100 technical client in Orlando. In addition, Convergys sends its managers to speak to New Horizons students about IT job opportunities and skills that are in demand. In turn, New Horizons' career services department refers qualified students, many of them veterans like Cooper and Mane, to Convergys for job interviews.

"Both (Shawn and Jeremiah) came to us with previous experience serving in the military in positions such as network administrators, which were great lead-ins for this particular role," says Convergys Recruiting Manager Heather Burks.

In the Air Force, Cooper fielded trouble calls, cable installs, maintenance and upgrade on the Lajes Field base in the Azores. Mane, in the Navy, worked trouble-shooting, maintaining communication lines and radio frequencies on a destroyer in the Persian Gulf.

Veterans such as Cooper and Mane contribute important qualities, learned in the military, to Convergys' workforce, says Burks. "Working as part of a team, collaborating and looking out for one another relates directly to the soft skills required for our positions."

Making Their Own Way

Cooper and Mane both found establishing a civilian career to be very different from following pre-configured military career tracks. "Once you get out, you (have to) figure out how to make your own path," Mane says.

Leaving the Navy in 2007, Mane believed employers preferred candidates with both experience and degrees, so he launched himself into earning an associate's degree in computer science at Hillsborough Community College, Brandon, FL, and a bachelor's degree in information systems from Strayer University in Tampa.

By the time Mane finished his degrees, however, his Navy IT experience was growing outdated, and he believed IT employers had shifted their requirements. "Now everyone wanted certifications and the experience," Mane says. So he opted to earn IT certifications, selecting New Horizons of Orlando based on the reviews he read online and the variety of certification paths offered by the center.

For his part, Cooper began training with New Horizons almost immediately after leaving the Air Force in late 2011. He needed job security — fast — to support his four-year-old son.

Before discharge, Cooper began job-hunting online, but although he had network admin experience and a CompTIA Security+ credential (earned in the Air Force), his resume didn't get any bites.

However, New Horizons of Orlando contacted Cooper and invited him to tour its training center, where he was impressed by the quality of its instructors. "At first, I was a little hesitant," recalls Cooper, "but after talking with them one on one, I realized this was actually a very comfortable learning environment."

Building IT and Career Skills

New Horizons not only trained Mane and Cooper for IT certifications, the Orlando center also provided both veterans with career guidance and job placement assistance. Admissions counselors introduced both to the value of earning the CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+. These certifications are options for the Department of Defense's technical and management tracks under Directive 8570, which requires anyone working with DoD computers to hold IT certifications.

At New Horizons Orlando, Mane attained the CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+ and CEH certifications, and is currently pursuing the CompTIA A+, in addition to MCTS, MCITP and CISSP credentials. Cooper, in the center's MCSE program, earned CompTIA A+ and is currently pursuing the CompTIA Network+, CCNA, and MCSE certifications.

Once each student earned a total of two certifications, New Horizons Orlando referred him or her to job coach Lisa Manzi, career advisor of Career Visions. Manzi worked with both Cooper and Mane to fine-tune their interview skills and resumes, and helped them connect to area employers for job interviews. "Shawn and Jeremiah both had the hard work, dedication and drive to go through this program quickly and ultimately found jobs right away," Manzi said.

Once in a verbal skills test in his Convergys job interview, Mane was glad to have all the New Horizons training under his belt. "Everything I was learning at New Horizons just seemed to keep popping, popping and popping up on that skills test interview," he recalls. "I did pretty well on that."

Cooper noted it only took him a matter of weeks between achieving his CompTIA A+ and receiving his job offer from Convergys. "I believe they (his CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Security+ credentials) helped immensely."

Only the Beginning

In early May, Cooper and Mane were settling into their new roles trouble shooting IT problems for Convergys clients. Both were continuing to train for IT certifications at New Horizons while planning for the future.

Cooper aims to become a network administrator and was happy with his current job and how it gave him the time and money he wanted to spend on his son. "I'm able to do things with him and for him," Cooper says. "In other jobs, I may not have been able to."

Mane is relieved to be taking the next steps in his career. He's looking to earn his master's degree and set down roots, for himself, his wife and their daughter, who is nearly a year old. "When I got out of the military, it felt like I was walking along and I had stepped in some gum or something. My shoe was kind of stuck," he says. "(Now) It's like the frustration is behind me. Now I can move forward."

Veteran Uses IT Certification to Accelerate Career

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Derek LeMay wanted to leverage his five years as a Marine Corps IT system administrator into a civilian career, but found that earning an associates degree at a local Florida community college wasn't getting him where he wanted to go fast enough.

So in late 2011, LeMay enrolled in New Horizons Learning Centers of Orlando's accelerated IT certification track. The training and the certifications ultimately helped LeMay land jobs with not one, but two veteran-friendly employers.

"IT certification was a much faster path to becoming employable," says LeMay, now a technical support engineer for Symantec Corp., a corporate registry supporter of CompTIA's Troops to Tech Careers initiative.

In the military, LeMay was an aviation information systems specialist stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, AZ. Having retired from the Marines in 2008, LeMay was able to use his Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits to earn the vendor-neutral CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ certifications aligned with the Department of Defense Directive 8570.

"Attending New Horizons was a great decision," LeMay says. "The staff there assisted me every step of the way — from becoming certified, to resume preparation, to employment opportunities."

Career Advisor Lisa Manzi of Career Visions in Orlando remembers LeMay as one of the first New Horizons Orlando veteran students she helped place in a job. LeMay landed his first job at NetApp, as a storage support technician, but he was determined to secure a higher position. So he worked six months at NetApp before interviewing with the Orlando office of Symantec. "Now he loves his job, absolutely loves it," says Manzi.

IT Certifications Get Noticed

LeMay's CompTIA certifications helped him secure and pass the technical interview with Symantec's engineers. Darrell Adams, technical manager for Symantec Corporation, explains that his company looks for IT certifications to see if job applicants have the technical abilities the company needs.

"Derek, when he sat down, he pretty much blew our technical interview away," said Adams, adding that the engineers were impressed by his command of networking and multiple operating systems, and his ability to easily answer their questions. "In fact, he came in on a Thursday, and we offered him the job that Friday. It was that quick."

Says LeMay, who hopes to earn the CompTIA Linux+ and CompTIA Storage+ certifications, as well as Cisco CCNA: "I believe the certifications I've already obtained have given me the opportunity to get this job and also will continue to help me in the future."

Symantec Supports Troops to Tech Careers

LeMay is among the many veterans Symantec has hired for its engineering and technical support positions. Symantec promotes job openings to veterans through military.com, military transition assistance programs, and career fairs targeting veterans with security clearance.

"One of our favorite ways to connect with veterans is through Troops to Tech Careers. We take pride in supporting veterans as they return home from their military assignments," says Ellen McLatchey, Symantec's global director of diversity and inclusion. "We know that veterans participating in Troops to Tech are eager to contribute and have the skills and competencies needed to succeed at Symantec."

The computing occupation consistently ranks among the top 10 fastest-growing occupations in the United States.

"Any organization that helps to develop technical skills is very valuable to us. Couple that with the opportunity to support our vets and we feel honored to support this organization," says McLatchey. "Supporting Troops to Tech Careers is rewarding to us on many levels."

Command and Confidence

LeMay is garnering notice for his skills providing phone support to Symantec's global enterprise IT customers. Adams praised LeMay's detailed follow-up with customers, his ability to ask customers the right questions about their IT problems, and his ability to explain to customers why he's asking those questions.

"When Derek's talking to customers, he makes them feel good, and that's a very important piece," says Adams. "That's actually probably a bigger piece than having a really strong technical background."

Adams believes that LeMay's confidence and command in customer conversations stems from his military service. "I've seen it not only in the people we hire from the military but I've also seen it in my own personal life," says Adams, citing his brother (a Marine) and son (an Army veteran) as examples.

LeMay doesn't let challenges or difficulties stop him. "He's going to go ahead and tackle it and push forward," says Adams. "That's what we see from the military people we hire."

For his part, LeMay is grateful. "It's great to have a job that's well-paying, and, coming from where I was in unemployment, it's very humbling."

He sees himself in IT for a long time — "It's growing, and I'd like to grow with it." — and encourages fellow veterans to try a tech career.

"It's never too late to transition from military to the IT world," he says. "Never give up."

Share Your 'Veterans Inspire' Story

Leslie Hague — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Is there an active military member or veteran in your life who inspires you?

The Troops to Tech Careers program wants to know about it — and possibly reward you for your story!

The Veterans Inspire contest was created to show the huge impact military members and veterans have on the community, and individuals. The Troops to Tech Careers program wants to share these inspirational stories and create an outlet for military members and veterans to be given the recognition they deserve.

All you need to do to enter is tell CompTIA on its Facebook page in 500 words or less why you admire, appreciate, or are inspired by this person for their service to our country by July 23. Whether this is a relative, friend, stranger you've met in passing, or fellow military member or veteran, each story is going to be unique.

CompTIA will ask people across social networks to "like" their favorite contest submissions on Facebook from July 24 to 26. Out of the top five submissions chosen by voters, CompTIA will choose the top three winners.

Contest prizes are Amazon gift cards. The first place prize is $200; second place, $100; and third place, $75.

Lessons from a Successful Career and Life in the IT industry

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 15:00:00 GMT

What does it take to grow a career in the IT industry — and still have a personal life?

Shirley Turner started at Intel as a payroll clerk with no college degree, a choppy resume, a relatively new marriage and two very young daughters. She stayed 24 years, steadily advancing and moving between divisions, before retiring as director of Intel's North American Channel Marketing in 2008. In 2009, she founded Black Lab Marketing, a Portland, OR.-area-based consulting firm serving small- and medium-sized businesses and non-profit organizations.

Turner shared the maxims and lessons that guided her professional choices and personal values in the CompTIA webinar "Career Planning/Pathing: How to Move From One Level to the Next" on Wednesday:

Work ethic foundations

"Be the Best" and "Be independent and self-sufficient." — from her mother, a fiercely independent woman who became a businesswoman running her own successful restaurant in the 1930s after a disastrous first marriage ended in divorce.

"You never tell anybody how good you are. You just pick up your horn and play." — from her father, a professional trumpet player from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Early career lessons

"You don't have the education, so go get the experience." — from a manager, who encouraged Turner to work beyond her lack of college degree (which she eventually did earn). It's a practice Turner continues today. "I just dive in, learn what I have to do, and I build experience."

"People work with you, not for you" and "Just because people don't think the way you do does not make them stupid." — from a manager instructing Turner on the finer points of teamwork. These maxims hold true at any career level, Turner says.

"You alone are responsible for your success" and "You can make your job anything you want it to be." Organizations may develop "career paths" but ultimately, Turner believes each person is responsible for his or her self. In the 1980s, Turner worked as a finance clerk but in her spare time figured out how to use Lotus 1-2-3 (the precursor to Excel) for a specific accounting process, reducing the time required from two weeks to four hours. That side venture made the job more interesting to Turner, and Turner more valuable to Intel. "As long as you perform the tasks that you were hired for and paid to do," Turner says, "there's no reason why you can't add other aspects to your job."

"People want you for the values you possess more than your skills" — a realization Turner had after a manager recruited her to move from Intel's finance department into its manufacturing department, and later into its marketing department.

Mid-career, Movin' on Up Lessons

"Build on what you know." When Turner moved out of finance into Intel's manufacturing department, she organized her time to finish the "numbers" part of her job quickly so she could focus on learning about the company's manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico and its engineering teams in Oregon. This strategy can help increase a person's success rate in a new role, build their confidence and make them look like they are hitting the ground running.

"Fear is a great motivator." "The more scared I get, the harder I work," says Turner. Once, only days into a new marketing job, Turner staffed a tradeshow booth but didn't know how to answer several engineers who quizzed her about a silicon board's properties. In response, one engineer snipped, "It's okay, honey. Don't tax your brain." Turner vowed never to allow herself to be that unprepared again.

"Keep your Boss' Boss off your Boss' back." — Not only does this strategy help your boss, it introduces your work to those above your boss, Turner says.

Maxims for Playing in the Big Leagues

"Shift from 'do more with less' to 'optimize resources' " — Intel experienced multiple budget cuts and layoffs during Turner's last eight years at the company. Instead of mounding the same collection of tasks on fewer people, Turner prefers a strategy that decides how to achieve company goals within set budget and staff limits.

"Every move you make… they're watching you" — Upper-level executives always have to watch their demeanor and show strength to their team, Turner found out.

"You can't avoid politics" and "Loyalty can be dangerous to your career" — Upper-level managers have to be flexible and adaptive, and can't tie themselves to one strategy or one individual, Turner believes.

"Advocates are more important than mentors" — Mentors are instructive and supportive, but advocates are on your side; they have your back, Turner believes. The higher up an advocate is, the more valuable to your career they are.

Reality Check for Work Life Balance

"Make sure you make the right choice." — Turner's mother worked hard, long hours, but had nothing left to give when she came home to her daughter. Turner did her job well, but made sure she had time and energy to dedicate to her daughters. "Your company will drop you in heartbeat no matter how good you are," Turner quips. "But your kids are your kids forever."

Weekly Word on the Street: NYC the Place to Be

Jim Staats — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is it's still a "New York State of Mind" when it comes to the place to be for tech startups. In other news, well, let's just say the recent worldwide software market forecast wasn't as rosy as things are these days for techies looking for jobs in the Big Apple.

The Big Tech Apple

Hey, did you hear the one about New York being the hot destination for tech startups these days?

If you need more proof, check out the recent piece in the Wall Street Journal, which highlights a few of the new tech players in the Big Apple.

While Silicon Valley still ranks as the epicenter of the tech scene, New York's buzz continues to build and build, leaving experts in the field to argue over whether the trend will continue to grow — or even last long.

Company honchos are uprooting their firms to put roots in the most expensive city in the United States just to be near the new tech heartbeat and have access to a burgeoning talent base and, unfortunately, deal with the higher tax rates, telecom bills and payroll taxes.

For those who have made the move, many are already starting to see the payoff.

Some are even doing the uprooting from California to come over to the other coast.

"It moves you out of your self-contained little bubble and helps you avoid group think," said Aaron Harris, who recently moved his startup, Tutorspree, to New York's Tribeca area.

Gloomy IT Market Forecast

It's cloudy with not much sunshine: Such is the dour report for the tech market based on current conditions across the globe.

That's the findings in a nutshell for the sector pulled out of the latest Worldwide Software Market Forecaster conducted by IDC, as reported in CIO-Asia.com. The worldwide software market, producer of nearly double-digit growth in 2011, isn't expected to continue such growth, the study indicates.

"IDC expects the overall software market to return to more conservative growth in the years to come," said Patrick Melgarejo, director of the firm's software trackers.

The fastest growing software applications, according to the survey of more than 1,000 software vendors in 49 countries, are expected to be enterprise social software, virtual machine software and team collaborative applications.

Forecasters expect to see a slowdown especially in the Asia/Pacific and Japan regions, which experienced the highest rate of growth among all regions last year. North America and Latin America are expected to remain relatively stable within the next few years, according to study estimates.

The news wasn't much better for the storage market.

IDC's Worldwide Storage Software QView, released this month, showed that market did have a year-over-year increase, but the growth rate has slowed down to levels not seen since 2009.

Data and Value the Focus of Healthcare IT

IT investments made by healthcare organizations are driven by accountability and value-driven data quality, a new report suggests.

More healthcare providers are seeking IT tools to help implement a purchasing model based on both cost and quality of care, while others are in need of slightly different tools to see just what data will help them.

That's the gist of the recent Forbes Insights report titled, "Getting From Volume to Value in Health Care: Balancing Challenges & Opportunities," discussed in a recent InformationWeek article.

The value-based purchasing model for hospitals and other healthcare organizations, in which healthcare services hold providers accountable for both cost and quality of care, is becoming more common today, the article notes.

With that in mind, the role played by healthcare IT — and the staff running the systems — becomes more critical in both financial and clinical preparedness.

How to Ace The Job Interview

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Your job interview is scheduled. Score! If you really want that job, you have to prep thoroughly to nail the interview. Here's how:

Before the Interview

Do Your Homework
You want to know everything you can about the job and the company before you the interview. Read and re-read the job description to fully understand what the company wants in an employee. Go online to get information about the company, its business goals, its latest news, and, if possible, about the person who is interviewing you. Read through the company’s recent press releases and any recent news reports about the company and its market.

Practice Your Pitch!
Develop your answers to the basic interview questions:

"Why should we hire you?"
"Why do you want this job?"
"What are your weaknesses?"
"What are your strengths?"

In those answers, give specific examples of your accomplishments that relate to the job. Rehearse your answers with someone else who can give you feedback, if possible. If all else fails, practice on the dog or the bathroom mirror.

Prep Your Own Questions
Be prepared when the interviewer asks, "Do you have any questions?" Use your research to ask some relevant, useful questions about the job and the company.

Clean Up Your Digital Image
Employers look for professionalism, so make sure your image online reflects that. Tighten up the privacy settings on your social media accounts. In a recent Reuters article, Pamela Eyring, president and director of The Protocol School of Washington, suggests that candidates "remove photos, links, and text that might be viewed as inappropriate from all social media web sites and the web sites of your friends."

Day of the Interview

Look Professional
It's time to clean up, get that haircut, and dress professionally. Check out the recent CompTIA blog "Always Dress to Impress" for tips.

Arrive Early
Planning to arrive "on time" is cutting it too close. Plan to be 10 minutes early.

Sit up Straight & Look 'Em in the Eye
Interviewers decide whether to let you join their team in part by carefully watching your body language, your confidence level, and your ability to speak with others. TEKsystems' Job Interview Career Search Tips advises, "During interviews, express yourself in a lively, confident manner and make eye contact with the hiring manager, even if you are nervous."

Listen & Be Concise
Even if you are nervous, make yourself carefully listen to your interviewer so you can hear:

What the company wants in an employee, and
The exact wording of any question you are asked.

Too often, candidates ramble, says Steve Fogarty, staffing partner at Waggener Edstrom, in his "Job Interview Tips" on Monster.com. "You really have to listen to the question, and answer the question, and answer it concisely," says Fogarty. "So many people can't get this basic thing down. You ask them a question, and they go off on a tangent."

Stay On Guard, Stay Professional
Fogarty places recruiters in two types: straight-laced and serious, and those who seem like your best friend. The straight-laced recruiters demand that job applicants take the process seriously. "Then you have recruiters like me," he says. "I'm going to be that candidate's best friend when they call me. My technique is to put them at ease, because I want them to tell me everything, and a lot of candidates mess up in this area." With either type, always remain professional, he advises.

Always Say Thank You - Fast
Immediately follow up the interview by sending the interviewer a thank you that reiterates your interest in the position. Eyring advises: "Go old-school. Send a handwritten thank-you note on quality paper within 24 hours of the interview. Research shows this simple gesture boosts hiring chances by 20 percent."

A Few Obvious Dont's

Don't Be Late
If you are late, call the interviewer as soon as you know you are going to be late as a courtesy.

Don't Ramble
If you find yourself rambling when answering a question, just stop. Breathe and refocus on your interviewer.

Don't Over-inflate or Lie About Your Qualifications
Be honest about what you know and don’t know. Interviewers will see through half-truths and lies. They will bite you back eventually.

Don't Complain
Don't speak negatively about anything: old jobs, old bosses, former co-workers, or former competitors. Stay positive. You are going to get the job!

Featured Subject Matter Expert: Craig Pearce

Leslie Hague — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:55:00 GMT

Craig Pearce

Craig Pearce
Security Architect for e-Secure, Australia, working at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

Which exams have you helped develop?
CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP), CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI.

What do you get out of volunteering with CompTIA as a subject matter expert?
For me, it’s the networking, the exchange of ideas and concepts between like-minded individuals. I also liked giving back to the industry. For me, it was also an opportunity to get some good working knowledge about the U.S. as well.

What’s it like working with other subject matter experts to develop CompTIA exams?
I think it’s a great experience. I recommend it. CompTIA’s exam development operation is very mature, very optimized. They use appropriate methodologies that have built a strong framework capable of generating consistent and mature exam products. It’s a very smooth process. Participants also brainstorm—all together and in smaller groups—about what’s important for an overall exam.

CompTIA’s facilitators do just that: facilitate, allow the free flow exchange of ideas while keeping people focused. They’re able to constructively deal with different perspectives, different egos.

You’ve helped develop both the CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner exams. What do you see as the main differences between these exams?
I see the CompTIA Security+ exam as a great benchmark exam for candidates to prove a base level of security knowledge to potential employers. The CASP exam is aimed at more senior security professionals looking to attain a credential that shows their demonstrated domain expertise.

What do you do for your day job?
Security architecture involves setting strategic direction within relevant security domains as well as working within projects to deliver solutions that closely align to business needs. So I work with IT architects, project managers, general managers for business systems, and general managers in the security space as well. Also, I work with the vendors who provide solutions.

How did you get into IT?
As a 15 year old, I saved my pocket money to purchase a computer that was average for its day. That’s when I realized there’s always something new to learn, there are always new challenges with computers. When I was 17, I began to learn about computer security and eventually decided to get a job in that field.

I held part-time jobs — generalist IT roles — while I went to university for a computer science degree. My real breakthrough occurred when I won a scholarship to do specialized security research during my senior year. Then I was offered a PhD scholarship. So I wound up in academia almost by accident. I did two years of my PhD before I realized I didn’t want to stay in academia. I prefer to be in industry. I was fortunate enough to have my resume picked up by a smaller specialized security firm (e-Secure) where I’ve been pretty much ever since.

What do you like about IT security? What interests you?
I like the continual challenge of and the tactics involved with protecting assets against attackers and new attack methodologies. For me, it’s staying ahead of the attackers, making sure we have adequate defenses in place to protect our information assets.

Based on your solid background in IT security, what knowledge or abilities do you think is most important for IT pros entering this field to possess?
Having a solid level of understanding of IT fundamentals across the board. To succeed, you need to be an IT generalist, but also an IT security specialist. Also, you need strong soft skills to be able to convey technical things not only to technical people, but to business people as well.

What are you doing when you're not working?
Spending quality time with my wife and two sons. I have a young family; we enjoy traveling and camping. I also play golf with my friends. Stuff away from computers.

Weekly Word on the Street: Cybersecurity Skills Still in Demand

LHague — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is the suggestion to view the current IT job market in the "glass is half-full" mode. Reports on the overall IT job market might not be glowing, but it's certainly doing a lot better than other industries in today's economy. IT prospects continue to grow at a steady pace. Let's just hope that forecasts of IT skills gaps are a thing of the past in the near future.

Wanted: Cybersecurity Skills

Amid a growing spate of cybersecurity attacks to both government and corporate networks, it's more apparent than ever that there just aren't enough folks with the skills necessary to combat these actions.

That's the opinion of a number of experts in this in-demand sector of the IT industry, a recent Reuters article noted.

"We don't have enough security professionals and that's a big issue," said Enrique Salem, chief executive at Symantec Corp, at last week's Reuters Media and Technology Summit in New York.

One of the theories spouted for the lack of qualified professionals to tackle the issue is the field's inherent reputation for being a "thankless" role.

"If you really look at security, it's like trying to prove a negative," said hacking expert Jeff Moss, a member of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council. "If you do security well, nobody comes and says 'good job.' You only get called when things go wrong." He estimated labor shortages in the cyber field will continue to grow for the near future with nary a light at the end of the tunnel.

One such hope is the National Security Agency's recently announced plans to build up a cyber-ops program at various U.S. universities in an effort to develop greater expertise in that select field.

IT Job Market Up, IT Hiring Down

It's a case of some good and not-so-good news for the IT job market these days, a new survey indicates.

While the overall job market for IT professionals is growing at a better rate than most other industries still struggling in today's economy, those tough times continue to keep firms skittish and hiring numbers moving at a snail's pace.

Based on findings from the recent hiring survey done by the tech job site Dice, IT employment should see some growth, but at a modest level, a new eWeek article states.

The survey found that nearly three-quarters of recruiters and hiring managers in the IT market expect companies to build out tech staff in the last half of 2012. That figure is an increase from 65 percent six months ago, according to Dice.

However, less than 20 percent of those recruiters and hiring managers high on the IT market expected "substantially" more hiring in the latter half of this year.

That tale of caution was also reflected in a separate poll of senior executives at technology firms by audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG in its annual "Technology Industry Business Outlook" report.

"Technology executives again have pushed out their expectation for the U.S. economic recovery, as two-thirds don't see the economy recovering substantially until the end of 2014 or later," according to KPMG study findings.

CIOs Must Bridge IT Talent Gap

A lot of folks in high places are panicky about the quality of young Americans exiting the U.S. educational pipeline.

Is it time for CIOs to the rescue?

That's the task placed before the executives in a recent article in CIO.com.

The item references a report in McKinsey Quarterly which stated that if American students continue performing poorly on international math and science assessment tests, the U.S. risks sliding into a "permanent national recession."

In addition, the Council on Foreign Relations warned such a dip in education in these sectors could threaten the country's national security, given the increased dependence on preventing cyber attacks.

Many young folks and their parents mistakenly believe that developing strong math and science skills is not important to the future, the article notes. The theory being, it states, that tech jobs are all shifting to Asia.

That's far from the case, given recent reports out of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasting double-digit growth in tech through the rest of this decade.

Amid all this, the CIO Executive Council, a peer advisory group which was founded by the publisher of CIO.com, oversees an initiative called Youth in IT, which aids CIOs in encouraging children from elementary through grade school levels to consider future careers in technology.

The hope is such an initiative will spread to other similar endeavors to help change the country's perception of IT roles at a young age.

College Finds Success Teaching IT to High School Students

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Indianapolis Public Schools students Christopher Williams, Nigel Leitzell, China Harris, Andrea Williams, and Scott Patrick earned their CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals certifications after an enrichment class in conjunction with Harrison College.

Harrison College's offer to teach a CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals technology class to a group of Indianapolis public high school students was a handshake deal that became a success. Thanks in no small part to the students' aptitude and hunger for IT, the partnership between Harrison, a CompTIA Academy Partner, and Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) is expanding beyond IT for the 2012-2013 school year.

"With the foundations we've put into place, we hope to expand Harrison partnerships across all our campuses to work with IPS students," says Marvin Bailey, president of Harrison College's northwest campus in Indianapolis.

The partnership began when Harrison College, a 110-year-old private career college with 12 campuses in Indiana and Ohio and an online program, answered IPS officials' call for help.

In the 2011-2012 school year, IPS moved to a year-round school calendar that provides 10 extra days of instruction, held during fall and spring breaks, to students who are at risk of failing. But the district also wanted to offer enrichment activities to qualified students during the intersessions as well. IPS Superintendent Eugene White asked his community advisory board, on which Bailey serves, to help provide IPS students new experiences and opportunities during the intersessions.

"Harrison College then came to the plate, saying 'We'd like to do this and help sponsor it,' " says Jeff McMahon, IPS' supervisor of instructional technology.

Joint Effort

Harrison College agreed to sponsor a Strata IT Fundamentals class for high school juniors and seniors over the district's two-week breaks in October and March. The certification, from the CompTIA basic series, covers PC components, functionality, compatibility and related technology topics. Both school district and college worked hard to support the program. IPS rigorously pre-qualified junior and senior students for the class based on their grades, attendance and faculty recommendations, and also provided bus transportation, lunch, and two staff members to monitor the students in class.

Class was held for five hours Monday through Thursday at the district's Forest Manor Professional Development Center and on Friday at a computer lab on Harrison's Indianapolis Northwest Campus. Harrison purchased textbooks from McGraw-Hill Education, and the CompTIA Academy program provided access to discounted exam vouchers.

The 20 boys and seven girls who attended the fall class came from all over the city. Many wanted skills and a certification to help them earn some extra money. One student already operated his own graphic design business.

Sean Milliner, Harrison College's IT program coordinator who taught the class, admits, "Going into it, I was apprehensive; I wasn't sure what to expect, but after a day there I was raring to go."

"The students had a lot of basic IT technology terminology down. All had extensive computer usage experience," Milliner explains. Most students participated in an after-school program, run by Net Literacy, a not-for-profit organization, that reclaims and refurbishes old computers. "They were extremely eager to learn, to get something that would be useful when it was time to get a job."

Millner taught the Strata materials during the fall break, offered an online module in the late winter, and used the spring intersession to refresh students' knowledge and prepare the students to take the Strata exam. The class toured Ball State University in nearby Muncie, and learned how to apply to college and register for classes. They also built computers from reclaimed components as a part of their training that they were allowed to take home for the school year. Nineteen returned for the spring intersession.

Only five of the 19 students passed the Strata exam, but Harrison and IPS officials are happy with the result. They learned they had underestimated the students' IT aptitude and overestimated the time students needed to learn the materials. Milliner and McMahon both speculate the pass rate would have been higher if students had been allowed to take the exam at the end of the fall intersession when the training was fresh in their minds.

Expanding Benefits

The impact of the program keeps rippling outward—for students, Harrison College and IPS. One student is enrolled in Ball State University's computer science program this fall; his parents credit the Strata class with setting his sights on college. An IPS staff member, a single mother who sat in on the class and passed the Strata exam, is now enrolled in Harrison College's IT program on scholarship.

"The kids absolutely loved it," said McMahon. "Even though they came from all over the city, they gelled as a group and really formed a bond."

In addition, the Strata class helped put the inner-city students on a more level playing field with more affluent peers, who have easy access to technology. "I can see the hunger that the kids have for this," McMahon said, adding "parents were elated and so thankful for the opportunity for their child to be in the program."

Both Harrison and IPS plan to repeat and expand the IT classes next spring.

For the 2012-2013 intersessions, the goal is offer a Strata class for sophomores and CompTIA A+ training for juniors and seniors. Eventually, Harrison hopes to offer an intersession CompTIA Network+ class for IPS seniors and maybe a summer program.

Beyond IT, Bailey reports that other Harrison/IPS partnerships are developing: Between Harrison's culinary institute The Chef's Academy and IPS' magnet school-based culinary program; between Harrison's health sciences program and IPS' medical magnet school; and between Harrison's criminal justice program and IPS' Shortridge Magnet High School for Law and Public Policy.

For now, in IT, the focus is on certifications, but ultimately Bailey would like to offer dual-credit programming in IPS classrooms—a project that will require Harrison to secure accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission (a status due late this year) and to have its credits and curricula accepted by the state's Core Transfer Library.

In the interim, Bailey is allocating seed funding and seeking additional support for partnerships with IPS that allow Harrison to better serve its community while promoting its opportunities and brand to IPS high school students.

"I'm hoping that after they work with us they'll realize 'I really like the intimacy of a small college and I'm going to enroll in Harrison's IT program,' " he says.

Weekly Word on the Street: Skilled IT Workers Sought

Jim Staats — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:39:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that it remains good to be in the IT job market, if one has to be in a job market at all. Choices abound, given the right skills and aptitude. This goes for anywhere in the globe, given the right skills.

Dice: Tech Job Market Rises Above

Despite economic woes, the job market for IT pros remains hot, a new Dice hiring survey indicates.

According to the survey, nearly three-quarters of IT-focused recruiters and hiring managers expected to build out tech staffs in the last half of this year, the technical staffing firm noted in a report on findings released this month.

That's an increase from an estimate of 65 percent for hiring expectations gathered by Dice six months back.

Technical professionals of all experience levels are being sought. As for existing IT staff, salary is trending upward, according to more than half of those who responded to the survey.

Findings are based on a survey done in mid-May of human resource managers, recruiters, consulting and staffing firms from across the country.

Want Women in Tech? Get Women Leaders in Tech

For more women to choose the technical career path, it'll take more women in leadership roles to help guide them.

That's the view of one such successful female executive in the industry in a recent VentureBeat opinion piece.

Karen Purcell, founder and president of PK Electrical, a Nevada-based engineering and design firm, said women are needed in leadership roles within the science, technology, engineering and math fields to help attract and mentor more women toward rewarding careers in these fields.

Noting the critical value of mentorship, Purcell said the role is necessary not only to teach technique and processes, but to ensure an outside interest is invested in another person's career advancement.

A woman's confidence, she said, is her lifeblood. Without it, women will second guess decisions, including career choices. Any lack of confidence on display will just feed the notion that women do not belong in these fields, Purcell said.

The lack of women in these fields needs to be addressed in school where not enough female students today are being encouraged to enter technology and related fields. As that changes and more women enter those career paths, young girls will begin to see those fields as viable career opportunities.

Purcell said young girls need to see older versions of themselves in technology to be able to visualize themselves in those careers in the future.

Skilled Workers Sought Across Globe

Whether it's IT workers in Ireland, engineers in Japan or sales reps in Taiwan, skilled workers are in demand the world over, according to a new survey.

More than one-third of the nearly 40,000 firms surveyed this year by Milwaukee-based ManpowerGroup report an inability to fill their open positions with qualified candidates, reported a recent item in Businessweek.

The greatest shortages resides in Asia with nearly half of employers surveyed citing difficulties in finding the right candidates to hire. That number was just above 40 percent in the Americas, up from 37 percent last year and 34 percent in 2010.

Ghost in the Hiring Machine

Maybe the problem in today's job market is the process itself?

That's the premise discussed in a recent Wall Street Journal piece, based on the more common use today of software in the early stages of the hiring process.

Human resource departments flooded with applications during this extended spike of unemployment have helped speed up the deployment of automatic services to take care of initial screening of potential job applicants. In many cases, this lack of human involvement in the early stage of the process has made it more rigid and specific, especially in terms of experience and skills.

Many times, software applications will seek out specific key words on applications. If those don't appear, tough luck.

Clearing the software hurdle is becoming a newly valued skill and almost as important as the other skills required to do the job for which the candidate is applying.

Those in the know say the trick is in parroting the words in the job description without just copying and pasting the text, which likely will cause the software to throw out the application.

Love of Technology Does Not Always Translate into Career Interest

Anna Matthai — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:00:00 GMT

For recent generations the digital era is not an emerging trend but simply the status quo. Previous generations have had to learn or "un-learn" and part ways with legacy technologies before adopting new technologies, but Gen Y (aka "millennials" born 1982-1994) and Gen Z (aka "digital natives" born 1995-2011) have been immersed in the technologies of the digital era since day one. Downloading an app or trying to get to what she needs on a computer is second nature to my six-year-old daughter who cannot comprehend a world without smartphones and "on-demand" access to everything.

CompTIA's Youth Opinions of Careers in Information Technology (IT) study confirms the overwhelmingly positive views of technology held by teens and young adults. A nearly ubiquitous 97 percent (NET) report loving/liking technology. The research indicates teens are more than just technology consumers. More than half of respondents in the CompTIA study report frequently serving as a facilitator of technology, helping family members or friends with questions or troubleshooting problems with computers, software, mobile devices or related technologies. An additional one-third of respondents report providing "tech support" services at least occasionally.

CompTIA research shows a relatively small pool of students with definitive interest in a career in IT, but a much larger pool of "maybes." This seems consistent with the level of uncertainty surrounding careers in general at that stage in life. An analysis of perceptions of IT careers reveals some positives and some negatives. Students see a strong relationship between certain IT careers and an aptitude for math and science. Interestingly, more respondents perceived of IT careers as an opportunity to help people than an opportunity to earn a large paycheck or engage in fun or interesting work.

Additionally, only 26 percent of respondents believe IT occupations are in demand, which is unusual given the low unemployment rate for IT workers and the approximately 300,000 IT job openings as of April 2012, according to the job board aggregator Indeed. This may reflect a feeling of cynicism toward the job market in general.

When presented with specific areas within IT, teens and young adults express much stronger interest. At the top, nearly half of the respondents could see themselves potentially designing video games, while 41 percent could envision creating apps for mobile devices. Video game design was especially high among boys, with an interest rate of 69 percent. Conversely, girls showed relatively more interest in web design (40 percent vs. 38 percent for boys). Clearly, specific examples of IT occupations resonate more than a generic reference to IT.

According to the data, lack of familiarity with the IT field is cited by teens and young adults as a primary factor contributing to low interest in the IT career path. This knowledge gap exists for boys and girls at about the same rate. The other primary reason for a reluctance to consider an IT career is a general lack of interest in the field of IT. This factor rates especially high among girls (53 percent vs. 28 percent for boys). CompTIA's Advancing Women in IT community aims to inspire women to consider IT as a career choice.

As noted previously, the data shows that teenage boys and girls love technology; many are power users helping family members, and many express interest in specific areas of technology such as mobile app design. And yet, 44 percent indicate a lack of interest in the IT field. Clearly, the many stakeholders affected by this situation, such as educators, IT companies, career developers and really anyone relying on technological innovation, have to put their heads together to figure out ways to address this challenge.

To learn more about youth opinions of the IT industry, check out the Youth Opinions of Careers in Information Technology (IT) study. The complete report is available at no cost to CompTIA members who can access the report at www.comptia.org or by contacting research@comptia.org.

Weekly Word on the Street: The Emerging Data Scientist Role

Jim Staats — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:30:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a reminder to constantly maintain and expand your personal skill set. Otherwise, you might just take a long fall down that ever-growing "tech skills gap" separating you from that next great job.

Widening Tech Skills Gap Signals Changing Jobs Market

The growing space separating those IT job openings and the candidates with the necessary expertise is the clearest sign yet that this segment of the job market is in the midst of a veritable revolution, experts say.

As tales of this skills gap have become more commonplace in the past year, hiring experts, IT managers and executives in charge of headcount agree job seekers must prepare for significant changes in the years to come, according to a recent article in Computerworld.

Companies today are already shifting to outsource IT operations to service providers and other traditional IT roles to other business units.

Recruiters suggest the IT workers who wish to stay relevant and in demand must constantly focus on training and key industry trends.

"Everybody is a free agent, navigating the corporate chaos," said one head of an executive search firm in the San Francisco Bay Area. "People who are faring a little bit better are constantly cultivating their careers on a variety of fronts."

Certain skills in demand include security on mobile devices, infrastructure, network security and mainframe skills.

Others in the recruiting world suggest the issue isn't so much a lack of deep technical skills, but rather strategic, business analysis and other soft skills.

Wanted: Data Scientists

That in-demand data professional imbued with business, analytical and computer skills is wanted more and more by various market segments even as the role itself continues to be defined.

The critical and general nature of the data scientist role allows it to be a slot of need in multiple industries and, in return, well compensated, notes a Network World article.

"There are data scientist jobs available today - you just have to have the right combination of skills," said consulting executive Laura Kelley.

With so many firms becoming data-centric these days, these individuals are tasked with forming logic out of that data that leads to valuable business decisions. Experts say it's not as simple as plugging in this role with a computer scientist, statistician or MBA, professionals who lack either the business or technological side of the ledger.

Instead, people today are suggesting a shakeup in the thinking for filling this role to include the incorporation of fields such as physics and psychology. "What companies called a data scientist a year ago is different than their requirements today," Kelley said.

Your Country Needs You

The federal Homeland Security agency hopes a new cybersecurity task force will help beef up the cyber workforce in public, private and education sectors, the latest sign of the government's growing focus on security issues in the tech world.

The idea behind the task force, announced this week by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, is to develop strong cybersecurity career paths both within the agency as well as in organizations in charge of critical civilian government networks, an article in Network World notes.

Computer engineers, scientists, analysts and IT specialists will be sought to become part of what Napolitano recently described as a "world-class cybersecurity team."

To accomplish this task, the new group is expected to create numerous scholarship, fellowship and internship programs among universities and other institutions. In the past four years, the National Cyber Security Division of the U.S. government has grown by more than 600 percent. President Obama recently asked Congress for a 74 percent increase in the cyber budget in Homeland Security as part of fiscal year 2013.

Career in IT? Don't Make These Mistakes

Everything is done for a reason, unless you don’t have to do them.

One enterprising IT professional who recently made a go of it with his own business offers his tips for any would-be peers on what not to do on the way to a successful career.

In a recent item in InformationWeek, Mike Townsend, a veteran IT pro who started Zing Checkout, a Los Angeles-based provider of online point-of-sale systems, highlighted the following list of four career mistakes:

Undervaluing your skills: Engineering and development talent is in high demand these days, so make sure to know just how valuable your skills are and how much you can charge for putting them to use.
Lousy networking: Regardless of how much of an introvert you are, keep up good relationships with a select group of people.
Putting too much stock in school: People hire you more for your skills than for what school you attended.
Wearing blinders: Long hours and devotion to the work at hand can prevent one from seeing what all is out there.

CompTIA A+ Courseware Now Available in Portuguese

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:07:00 GMT

Instructor-led training courseware for the CompTIA A+ certification exam is now available in Portuguese from Logical Operations. The courseware is available in print and electronic versions for both instructors and students.

A platinum content provider in the CompTIA Authorized Partner Program (CAPP), Logical Operations offers a Portuguese version of the CompTIA A+ courseware in product bundles containing:

Stand-alone courseware certified with a 5.0/5.0 ProCert rating
e-Book: Digital replica of classroom courseware utilizing the latest viewing technology, allowing students to highlight text, take notes, and perform additional tasks
Mobile Reference: HTML version of printed courseware for any mobile device that supports a web browser, providing students with "on-the-go" access to course material
Assessments: Detailed evaluations designed to identify competency gaps and validate comprehension

The CompTIA A+ certification validates that candidates have the foundation-level IT knowledge and skills necessary for PC repair and support roles. The courseware preps candidates for two exams required to earn the CompTIA A+ certification. The first exam tests knowledge of computer technology, networking, security, and customer service. The second exam focuses on practical application, and tests the candidate's ability to apply the right tools and troubleshooting techniques.

Ideal candidates for the CompTIA A+ certification include IT professionals with at least 500 hours of hands-on lab or field experience, such as enterprise technicians, field service technicians, PC or support technicians, and IT administrators. Large corporations such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Cisco include CompTIA A+ in their certification tracks.

New Security Cert Focuses on the Big Picture Puzzle, IT Vet says

Jim Staats — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 14:00:00 GMT

When it comes down to it, any professional accreditation is only as good as its relevance in the field. According to veteran security engineer Jeremy Hoel, the new CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) certification covers the big picture for today's needs.

"It's very useful," said Hoel. "It seemed to be much more focused on the reality of what tools go where and why and how multiple parts fit together."

Hoel, a senior security engineer for global IT services provider PE Systems Inc., said he already could see the benefits within his own workplace.

"It would allow co-workers to demonstrate an understanding of multiple security parts of a network and how they should come together," said the resident of Herndon, Va.

Hoel said he became fascinated with computers at a very young age, an interest that served him well for his first official IT role as a systems administrator during a stint in the U.S. Navy.

He continued to apply his technical expertise to the installation and maintenance of NT, Novell and Exchange systems on the submarines on which he served. Once he exited the service, Hoel spent more than a decade contracting for the U.S. Army in various technical roles that began to shift to more security-focused duties.

Hoel said he gravitated toward a professional path in IT security because it was not only more technical, but "more specialized and something that every business needs. It's also not easily understood or taught as much in schools."

For that reason, he jumped at the chance to serve as an early beta tester for CASP.

Hoel, who counts CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+ and CISSP among his various industry credentials, said most of the information in the CASP exam had been gained through his own work experience, more so than previous exams.

He described CASP as somewhat akin to a joint CompTIA Security+/CompTIA Network+ exam. "As in it covers more practical application of both of those exams," Hoel said.

No matter how experienced one is in the field of IT security, Hoel said, it will always remain a challenge to keep up with the constant carousel of technology products, languages, web development tools and vulnerabilities.

Any qualified industry professional with the opportunity to have CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+ and CASP under his or her belt, Hoel said, "should have a good logical, theoretical basis of how network security should work in practical application."

Weekly Word on the Street: Cybersecurity Jobs Abound

Jim Staats — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that it's good -- very good -- to be a cybersecurity pro. To say you're wanted is an understatement. What is also clearly wanted, more and more, is a 212-area code tech headquarters. College degree? These days, not as much.

What's a College Degree Worth?

Recent and not-so-recent circumstances point to a decline in value of the college degree -- and traditional education as a whole -- as the end-all, be-all foundation in the tech world.

At least that's the view of one Silicon Valley-based headhunter in a recent piece in ReadWriteWeb.

It's hard to ignore the IT industry is built on the shoulders of college dropouts like Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Steve Jobs. Their success lends credence to the idea that getting ahead in tech doesn't always require a degree.

The headhunter, whose identity was withheld for the article, said a college degree can help, but for a job seeker with the right experience and necessary training, not having one isn't a deal-breaker.

"A computer science degree from 1987 isn't worth much if they haven't stayed current," she said. "I'd rather present a self-taught developer if he has a couple of shipped products under his belt. Clients are interested in ability. If you have the chops and the experience, you're getting hired."

The exception, the headhunter noted, was a high-profile executive described as a "front-pager," charged with instilling corporate confidence in a board of directors, public and investors.

The way current tech executives are working their way up the ranks, though, signal a change in this way of thinking.

Degrees may become optional in the future, but assessments through true experience will not.

Clarion Call for Cybersecurity Pros

If you have cybersecurity chops, your government needs you. Everyone does.

Amid a job market still defined as recessionary, the cybersecurity field remains one of job vacancies aplenty, yet few qualified applicants, according to a recent article in the Washington Post.

Tom Kellermann, VP at Trend Micro and a member of President Obama's cybersecurity commission, said the government must hire at least 10,000 cybersecurity experts in the near future while the private sector seeks a talent pool four times that number.

Experts distinguish between two cyberattack targets: state-sponsored intellectual capital and digital infrastructure, such as power grids and banking systems.

The cost of such attacks could reach into the hundreds of billions. Hence, the need for combatants to jump into the fray.

The U.S. government, experts agree, is nowhere near equipped to handle a catastrophic attack, yet not enough digital experts are entering the cybersecurity field to meet the growing demand.

Booz Allen Hamilton, a private security firm, has hired 3,000 cybersecurity personnel in the past two years alone.

"Every company in (the area) is looking for the same thing," said Edwin Kanerva, VP at the firm. "There's just not enough of them. The gene pool is small."

According to a 2009 study from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, less than 6 percent of all graduates earned degrees in computers and mathematics and of those, only two percent earned a degree directly relating to cybersecurity.

More appealing starting salaries for software developers and computer engineers are one reason for such low figures, analysts note.

Startups Take Shine to Big Apple

As has been noted in this space recently, New York is becoming an increasingly attractive alternative to Silicon Valley for tech startups.

These days, even fledgling firms born on the West Coast are packing up and heading east, according to a recent item in The New York Times.

A big reason for the shift, according to experts, is the technology industry trend toward consumer products and applications as opposed to Internet and computing framework. Big Apple startups benefit from proximity to the heart of the media, advertising and fashion industries.

A traditional lack of venture capital funding outside of Silicon Valley is in flux, as well. According to a recent report produced by a New York-based public policy organization Center for an Urban Future, almost 500 startups in New York received venture capital funding from 2007 to 2011. The number of VC deals in the city during that time has risen 32 percent, while figures in other areas, including Silicon Valley, dropped.

How to Succeed as a Woman in IT

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 31 May 2012 13:33:00 GMT

High school students learn about potential careers at Harvey Mudd College's Women Engineers and Scientists of Tomorrow event in February.

Photo: Schenck and Schenck Photography

Through her advice and her own career story, Maria Klawe, president of STEM-centric Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif., offers many insights about how women can secure the experience, knowledge and support for successful IT or STEM-related careers.

Take hard-core computer science courses—lots of them—and don't be intimidated.

Continuously taking computer science courses is a matter of necessity, given technology’s lightning speed rate of change, Klawe contends. “If some students appear to know more than you do, ignore it,” says Klawe, a computer scientist, mathematician, and a Microsoft board member. “Research tells us there are lots of students who start college with zero experience in computer science and do really well.” To those who are not enrolled in college, or who can’t or don’t want to be, Klawe suggests trying one of the free online computer science courses offered by MIT and Stanford. “See how you like it,” she says. “It’s a fantastic way to have access to the same knowledge that they are teaching at MIT and Stanford.” Klawe encourages honing software programming skills to capitalize on the current shortage of software developers. “The most important thing is to have a reasonable knowledge of software development, testing and quality assurances.”

Find a peer group. If you can't find one, make one.

“Male or female, it’s important that you make sure you have people who are going to be encouraging and supportive,” says Klawe. If you are in college, talk to a female faculty member or a female graduate student about what’s available or about starting a peer group. Talk to your department chair about getting funding to go to the annual Grace Hopper Celebration of Women Conference, a program of the Anita Borg Institute of Women & Technology, she suggested.

Actively and Strategically Seek Advice and Guidance

Throughout her career, Klawe has periodically sought advice of people who were more senior than she. For example: She once buttonholed three leading mathematicians at a conference about whether earning a PhD in computer science was a crazy idea or a great opportunity for a person like her who already had a doctorate in mathematics. (All three were very encouraging.) “I’ve only had two people not be friendly and helpful,” she says. “The vast majority of people you ask to provide advice are actually very willing to do so.”

Cultivate Your Own Professional Development

Early in her career, Klawe joined IBM Research, where her husband Nicholas Pippenger also worked. The stint at IBM turned out to be a professional boon. “In those days, they had phenomenally good professional development for leadership,” Klawe says. At IBM, Klawe learned about employee supervision, goal-setting, performance evaluations, compensation systems and leadership skills, hard and soft. “I also gained lots of insight about who I was as a person and what were going to be my strengths and weaknesses,” she says. Klawe continues to participate in training workshops, and has recently discovered the benefits of executive coaches. “They’re great!” Say Yes to Leadership Opportunities One of the mathematicians Klawe buttonholed decades ago was Ronald Graham of the University of California, San Diego. It was Graham who later suggested to Klawe that she might be a good trustee for the American Mathematical Society. “It was 1991, the year I turned 40, so I was relatively young,” recalls Klawe. She indeed became an AMS trustee, a role she calls a great learning experience. “Once you start taking on these leadership positions, it opens up the possibility for other leadership positions,” she says.

Network, Network, Network

According to Klawe, the biggest challenge for women in IT is that “there are just very few women around.” But, she says, “The best way to cope with that is simply networking.” Get to know women throughout your company, in other companies, and even other industries, she says, “so if you are feeling isolated, you can talk to somebody about it and feel less isolated.” In general, Klawe is rabid proponent of all types of networking, with men or women, in a variety of different professional environments. “It’s amazing how much just getting to know different people in different places can help you, not just in terms of people who can give advice at critical moments, but also people who can connect you to other people who are going to be helpful.”

Study Hard, Be Realistic in Pursuing IT Career, Advises Vet

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

IT certifications can help a veteran land a job, but veterans need to understand how much work earning the credentials will require and the salary the resulting IT job will command, says Army veteran Ryan McCauley.

Since October 2011, McCauley has used funding from the Post 9/11 GI Bill to earn CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and other industry certifications at New Horizons Learning Center in Durham, N.C., while working a full-time job.

It's been hard, attending 12 hours of class at New Horizons while working 40 hours each week. "I sleep when I can; I sometimes skip meals," he says. But he believes the coursework, the certifications, and career services he received at New Horizons helped him land his current job a technical support specialist at Carolina IT, a managed IT services firm in Raleigh, N.C., in February 2012. Over the next five years, he plans to work his way through Cisco's routing and switching certifications, from CCNA to the expert level CCIE.

He's heard some veterans erroneously hope for a $70,000-a-year job after earning CompTIA A+. "In this job market, employers will want to get the best bang for buck," he cautions, noting that with eight years IT experience (in the Army and the private sector), he currently earns about $45,000 working as a technical support specialist at a managed IT services firm in Raleigh, N.C.

Starting IT job salaries can vary by region, industry sector (public vs. private), size of firm, benefits, the position's management requirements and the employee's education level. The median salary of computer support specialists, an occupation many CompTIA A+ holders pursue, was $47,660 in May 2011, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Be sure you have set your expectations realistically," McCauley advises fellow vets working towards a career in IT. "Devote yourself to the dream that you have. Put your nose to the grindstone and study like you mean it."

CompTIA created the Troops to Tech Careers program to provide opportunities and resources for veterans interested in the rapidly growing IT field. For more information, visit www.troopstotechcareers.org.

Weekly Word on the Street: White House Wants Tech Innovators

Jim Staats — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:30:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a clarion call for the IT pro who never sleeps on what he or she knows amid an always changing technical landscape - and that goes all the way to the CIO. Who knows, show your tech skills and you could even end up in the White House.

Constant Learning Curve for IT Pros

Given the ever-expanding reach of technology, the smart IT professional will seek out ways to expand skill sets in comparable measures, says one industry veteran.

While the IT job market is doing somewhat better than other industries these days, executive Jim Ditmore notes in a recent commentary piece for InformationWeek that amid the rise of mobility and big data, it will be the individuals with a constant thirst for knowledge who will succeed.

"An IT engineer or manager who not only understands these new technologies but also can deliver solutions in complex business settings is far more valuable than an expert focused on one aspect of the technology portfolio," said Ditmore, CIO of Barclays Global Retail Bank.

Ditmore advised junior staff to take training to earn fundamental certifications while seeking out specific areas of expertise. Mid-level staffers, Ditmore said, should consider personal goals in deciding which technical areas to build upon while laying the groundwork for a good internal reputation.

Senior staffers should already have a solid foundation and path to either CIO or principal engineer status, but can always build upon ways to become an effective leader.

"Even in this tough economy, opportunities abound for those with outstanding skills, experience, and leadership," Ditmore said.

White House as Tech Incubator?

Sure, as has been noted in this space before, startups are percolating in Silicon Valley and burgeoning tech hotspots such as New York remain scorching, but what about the seat of the U.S government as tech mecca, luring talented superstars?

The White House going all in for super startup staffers is the goal of the recently launched digital roadmap and Presidential Innovation Fellows program announced this week by the government's top techie, according to an item on GigaOM.

U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park called out for "badass innovators" interested in "throwing their hats in the ring" for a select group of 15 coders, designers and other innovators for six- to 12-month fellowships in DC starting in July.

Five areas will be the main focus of the fellowship: open data, health information, the online system of MyGov, an RFP program targeting startups and a USAID campaign.

The announcement, made as part of the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in New York, underscores the government's focus to put technology to better use. An additional hope is that such efforts help the government work better with small, high-growth startups on tech solutions.

CIOs Must Balance Business and Technology Roles

Sure, it's more helpful in this era of fingertip availability of consumer data to be business savvy, but CIOs cannot risk going this direction at the expense of their technology roots, according to a consulting executive.

In a piece for CIO.com, Bernard Golden, head of cloud computing and virtualization consulting firm HyperStratus, counters the recent notion that future heads of IT will devote the majority of their time to marketing and finance matters over technology needs.

Golden said many of those describing this premise are under the assumption that technology will become so standardized and insignificant that it can be treated like any other area of a business. A vision, he suggests, that is shortsighted.

"Technical skills in IT management are important today like never before -- and that fact is becoming increasingly evident," Golden said. "In the future, CIOs will need deep technical skills. A CIO with even average technical skills will not be only inadequate for his or her job, he or she will represent a danger to the overall health of the company."

He said the "CIO as business leader" premise is simply nonsensical for it forgets the fact that "IT, too, is becoming increasingly complex."

New applications coming into the realm today require leaders who truly understand them as they become critical components of the success of many businesses today and tomorrow, Golden said.

Navy Vet Uses IT Certifications to Land Her Ideal Job

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:00 GMT

Mellisa Stroman

When her post-retirement career didn't work out as planned, Navy veteran Mellisa Stroman trained with New Horizons of Southern California to earn IT certifications and get the IT instructor job she really wanted.

Stroman worked in IT nearly her entire Navy career while raising two children with her husband, also a Navy sailor. "I just always wanted to go into the computer field," she says.

From 1985 through 2005, Stroman's Navy rotations included maintaining an IBM mainframe system in New Orleans, working at an IT help desk in Japan, teaching IT to sailors at a San Diego training center, and managing the network and crew computers on the USS Bonhomme Richard when the ship deployed to Iraq after 9/11. She retired from the Navy as an Information Systems Technology Chief Petty Officer in 2005.

After retiring, Stroman earned her real estate license, thinking it would be a good career option while her children were still in grade school in Murrieta, Calif. By 2009, however, real estate in southern California was a bust, and Stroman re-entered the IT workforce via a help desk job, working for defense contractor SAIC on a swing shift.

She enjoyed helping fleet ships all over the world resolve problems with IT networks and equipment. "When you help someone on a ship over in Bahrain, their appreciation comes through," Stroman says. "It's rewarding, but I wanted to take it to the next level and teach again."

A teaching job would give Stroman a day-time work schedule in addition to face-to-face interaction with students, but she was concerned about the four-year gap in her hands-on IT work experience. From 2005 to 2009, shipboard IT systems had changed a lot; for example, administrators were managing servers through virtualization.

To fill in knowledge gaps, Stroman began training for IT certifications at New Horizons Southern California in San Diego, using her 9/11 GI Bill benefits to pay for training and exam vouchers. Stroman worked through the program with a co-worker, doing their jobs at SAIC and training at New Horizons SoCal on the same schedule.

Stroman acknowledges that completing the training and passing the exams is hard with a full-time job and family. "You really have to find time to study daily, she says. "To see the goal through, you have to be committed."

Over the months, Stroman earned the CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+ credentials, as well as the Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist certification, and began to apply for instructor jobs. In April, Stroman landed the SAIC job she wanted: teaching sailors about shipboard networks.

"Getting the certifications has helped me to move into the position as an instructor by boosting my confidence," Stroman says.

"It's been a good refresher to refine my skills," she says of the certification training. "The credentials show potential employers that I still have the knowledge, and that they should hire me with all the experience I have as well."

"If the vets are not taking advantage of this program, they are really losing out on an excellent opportunity," Stroman says of her fellow veterans eligible for Post 9/11 benefits.

Weekly Word on the Street: IT Pros Want Fulfillment

Jim Staats — Fri, 18 May 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a clear slap-you-in-the-face theme of IT worker as wanderer and employers needing to up the ante if they hope to halt high-tech walkabouts. Mounting evidence in the form of surveys, polls and industry analysis prove that for the talented IT pro, it's not always about the money.

Training a Key Retention Factor

For wandering high-tech workers and antsy employers amid an improving economy, greener pastures aren't always the color of money.

Talented professionals in the tech industry are often seeking venues where their skill set and mindset are built up as much as their bank accounts, a USA Today article notes.

The piece analyzes this trend by highlighting one IT services firm that is seeking to attract and retain talent through a beefed-up training program.

Tony DiBenedetto, head of Tampa-based Tribridge, hopes to add an additional 250 employees this year to its current flock of 450 workers. His firm hopes to accomplish this with its newly launched Tribridge Academy that trains new workers in necessary skills and keeps in-house employees proficient on latest trends.

Amid a rapidly changing industry of cloud computing, social networking skills and mobile reliance, DiBenedetto sees this solution as the best way to compete.

"We're growing so fast we're outpacing the industry," he said. "There's only so much talent out there" that can be lured from competitors.

Cloud-related companies are estimated to account for an additional 472,000 jobs in the coming five years, a recent Sand Hill Group and SAP American Inc. study found.

Dice Poll: Not Enough Tech Bosses as Teachers

IT managers aren't making the grade when it comes to being a good source of personal development for their employees, a recent poll indicated.

The poll, conducted by tech staffing site Dice.com, indicated a majority of respondents placed high value on their relationship with their manager as a key employment retention factor. But those managers are focusing on the wrong things, according to a recent Network World item.

Most IT professionals (61 percent of those polled) viewed their current managers as graders rather than teachers who could help nurture the talents of those who work for them.

"Tech professionals do their best work when it's a safe environment to try new solutions, explore alternatives and fail," said Tom Silver, a senior VP for Dice.

Although turnover rates have been below average for several years in a row, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, tech managers should be wary as things begin to improve in the economy, Silver said.

"Frankly, companies haven't felt the repercussions of sub-par workplaces in the last three years," he said. "But, the gap between the importance of the employee-manager relationship and the way it's developing is unacceptable. Both sides need to remember this is a lasting connection and one worth the effort."

Dice.com listed 84,911 available tech jobs on its site as of May 1.

A Five-Pack of Outsourcing Trends

A need to go smaller and an uptick in security and cloud computing are a few things to keep an eye on in the world of outsourcing, a new CIO.com report suggests.

The article highlights five trends worth watching:

The size of IT services contracts continues its decade-long decline. While the mega- and mid-range deals remained steady, the number of contracts worth $100 million or less have tripled.
Economic conditions continue to push outsourcing providers toward pricing models such as joint ventures, revenue-sharing arrangements and business outcome-based pricing.
Multi-source deals remain the flavor of the moment with IT services providers serving as end-to-end service integrators.
Security liability limits have spiked as a major negotiation issue in outsourcing deals.
Cloud computing and remote infrastructure management have provided the outsourcing deal pipeline with a healthy boost.

Survey: Happy, But Mindful, IT Workforce

A majority of currently-employed IT workers keep an eye out for something better, despite the fact they're happy where they are, new survey findings suggest.

More than half (53 percent) of the IT professionals surveyed for the Randstad Engagement Index said they were open to new employment opportunities, despite findings that also showed most IT workers remained engaged, loyal and inspired, a CIO.com article on the survey indicated.

The survey, which polled 3,000 IT professionals across the U.S. in February, measures the attitudes and perceptions impacting employee engagement within companies.

Within the IT segment of survey findings, a few key numbers:

63 percent of IT employees enjoy going to work every day
75 percent feel inspired to do their best every day
67 percent indicate they trust their company leadership to make good decisions for the workforce
80 percent feel secure in their jobs and optimistic about future
60 percent report either little or no concern about possible pay cuts

Survey findings indicated that amid all those rosy figures, the readiness to jump ship is palpable. Confidence in the job market picking up in 2012 is a primary reason many feel that way, results showed.

Improvements in IT job hiring tends to be a good sign for overall employment growth, said Bob Dickey, an executive for Randstad Technologies and Technisource, which conducted the survey.

"The economy is picking up as more companies start new project initiatives and make investments in infrastructure and development," he said.

Accordingly, employers would be advised, the article notes, to focus on employee engagement and recognition for their contributions if they wish to stem an impending exodus.

Talk the Security Talk? Now, Walk the Walk

Jim Staats — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:37:00 GMT

Young Nik Roby is not only a veteran of the IT field; he’s a serial achiever when it comes to industry security credentials. For him, it’s a simple case of current events and proving grounds, and one certification stands above the rest: CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP).

“I’ve taken the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) and passed, along with CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) - Security, and various other exams, but the CASP was my favorite,” said Roby, 29. “I like how it focused on modern technology. I thought it was very relevant. The fact that it focused on real life skills was very huge, not just (something) where I had to memorize a few things.”

Roby, a network engineer and instructor for cybersecurity firm KEYW Corporation, knows a thing or two about real life skills. A system administrator during his college years at the University of Maryland, Roby plied his technical skills for the U.S. Army for eight years as an information systems security officer, before moving to the private sector two years ago.

He remains a man of action, not just words.

“To me, it definitely looks like CASP is trying to compete with the skills for upper level exams requiring people to prove they have skills in modern topics and not just (the ability) to memorize,” said Roby. “(Candidates) have to know how to follow the rules of the workplace.”

The Maryland resident said he put a high value on the significant hands-on portions of the exam.

“I like how it makes you prove that you can do things and not just memorize some rules,” he said.

Roby, whose other industry certifications include CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+, said he appreciated the immediacy of topics covered in the CASP exam. Much of it, he concluded, was data that “other standardized tests can’t cover yet.”

Roby said he felt fortunate to come into the exam on the heels of previous security examinations. Even with that benefit, Roby said he was initially astonished to learn of his success in the admittedly challenging exam. He estimated that about 70 percent of the information tested as part of the CASP exam was directly applicable to his daily job duties.

Roby was so impressed with the CASP program, in fact, that he printed out and correlated his results and exam objectives to give to his supervisor, along with a copy of his certification.

“I think (CASP) is a good judge of somebody who has a pretty in-depth knowledge of networking security,” he said. “Someone who can pass this has relevant skills on modern networks and fairly decent knowledge on what topics are out there. It conveys to me that this person has a good bit of knowledge.”

When he does value words over actions, it’s a matter of speed – as in, how fast word spreads.

“I’ve mentioned to my colleagues about the exam and that I thought it was great, but it’s so new that no one heard of it,” said Roby in a sentiment that’s changing rapidly.

Weekly Word on the Street: Big Data and the Big Apple

Jim Staats — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a couple more shots-in-the-arm for job-seekers either in the process of beefing up their cybersecurity skills and experience or about to embark on such a journey. That sector of the marker is becoming more and more attractive. And for those not interested in preventing cyber attacks, one can't go wrong aiming to tame the beast known as "big data." And, if you're looking for a worthy tech locale to put down tech roots, ever heard of a place called New York City?

Cybersecurity: Certification Among Key Hiring Tips

What's it take to get snapped up for the ever-growing batch of attractive cybersecurity jobs in government, financial services, retail and other sectors?

Based on the advice of several experts in a recent Network World article, official certification, a keen eye, skill and mobile technology, for starters.

The key recommendation from the people who know, according to the article, is to earn a security-related certification, especially if the target is a commercial or defense-related IT security role. Credentials recommended included CompTIA Security+.

Jacob Braun, president and COO of Waka Digital Media, an IT security consulting firm, said such offerings "demonstrate a body of knowledge and experience."

Other items that help lead to a cybersecurity role include experience in the U.S. military or a law enforcement agency, knowledge of Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), experience with mobile security and ability to analyze log monitoring data for trends.

Fed CIO Concern #1? Cybersecurity

Continuing with a theme, recent survey data indicates the big issue giving federal chief information officers the most wrinkles is the protection of government data from cyberattacks.

According to a Nextgov report, one-fifth of the respondents to the Federal CIO Survey by TechAmerica/Grant Thornton LLP rated cybersecurity as their top concern, surpassing cost control, human capital, IT modernization efforts and mobility.

In the survey, which featured 40 executives from three dozen federal organizations, concerns outlined included an inconsistently applied government security framework and lack of general quality when it came to cybersecurity issues.

Other news to come out of last week's release of survey data included the unfortunate nugget that cost control remained a high concern as well, with an eye towards consolidating redundant systems and canceling underperforming IT projects.

Big Data, Big Investors

The surging need to manhandle massive amounts of consumer data is spurring venture capital firms to throw big wads of money into firms with the technology to address this need.

The latest example of this is last week's announced $26 million investment into big data software maker Birst by a handful of VC firms, a recent Computerworld article notes.

That announcement follows the trend of big investment from venture and growth capital firms into the big data movement.

In November, Cloudera, which sells and supports a commercial version of open-source Hadoop big data technology, was the beneficiary of $40 million in a round of funding which has since topped $75 million.

Other firms to collect big investment paydays include Domo, which offers cloud-based big data services, software maker Splunk, Teradata, Tibco and Qlik Technologies.

Investor interest is coming from the growing enterprise demand for big data tools quickly in the face of tech trends including cloud computing, mobility and social media, experts suggest.

"Big data has become big business," said Greg McDowell, an analyst with investment banker JMP Securities. "Companies are looking for tools to store, manage, manipulate, analyze, aggregate, combine and integrate data."

He said the market for big data tools is expected to rise from $9 billion in 2011 to $86 billion in the coming decade. Spending on big data tools, McDowell added, will make up more than 10 percent of all enterprise IT spending by 2020.

NYC, Not SV, as the Tech Mecca?

Look out Silicon Valley, the rapidly growing technology industry in New York City is nipping at your heels to become the end-all, be-all of the tech world, a new study shows.

The technology industry is growing faster in the "Big Apple" than anywhere else in America and only trails that well-known West Coast locale as a hub for developing new technology companies, according to a study titled "New Tech City," conducted by the Center for an Urban Future, The New York Times reported.

Study findings show that 486 technology firms were born in the city since 2007 and recent economic troubles have yet to slow such growth.

Investors interviewed for the survey noted that New York City has surpassed the Boston area as the nation's second-leading tech firm breeding ground, behind only Silicon Valley.

Between 2007 and 2011, survey findings show, NYC was the only place in the nation where the number of deals to finance tech start-ups increased.

Reasons being credited for this trend include efforts of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to make the city more attractive for the industry and the fact that the current wave of innovation is more about designing creative applications for mobile technology for multiple industries rather than computer chip design.

When you think of where dominance reigns in industries such as finance and advertising, you think of New York City.

The study found that tech start-ups were concentrated in Lower Manhattan and Midtown, mainly due to access to better broadband access - a bit of a sore spot that's becoming more glaring as the city's tech profile rises.

Matching Veteran Job Needs to the IT Industry

Janet Pinkerton — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:00:00 GMT

Click for full infographic

Veterans desperately need jobs; the IT industry needs skilled workers. CompTIA is urging the supply of motivated veterans to take advantage of the industry demand for skilled IT workers.

Veteran unemployment statistics are staggering—850,000 veterans (including 250,000 from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars) can't find work now, and 1 million more veterans are expected to seek to join the civilian work force over the next five years. Joblessness among youngest veterans (those 18 to 24 years old) is about 30 percent, twice the national average for that age group.

CompTIA believes that a segment of these unemployed vets can help fill the estimated 300,000 IT jobs that remain open in the United States, especially now that funding from the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Workforce Investment Act, and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment VetSuccess program can be used for veterans to pursue IT training and certification.

CompTIA created its Troops to Tech Careers program to provide veterans with opportunities and resources to build a civilian career in the rapidly growing IT field. The program's website includes information about how to find IT training locations and select the right IT certifications to pursue, and also a corporate registry of companies giving hiring priority to IT certified veterans. For more information, contact troopstotechcareers@comptia.org.

O’Sullivan Finds IT Career Success on the Pitch

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Dan O'Sullivan’s new IT career gives him plenty of diversity in both what he does and whom he works with. Six months after he earned CompTIA A+ and Microsoft certifications, O'Sullivan holds two IT jobs in the United Kingdom. He works for Venatrack, whose software tracks movement in football matches ("soccer" matches for American readers) and provides 3D digital playback for post-match analysis. He also provides IT support for Norsk European, an international logistics company.

His day-to-day work involves setting up, testing and fixing IT systems and software to ensure that complex networks function correctly. On match days, he is on hand to support clients using Venatrack software to make sure the system runs perfectly.

"I'm already earning a great wage in a career I see myself in for the rest of my life," O'Sullivan says, adding, "Now I wake up each morning knowing I'm doing something I love."

O'Sullivan credits his early career success to the CompTIA and Microsoft certifications. "Both are internationally recognized," and having them on a resume is a "massive advantage."

Anyone interested in technology should consider a career in IT, he believes. "It's interesting, varied and rewarding—and we'll always need IT professionals," he says. "Technology is changing the world, and to put it bluntly, that's where the money is."

For more details, see Dan O’Sullivan’s personal success story.

Weekly Word on the Street: IT Pros on the Move

Jim Staats — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:15:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is another shout-out for that seemingly superhero IT pro who can wrangle big data - i.e. the elusive data scientist. Also on tap is another survey that shares some good and some bad about those working in IT, a generation shift the industry has created in India and a virtual invitation for techies with a hankering to relocate to the Emerald Isle.

Survey: IT Pros a Hot Commodity

If findings from a recent survey commissioned by a recruitment firm are correct, IT professionals are big on seeking greener pastures while the getting is good. Of the more than 1,000 IT workers surveyed by Hays IT, 73 percent were considering switching jobs, a ComputerWeekly item noted.

Because of that, more than half of those surveyed said they received bonuses and pay raises from their current employers. The current economic climate doesn't appear to be hurting this particular sector, with 59 percent of IT pros in the survey noting their careers hadn't been hurt by the recession.

On the other side of the ledger, however, it was noted that IT workers are feeling overworked, with 61 percent saying they've seen an increase to their workloads over the past year. More than half expressed displeasure with the lack of career progression opportunities provided by their current employers. James Aldridge, director of Hays IT, said that given such high levels of dissatisfaction, employers would be wise "to support their employees better, particularly key staff, and make sure they receive the development they call for."

He said many IT pros are on the hunt for higher day rates available to them through contract positions.

Roles in particular demand include developers for visual and gaming industries, business process analysts, IT change experts and data specialists.

Big Demand for Big Data Equals Big Talent Shortage

The all-consuming need to mine gobs of business data signals a greater need for workers with the right skill set to do so.

As the big data trend continues to gain a foothold across the business landscape, experts see a growing problem in the shortage of talented individuals with expertise in statistical analysis and managers with know-how to operate firms using such analysis.

A Wall Street Journal article highlighting international events for this past week's Big Data Week discussed the talent shortage.

Ultimate success of big data - which refers to that idea of unlocking those golden nuggets of information out of the mass of data generated by business intelligence - will be stalled without solving this problem, according to a report published last year by McKinsey.

The report noted the need for 1.5 million additional managers and analysts in the U.S. who can make sense of the big data analysis.

What the industry needs is more data scientists.

"Thirty years ago we didn't have computer science departments; now every quality school on the planet has a CS department," said Pat Gelsinger, president and COO of U.S. data firm EMC Corp. "Now nobody has a data science department; in 30 years every school on the planet will have one."

Data scientists, experts say, must be equipped with three key skills: ability to take a data set and model it mathematically; engineering skills to understand how to do those tasks; and the ability to gather insights and information out of that data.

Apparently, those on the hunt for the right individuals are coming up empty when searching universities and recruitment firms, based on recent comments from individuals within those communities.

In the meantime, more companies that want to excel in big data may have to become self-taught.

Have Tech Skills, Will Travel...To Ireland

A new Irish initiative intended to bolster a technical skills gap hopes to attract a bevy of IT pros to the Emerald Isle.

The campaign, called Open Ireland, seeks to bring in up to 75,000 skilled overseas workers per year to help solve a localized skills shortage and generate employment throughout the country's economy, the Irish Times recently reported.

Entrepreneur Sean O'Sullivan, who is spearheading the initiative, said the growing demand within the country for technology skills is already causing many firms to outsource the work outside of Ireland.

"There is no way a country as small as Ireland can produce all the software talent it needs," said O'Sullivan, noting many local start-ups are being halted before getting, well, started because of a lack of tech talent.

Burgeoning firms, he also noted, are having difficulty paying competitive wages for developers.

"Revenues could be higher if we were able to employ enough developers," O'Sullivan said, stating his own software firm, Avego, "is being held back because our software development is being slowed down."

If nothing were done to rectify the situation, he envisioned an environment in which companies had to pony up above-market wages for below-average tech talent.

India's IT Industry a Boon for Women

The competition for talent among India's IT industry has created the subcontinent's most diverse and inclusive industry, especially for career-minded women. The industry is being credited with smoothing out inequalities and expanding professional horizons for women in many other career tracks, according to data from recent studies.

The country's IT and BPO services industry employs about 3 million workers, with more than quarter of that sum being women, findings reported in TechRepublic note.

That number of women workers continues to grow, the recent study Diversity in Action by Nasscom and PricewaterhouseCoopers reports.

The IT industry in India is diverse in terms of gender, geography, language and socio-economic factors because the focus is all on talent, said Akila Krishnakumar, CEO of SunGard Technology Services, a U.S.-based provider of services to financial and education sectors.

In a country in which the banking industry is dominated at the top by women, experts are forecasting the same for the IT industry in the coming five or six years.

So powerful is the attraction of talented IT workers that India's caste and class systems have been upended. With the migration from small towns to larger cities, many Indians no longer feel categorized by the caste system or held back by it in an industry ruled by true technical talent.

How to Attract Women (to Computer Science)

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:20:00 GMT

Maria Klawe

Research indicates that young women are underrepresented in disciplines like computer science because they frequently don't know much about it, don't think it’s interesting, don't think they could ever be successful at it, or can't envision themselves involved with it. So if colleges, vocational-technical programs and high schools want to attract more young women to computer science, they have to proactively change that mindset, advises Maria Klawe, computer scientist, mathematician and president of Harvey Mudd College, a STEM-centric liberal arts college in Claremont, Calif.

Since arriving at Harvey Mudd in 2006, Klawe successfully worked to increase the number of young women enrolled and participating in its math, science, computer science and engineering programs. The percentage of female Harvey Mudd computer science majors, 10 percent in 2005, now stands at about 40 percent, the highest ratio in the country (other than at all-women's colleges).

Below are Klawe's suggestions for increasing the number of women in computer science programs:

Scrutinize Marketing & Admissions Materials

Make sure the images in all materials depict happy, hardworking female students as well as happy, hardworking male students, and that all text is balanced in its gender references, tone and focus.

In addition, don't underestimate the power of the personal gesture when recruiting young women. When the enrollment "yield rate" of accepted female students was significantly lower than that of male students, Klawe each year for four years wrote a handwritten card to every female who had been accepted, encouraging them to come to Harvey Mudd. Eventually, the yield rates and male/female enrollment ratios evened out, and Klawe was able to discontinue the note writing, which she said required a considerable amount of time but was worth the effort.

Create opportunities for future female applicants to get hands-on with computer science

Organize an event for prospective female students that includes hands-on activities to show young women that IT and other STEM-related disciplines can be interesting and something in which they can excel.

Harvey Mudd College annually holds a day-long conference for local high school girls to involve them with lots of hands-on activities—a robotics lab, a chemistry labs, web development, or bridge-building with sticks and marshmallows, for example. Enthusiastic undergraduate women help staff the event. "Young women can see fun, interesting things to do in areas they have not been exposed to in high school," says Klawe. "The most important thing is that they're not just listening to someone tell them that it's interesting, they're actually getting to do it themselves."

Apply theory early and often in introductory computer courses

Make sure intro computer courses use a problem-solving approach to discuss theory and concepts, and that lessons are tightly tied to application demonstrations. "Employ a problem-solving computational approach versus just teaching a course about programming," urges Klawe. "Young women, as well as many young men, want to know what you can do with the things you learn in class, rather than just understand the concepts. Get the application point of view in there early."

Introduce female students to the larger community of women in IT ASAP

Each year, Harvey Mudd College offers each incoming female student the opportunity to attend—all expenses paid—the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women Conference, a program of the Anita Borg Institute of Women & Technology that takes place each fall. Between 30 to 40 percent of its first year females attend the event, in addition to 10 or so upperclasswomen. Nearly half of the event’s attendees are students (undergraduate, graduate and some high school). "It's an amazing experience, a really inspirational event for students," says Klawe. "There are about 75 men there out of the 3,000 people in the conference center, so students are surrounded by these enthusiastic women who are IT professionals." Student can network to learn about graduate schools, career opportunities and internships. Klawe adds that raising money to send young women to the Grace Hopper Celebration event has been incredibly easy. "All the tech companies are just going crazy to find more women employees; they are happy to help."

Involve female students in research early

"There's lots of studies that show if you give young women research experience between their first and second years of college, you are more likely to retain them in the discipline," Klawe says. IT-related research can help students—male or female—feel as if they are part of a team and introduce them to the larger community, including faculty and graduate students. "For women in particular, feeling a part of the community is a very important experience," says Klawe. "Applying what you’ve learned so far to a research project is pretty exciting too."

Cultivate highly qualified faculty members who are female

Roughly four out of 10 faculty members at math, science and engineering-centric Harvey Mudd College are female. Having a high percentage of female faculty "is not a must" for an IT program, says Klawe, but it can give student professional and personal role models. "Lots of our faculty members are having babies," says Klawe. "I think it's very healthy for young women to see computer scientists and engineers who are very successful but who also make time to have children in their life."

CASP Keeps this Veteran on his Toes

Jim Staats — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

As the technical equivalent of a “gym rat,” Weylin Piegorsch took on the new CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) certification exam for the professional challenge and came away impressed. Piegorsch, a network engineer for Computer Sciences Corp., said although his current job duties don’t revolve around computer security, “I expect CASP to bear great rewards for future positions, and was interested in it to increase my future marketability.”

It doesn’t hurt to have the CompTIA pedigree, as he can attest. Embedded with the genes of a lifelong computer “nerd” from his father, Piegorsch, 33, said not that long ago he was a veteran of the U.S. Navy with little in the way of applicable technical skills.

“When I left the Navy, where my work was not related to being an IT technician, I had very little recent credentials I could put by my name to demonstrate my technical value and capability,” he said. “Due to the vendor neutrality, CompTIA certification was the first path I chose to pursue.”

Now possessing an extensive list of professional certifications including CompTIA Security+, CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+, in that order, as he noted, Piegorsch said the opportunity afforded him to become an early beta tester for CASP was a no-brainer.

As to the exam itself, Piegorsch described it as anything but a no-brainer. As one with a four-year degree in computer science focused on computer security, extensive training in network operations, CCNA certification and several years of experience in both policy and implementation of computer security, Piegorsch said “even with what I have, I feel I barely passed.”

“It really is a hard exam,” he noted. “I was able to rely on (experience) to get me through the parts I understood and exercised good judgment to figure out enough of the rest.”

Piegorsch said his interest in such technical challenges dates back to his younger years when he assembled workstations for nearby companies, became a defacto technician for his college computer department and eventually served as security manager on his submarine and shift supervisor at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Pacific communication center.

The Kailua resident remains connected to the DoD, but these days it’s in a civilian role migrating the Pacific-region telephone network from TDM to VoIP service.
For Piegorsch, the lack of directly applicable security duties is of little consequence.

“CASP occupies a strongly-needed niche,” he said. “Some certifications, like (CompTIA) Security+, validate your ability to learn computer security. Other certifications, like CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), validate your ability to manage computer security. I know of no other certification that tests a candidate’s ability to actually implement the knowledge of Security+ and the policies of CISSP, in a vendor-neutral setting.”

The comprehensive exam, Piegorsch said, requires significant knowledge, an understanding of sound security-related engineering practices and an ability to marry all aspects of computer security into an actual product.

“I feel that it’s one of my most important certifications that I hold,” he said.

Weekly Word on the Street: Nail That Tech Job Interview

Jim Staats — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Takeaway of the week is a nice, tidy set of helpful advice, suggestions and positive statistics for the IT job seeker. The possibility of a technical position is better than ever, especially for those with skills and experience in cybersecurity and Linux.

Shining Advice for the Technical Job Interview
That stress test known as the job interview can be daunting, regardless of the industry. Technical professionals being put through the ringer by prospective employers often find themselves in unique situations, however, which is why special assistance is essential.

To the rescue comes great advice and tips from a number of career coaches in a recent IT World article.

First piece of advice, courtesy of career coach Bud Bilanich, is not to enter the interview with the assumption that a good skill set match means there’s no need to demonstrate a sense of eagerness during the process.

“Come to the interview prepared with three or four solid reasons why you want the job, not just why you have the perfect tech skills for the position,” Bilanich said, suggesting as examples, “I am really happy to be here speaking with you today. I’m a big fan of your company. Or, I want to work here because I’m a creative person who will flourish in your environment.”

Another suggestion is to understand the specific role of the interviewer in demonstrating how your skill set and track record can fill a specific position. For example, a manager who is interviewing you will look for culture fit while an engineer doing the interviewing will test skills and problem-solving ability.

Tech pros tend to work in team environments and should be expected to go through a series of interviews to test the interaction with other team members, experts note.
Programmers and developers can be expected to demonstrate their ability to write code, so coaches suggest jotting down some code by hand on paper the night before the interview to be more prepared for all occasions when/if the time comes to step up to the white board.

It should go without saying to properly research the company with whom you interview, but go the extra mile and make sure to demonstrate that knowledge.

Also helpful is to be prepared to answer questions about projects that weren’t successful in addition to those that went smoothly.

Gartner: IT Spending Boost Good for Business
CEOs are leaning toward increased IT spending, by more than a two-to-one margin, this year to spur overall growth. That’s the essence of a recent survey done by the analyst group, Gartner, of 229 CEOs with an eye towards growth in a difficult economic climate.

Technology, apparently, is the key to remaining resilient during these times, according to a recent ComputerWeekly article discussing the findings of the firm’s CEO Survey 2012.
Gartner analysts are advising CIOs to improve IT-related competitor intelligence to help businesses get through the economic tumult.

“CIOs and CEOs should discuss with each other what new information would help them manage the business better through uncertain economic times,” said Gartner analyst Mark Raskino. “We know most companies have weak management formalism over information strategy and governance; however, information variety, complexity and volume are rising exponentially.”

Raskino added: “CIOs should spearhead the development of an information strategy for their firms, concentrating, in particular, on new kinds of information that might lead to industry disruptions and transformations.”

He noted that many CEOs have trouble seeing the benefits of IT in their own industry, but have no problem rattling off the impressive success of companies seen as IT innovators, including Apple, Google and Amazon.

The survey pointed out an interesting trend in that many CIOs do not report directly to their CEOs, thus making implementation of innovative programs difficult for the former to achieve.

“When six of the world’s 10 most powerful brands are technology firms, we are left wondering why the CIO role remains so under-invested,” Raskino said.

A Call for the Cybersecurity Workforce Initiative
The increased effort to combat cybersecurity threats signals job opportunities for IT pros with the right skills, so said an influential Obama administration official during a recent speech in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Speaking at an engagement at San Jose State University, Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, noted efforts are being made to hire cybersecurity professionals to help secure the nation’s digital assets, infrastructure and resources through her department’s Cybersecurity Workforce Initiative.

In her remarks, found on the DHS website, Napolitano said President Obama has asked Congress for a 74 percent increase in the department’s cyber budget for Fiscal Year 2013, on top of the more than 600 percent growth that division of the department has experience since Fiscal Year 2008.

She said hiring focuses include computer engineers, scientists, analysts and IT specialists.

Napolitano said efforts are being made to build strong cybersecurity career paths within the department, including the creation of a number of competitive scholarship, fellowship and internship programs to attract talented individuals.

And before making an outright sales pitch as a great place to work, she said DHS is supporting the Centers of Academic Excellence across the country to help cultivate professionals in disciplines including cybersecurity.

CompTIA offers two security certifications to help you move up the cybersecurity career path: CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Professional.

U.S. Tech Jobs on the Rebound....or Not?
A new federal survey shows that tech-related jobs in the U.S. are back up to the levels of the good-ole’ days of just a few years ago. Caution still remains, however.
The number of people employed in IT has topped four million for the first time since 2008, according to data in the Bureau of Labor Statistics survey of U.S. households.

IT unemployment, however, is estimated at 4.3 percent for the first quarter of this year, an increase from 3.9 percent last quarter despite recent growth, an InformationWeek article on the findings notes.

Survey data considers a dozen IT job categories in compiling its findings, a definition some critics consider too narrow given today’s crucial role it plays in business, the article states.
InformationWeek did its own survey of IT executives and found a more cautious IT hiring vision, with some staffing cuts and hiring freezes remaining in place.

In the survey, 18 percent of executives will be ramping up staffing, while a little over a third expressed staffing increases geared only for specialized tech or business skills, numbers similar to 2011.

Linux Demand Stays Hot
The need for Linux skills has been trending for some time now, but new findings suggest an increased level of urgency.

Data supplied by tech careers site, Dice.com, in conjunction with a recent report from the Linux Foundation, shows the number of job postings for Linux-related positions reached a peak in early April, a PCWorld article noted.

Jobs posted on Dice.com seeking Linux skills topped out at 12,007 postings, an increase of 17 percent from a year ago, a Dice representative said.
Some of the postings listed: Red Hat Linux System Engineer for IBM, Linux Systems Administrator for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and roles at Barnes & Noble, Google and Warner Brothers.

Basically, for the lucky ones with Linux skills and experience, you’re in an excellent position to snap up a job - or upgrade to something better.

Need certification to prove your Linux skills? CompTIA Linux+ Powered by LPI is a high-stakes, vendor-neutral certification that validates the fundamental knowledge and skills required of junior Linux administrators.

How to Build a Successful IT Security Career

Janet Pinkerton — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:00:00 GMT

IT security pros can never stop learning about cyber threats and best security practices. Industry professionals recommend a mix of activities to continually prep for a successful IT security career.

Network Connections
Network and build knowledge by joining local chapters of IT security trade associations or online communities, suggests Amy Hagerman, assistant vice president/IT security manager at Independent Bank in Ionia, Michigan. “It’s very cost effective.”

Such groups could include:

CompTIA IT Security Community (which also runs a LinkedIn group)
Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) local chapters
InfraGard — the FBI’s public/private sector alliance; chapters are affiliated with FBI field offices
ISC² (chapters)

A working friendship with a group of respected, trusted peers can be a huge resource to everyone in the group. It provides a chance to learn about new challenges or technologies, and discuss problems. “Once you get plugged into some of these groups, you build up a rapport over time, so you know who really knows what they are talking about, and whom you are able to trust,” says Hagerman.

Get Educated
All three IT security professionals interviewed for this blog earned IT-related bachelor’s degrees; two invested in graduate level study. “I had to take the time to get in and learn how things worked, why things like firewalls for example, worked,” says Justin Opatrny, network planner for General Mills, who holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Iowa State and a Master’s in Information Assurance from Norwich University.

Understanding the fundamentals of networking, operating systems, security threats and risk is key to professional success. “Anybody can learn to use an IT security tool like a firewall or an IPS (intrusion prevention system),” says Opatrny. “You need to know why you are using that tool, what advantages does it have, what disadvantages does it have—so you understand the full picture. Without those foundations, you’re likely to have less success running and securing your systems properly.”

Get Certified
“Certification can be a great career builder,” contends Opatrny, who holds not only the CompTIA Security+ credential, but also the CISSP from ISC² and forensic analyst and systems/network auditing credentials from GIAC. “It gives you some level of validation that you have a base knowledge of skill.” That can be a differentiator to an entry-level IT security employee. But he adds, “You’d better be able to prove on the job that you can apply these skills and knowledge—not just that you are good at taking tests.”

Get Involved
Becoming involved with trade industry groups, such as CompTIA or ISSA, is good for the industry, and it’s good for you. Opatrny teaches, writes industry articles and volunteers as a subject matter expert; both Hagerman and Lee Myers, chief technology officer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, helped write CompTIA’s CASP exam. The “Share the Wealth” mentality is pretty prevalent in IT security, says Opatrny. “We are already at a disadvantage against these malicious agents. We have to take every chance we have to work with our peers, share what we’ve learned or experienced, so we don’t have to figure it all out ourselves.”

Keep Reading & Researching
Beyond setting RSS feeds or Google News Reader, popular online resources for IT security professionals include:

BugTraq — Security Focus mailing list for the “detailed” discussion and announcement of computer security vulnerabilities: what they are, how to exploit them, and how to fix them. “There’s more information on there than any one person could absorb,” says Opatrny.
Center for Internet Security (daily cyber security tips, white papers, guides, videos and podcasts)
Experts Exchange (online forum where IT professionals provide answers on tech topics)
ISC2 (blog, journal, magazine)
ISSA (journal, executive forum, webcasts, whitepapers, e-news)
NIST’s Special Publications (800) series, and FIPS publications. The SP800 series are documents from NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory, featuring titles such as “Guidelines for Securing Wireless Local Area Networks” (published February 2012). “The SP800 Series is a great reference for learning different aspects of security,” says Opatrny. Myers adds that NIST FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) “give you a great framework.”
SANS Institute (research, whitepapers, newsletters, webinars)
Secure Computing (monthly magazine and online news)
U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team— The Home and Business section offers basic tutorials (e.g., “Understanding Denial of Service Attacks”), as well as alerts current security issues, vulnerabilities, and exploits and weekly summaries of new vulnerabilities (and patch information when available).
Verizon 2011 Investigative Response (IR) Caseload Review and its Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) — The DBIR is a “very thorough evaluation of all of the incidents Verizon has responded to over the last year—where the attacks are coming from, how effective they’ve been, areas getting attacked,” says Hagerman. “I find that very helpful in identifying what we should be protecting against.”

Get Conferenced
Attending a national IT security conference, such as EMC’s RSA Conference, for the diversity of speakers and presenters is a great option, but local or regional IT security conferences can be more time- and cost-efficient. For example, Opatrny attends Secure360, the educational conference of the Upper Midwest Security Alliance (UMSA)

Staying on top of IT security is a continual, every day process. “That’s one of the reasons I love it,” says Hagerman. “It’s fascinating and always changing. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

Contributors to this blog:
Amy Hagerman (CISSP, CASP, Project+, Security+, Network+ and A+) holds a bachelor’s degree in information security, with an associate’s degree in networking, from Davenport University. She is planning to retake the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) exam and—“for fun”—is pursuing the CompTIA Linux+ credential.

Lee Myers (CISSP, CASP, Security+, Linux+, Network+, A+, MCP, CNA, Strata, and DCSE) holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and technology from Drexel University. He’s currently completing a Master’s degree in Information Science, also at Drexel.

Justin Opatrny (GCFA, GSNA, CISSP and Security+) earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Iowa State and a Master’s in Information Assurance at Norwich University.

Featured Subject Matter Expert: Amy Hagerman

Jim Staats — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:36:00 GMT

Amy Hagerman

Amy Hagerman
AVP IT Security Manager, Independent Bank

Which exams have you helped develop?
CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP).

Why did you become a subject matter expert?
I was instantly interested when I first heard about the item writing workshop opportunity. It offered a chance to combine my background in writing with my current abilities in IT. After attending my first session, I was hooked and have been coming back every year since. I’ve found it to be a wonderful way to connect with others in the industry. I’ve been able to sharpen my skills and increase my knowledge by conversing with some leading experts in the field of information security. I find it to be well worth the time and travel that I put into it and look forward to attending other workshops in the future.

Based on your solid background in IT security, what knowledge or abilities do you think is most important for IT pros entering this field to possess?
It’s necessary to have at least a general understanding of how all areas of IT function. The IT professional may be called upon to review the security of information wherever it resides. That could mean diving into application security, network security or physical security, just to name a few areas. In this industry, one has to have a proper perspective on the severity of vulnerabilities in one’s organization and the current risks both internally and externally. Additionally, it’s critical to understand, and perpetuate the understanding, that information security is there to support the business. It should never be a roadblock. We should be enabling the business to do what needs to be done in a secure manner.

How did you get into IT?
Like most people, I wandered into college not really knowing what I wanted to do. A couple of years in, however, I broke into the IT field. After working various retail positions and for the writing center at my school, I responded to an ad in the paper for a helpdesk position. It was my first IT job at a small ISP in Lansing, MI. This was before high-speed Internet was prevalent so large portions of my day were spent walking people through setting up their dial-up connections. I worked both the helpdesk job and the writing center job for a while, but it got to be too much while attending school full-time and the IT job won out. I switched my major to computer networking and the rest is history.

What do you do for your day job?
I manage a small information security shop for Independent Bank, a Michigan-based business. My duties include writing and reviewing standards and procedures, conducting vulnerabilities assessments, responding to employee concerns and questions, and continually improving the security posture of our organization. Information security is a challenging and fascinating field. I enjoy researching current trends to understand how they impact the flow and storage of customer information. Technologies including cloud storage, mobile device management and compliance/legislation are current areas of focus for me.

What are you doing when you're not working?
When I’m not working, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our wonderful four-month-old baby boy. We also enjoy the outdoors and animals and are putting together an organic hobby farm. Right now, we just have chickens, but hope to include bee-keeping, goats, sheep and cows. We enjoy traveling domestically and internationally. Personally, I have traveled to 10 different countries and 29 states. I also enjoy singing (even tried out for American Idol) and can easily be talked into Karaoke. I’ve served as president or vice president most of the years I’ve been involved with Toastmasters and currently serve on the board for the Lansing ISSA chapter. I’m constantly reading books, usually several at a time, with a particular fondness for new fiction and older classics including Sherlock Holmes, Jane Eyre and Shakespeare. I’ve competed in triathlons and also write for a financial blog. Needless to say, I keep myself very busy.

Weekly Word on the Street: Software Engineering Ranked as #1 Best Job

Jim Staats — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:46:32 GMT

Takeaway of the week is that apparently the Easter Bunny didn’t walk away with all the goodies in his basket last week. For those in the technical sector, more nuggets are there for the taking without much hunting, including the top spot in a new national poll of the best jobs in the U.S., good news for IT contractors and even a thumbs-up for Silicon Valley job seekers in their *gasp* 40s.

Bridging the IT Skills Gap
Job fillers are having trouble finding job seekers properly prepped in the latest technologies of cloud computing, wireless networking, mobile security and big data analysis. Therefore, IT managers are being forced to get creative to cover this skills gap, a new Computerworld article notes.
Since prospective workers trained in multiple sectors are proving to be a reach, IT managers are looking to hire workers trained in multiple disciplines, providing in-house cross-training and, in some cases, revamping their IT departments to bridge the gaps. The extra training being offered has multiple benefits.

David Richter, vice president of infrastructure solutions at Kimberly-Clark, said the training provided to address his firm’s IT restructuring is “focused on training people to make them more competent in their current role, and also for their next role.”

He said besides adding to the workers’ skill sets, the training allows CIOs some wiggle room from having to staff for specific skills. With business acumen becoming a more valuable tool for IT pros, training that helps educate on financial analysis, project management and decision-making processes are being seen as timely additions in today’s IT environment.

You’re #1!
The pay is great. The hiring need for the skill set is going bonkers. Working conditions are reportedly never better. No wonder it’s numero uno.

That’s what CareerCast.com’s annual report on the best jobs in the U.S. in 2012 had to say about software engineers.Yep, that role landed the top spot in the report based on job ratings compiled and reported by the online career site earlier this week.

In the report, Phil Danne, lead software engineer for Livio Radio, did note that while there are abundant opportunities right now for qualified professionals in his field, college graduates “can’t just earn your college degree and bank on those skills for the rest of your career. You have to constantly be seeking out the latest knowledge and skills to succeed.”

Other professions that rounded out the Top 5 included actuary, human resources manager, dental hygienist and financial planner.

Curious what made the cut for the site’s worst jobs of 2012?

That would include a newspaper reporter, dairy farmer, enlisted military soldier, oil rig worker all topped (or bottomed) by lumberjack.

IT Contractors Fill a Need
The IT contractor remains a valuable resource for corporations still seeking that balance between a struggling economy and ever-shifting technical needs. Expect the temporary technicians to continue to be in demand to bail out CIOs charged with juggling these polar opposite work requirements, hiring experts suggest in a recent article in PCWorld.

IT staffing firms see contractors as beneficial to companies that need to remain flexible with the work peaks and valleys amid economic struggles. When hiring and training internal workers doesn’t fit with a firm’s budget and schedule, hiring properly vetted contractors is the next best alternative, so say CIOs quoted in the article.

As Derald Sue, CIO of Inside Track, an academic coaching services firm in San Francisco, said, supplementing full-time staff with contractors prior to a recent platform upgrade is “just a much more cost-effective and faster way to grow our own internal workforce.”

Often the freelancers themselves enjoy the work and flexibility inherent in their temporary roles, not to mention the chance to be on the “bleeding edge” of new technology that keeps their minds sharp and billing rate moving upward.

The Elusive Purple Squirrel
Hiring managers seeking perfection in their technical talent search need to understand sometimes it’s not out there. For those who refuse to accept that, so goes the quest for the “purple squirrel,” amid today’s growing demand for tech talent, says one veteran IT executive.

In an opinion piece for Computerworld, Jack Cullen, president of IT staffing firm, Modis, said the colorful term is what he calls the ideal job candidate.

He also said it’s something that rarely exists because the skills IT professionals need are continually evolving.

Hiring managers, Cullen said, are becoming too uncompromising and rigid in requiring a candidate’s skills to match the posted requirements verbatim, not giving in to those who come close in most targeted areas.

According to Computerworld’s 2012 salary survey, workers seem to agree with the perceived skills gap. The findings showed that 93 percent of IT pros surveyed had career concerns, the biggest being the ability to keep up-to-date in their skills.

Cullen called out to hiring managers to not overlook the best available talent in the Quixotic search for the "purple squirrel." His tips included an open mindedness when it comes to candidates with promise, being willing to train to retain and also considering candidates coming from other industries.

Resume Star-Makers
Don’t want to be just one of the pieces of paper on the pile of prospective candidates? Here’s a few innovative ways to stand out from the crowd when it comes to your resume, courtesy of a recent InformationWeek article that gathered tidbits from hiring experts and professional career counselors.

As recommended, one should always research targeted companies for what would and would not go over well in terms of resume submissions.
Once that is done, here are a few innovative resume tips to consider:

Use the free photo-sharing app, Instagram, to showcase skills and post your pic-filled resume via Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Add hyperlinks and screenshots to your resume.
Consider a video resume.
Include a slideshow presentation.
Try a reverse resume that outlines what you are looking for in a prospective employer.
Build a resume on LinkedIn,
Use Twitter and/or Facebook as your resume platform.
Create infographics that showcase your skills and experience.

Silicon Valley Job Market: Not Just For the Young Guns
It’s now a solidified fact that the job market for technical talent in Silicon Valley is hotter than it’s been in quite some time, but what many may not realize is that this market is reaching beyond the skilled young tech workers.

Despite the general perception that ‘old techies’ in their 40s aren’t getting hired in the Valley, the struggle startup companies are finding in their search for top engineering talent is leading them to expand their hiring pools to the more experienced job seekers, according to a recent CNet article.

Take, for example, the reports of a recent free-flowing career education and networking event provided by a local chapter of ProMatch, a career resource center helping professionals find work in Silicon Valley. A long line of individuals introduce themselves, their skills and experience before an interested gathering of audience members in the room.
Many experts note that age when it comes to hiring isn’t really an issue in the region.

Startups also are increasingly bringing on older workers as advisors or senior executives to help balance the vision of young, energetic founders with real industry experience.
“If you’re a software engineer, you can be any age,” said Alice Hill, managing director at the technical staffing firm, Dice. “It’s all about whether you can write code.”
Of course, not all application processes are equal and results will vary depending on the candidate’s skill level, personal network and preparation for the job hunt in today’s daunting world of social media circles.

But all signs and comments point to technical opportunities being out there, at any age.

IT Worker Shortages Reaching Critical Point

Steven Ostrowski — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:38:54 GMT

The shortage of skilled information technology (IT) workers is fast approaching a critical point where it could negatively impact industry growth and prosperity. That dire message was delivered today by speakers on an IT workforce panel at CompTIA Colloquium, the annual gathering of leaders in the IT training and certification industry.

The current supply of skilled IT workers in the United States is simply not enough, said Tania Lavin, market research manager, Allegis Group Inc. She cited a recent survey of IT executives, who were asked to identify their biggest barriers they face in successfully completing their initiatives and projects. A full 56 percent said the biggest barrier is the lack of staff.

One industry that’s starting to feel the pinch is healthcare.

The transformation of the nation’s healthcare system with an infusion of new IT solutions may be hampered by a shortage of qualified workers, according to Norma Morganti, executive director, Midwest Community College Health Information Technology Consortium. She cited a recent study that showed in the state of Texas alone, there is projected to be a shortage of 10,000 health IT workers by 2013.

“This is the crisis that’s brewing out there,” she added. “When it comes, it’s going to be very impactful.”

Morganti also sounded a positive note about the health IT field. Healthcare providers were fearful that IT workers would not understand healthcare and would be unable to support the meaningful use of electronic health records. “What they’re finding instead is that they can take people with great IT skills and teach them about the healthcare environment to work effectively,” she said.

IT Skills in High Demand

The toughest IT jobs to fill? Lavin said there is a severe shortage of enterprise architects, cloud architects, data architects, security specialists, business intelligence specialist and mobile application developers. In the past three months job postings for security analysts have increased by 51 percent; computer support specialists, 34 percent; and systems analysts, 33 percent.

“It takes about 3.4 months to fill some of these hard-to-fill jobs, compared to 56 days for IT jobs overall,” Lavin added.

And the need isn’t going away. More than one-third of employers are adding headcount, according to the December 2011 TEKsystems IT Executive Outlook Survey.

The situation is even bleaker in Europe, said Alejandro Debenedet, international business relations director, PeopleCert Group. At a time when 23 million people are out of work in European Union countries, and the youth unemployment rate standards at 21 percent, there is a shortfall of people to fill 500,000 high-skilled jobs. That number is projected to reach 700,000 by 2015.

Lavin said companies are using more temporary hires to fill job openings and are offering higher salaries for some high-level positions. Companies also plan to train existing staff in new IT skills, but it’s unlikely they can address all their needs simply through retraining.

Debenedet outlined a three-tier pyramid of skill levels that are needed to address the issue:

Reading writing, math, science, IT literacy, language and other basic skills at the foundation level,
Occupational skills related to the specific needs of the job market at the mid-level, and
Global knowledge economy talents at the pinnacle.

“The time to act is now,” he urged. “We need government, industry, training organizations, all stakeholders working together.”

Fake It Til You Make It

Lisa Fasold — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:15:31 GMT

Yes, your organization has or should have a branding plan for itself, but do you, personally, have a branding plan for you and your career? How are you preparing to move up the career ladder? Have you set a goal for yourself and then created a brand for yourself to help you achieve that goal?

These questions were front and center during the Advancing Women in IT Community breakfast at the CompTIA Annual Member Meeting this morning in Chicago. To a packed room of 60+ women and men, Kyra Cavanaugh, president and founder, Life Meets Work, discussed how you can move up in your career by developing your own brand. She offered several key steps:

Look around at others. Analyze their brand. Decide what you want your brand to be. Cavanaugh related how when she first walked into corporate conference rooms, she didn’t have a voice or brand. She first had to determine what she wanted it to be.
Align your brand with your mission. With a mission, you can’t say “yes” to everything. Do the things that support your mission. Saying “yes” to everything can mean saying “no” to yourself and what you really want your brand to be.
Don’t take no for an answer. Follow the little voice in your head. Know that you can do anything.
Fake it til you make it. Act like you belong. When Cavanaugh launched her consulting business in an industry that she did not have any history with, she gave away things for free and slowly built a bridge to the future while she learned who was who.
Never go to a networking event with a friend. You have to get out and network. Cavanaugh bemoaned the lost art of information interviews. She had reached out to people that she wanted to be like in her industry and learned how they made it. She also went to every networking event possible. She recommended walking into the event, getting a non-alcoholic drink and picking out people who are already engaged in conversation and then joining the conversation.
Be brave. It’s not easy to network and build your own brand, but believe in yourself and be bold.
Be generous at first, but only to a point. Eventually cut back and learn how to negotiate to support your value once you’re more established.
Be authentic. Speak the truth – don’t bash the competition, but make your brand authentic to whom you are.
Evolve your branding and networking efforts to fit with what you need. Consider blogging, posting videos or presentations, or network outside your organization to get your brand out in front of your target audience.

Selling the Importance of IT Training to Employers

Leslie Hague — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:38:30 GMT

The IT training industry needs to stress the importance of hiring skilled workers and providing additional IT training to the employer audience, speakers at CompTIA Colloquium said on Tuesday. It’s an audience that is sometimes overlooked, Terry Erdle, CompTIA executive vice president of certification; and Cushing Anderson, program vice president for research firm IDC, told attendees.

“We haven’t necessarily sold this to the employing world, that if they get a skilled person, it’s much better for them long-term,” Erdle said. “And certification is a good metric of that.”

While some employers worry that additional training and certification will lead employees to pursue a new job, the data shows the opposite – that employees who get professional development stay at their jobs, Erdle said.

Even a small increase in the skill and dedication metric of a project team can dramatically increase the chances of success, Anderson said, citing IDC research. “You don’t need to move (the skill level) a lot to get a lot of impact,” he said.

It’s the type of message the IT training industry should be delivering to employers, he said. “Well-trained teams perform better,” Anderson said. “I don’t think we market to this enough.”

Both Erdle and Anderson also commented on more demand for more online, self-directed training options as opposed to traditional classroom and text-based delivery models. “There’s a younger audience that communicates in different ways,” Erdle said. “We have figure out how to engage that. I think it’s a big mistake to just take yesterday’s training and slap it on an iPad.”

Always Dress to Impress

Jim Staats — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:36:00 GMT

In the often byzantine route that is today’s professional job interview process, nothing is ever simple, but how you dress comes incredibly close.
Unemployment figures are still high and the economy remains down, so if you’ve received those oh-so-wonderful sounding words, “We’d like you to come in for an interview,” consider yourself among the chosen few.

Now, just don’t blow it with your attire.

“First impressions can be lasting impressions, so be sure that your appearance isn’t distracting,” said Colleen Hughes, vice president of human resources for CompTIA.

She said the basic expectation for a candidate for an IT position is to be clean, neat and well put together. Simple rules, it would seem.

“The apparel of candidates for an IT job would be nice slacks and a dress shirt for men and nice slack or skirt with a sweater, blouse and jacket for women,” Hughes said.

Asked if attire played a different role in interviewing for an IT position when compared to other industries, Hughes saw no difference.

“An individual should dress in clean, net, well-fitting clothes appropriate for the level of the position he or she is interviewing for,” she said. “While a suit would most likely not be the normal attire for an IT job seeker, nice slacks and a shirt would be proper. It is always better to over dress than under dress.”

IT pros - they of the polo shirt and khakis addiction group - may not always be singled out for their fashion sense, but this is clearly an occasion where what one wears matters.

In a recent survey conducted by York College’s Center for Professional Excellence, human resource professionals were asked about mistakes made during job interviews and “wearing inappropriate attire” was listed as the top “interview killer.”

Another bit of qualitative data on the matter may be viewed in some quarters as dated, but the message clearly hasn’t gone out of style - unlike some fashion trends during the interval.

According to 2008 research done by Robert Half Technology, more than a third of the CIOs surveyed suggested IT professionals should wear a suit for a job interview.

Survey respondents all agreed it is better to err on the side of caution and overdress rather than showing up too casual.

Hiring manager CIOs advised candidates unsure of how to dress to ask their prospective hiring manager, recruiter or HR contact about the dress code.

As noted in a post titled, “Don’t Let Your Appearance Hurt Your Job Search,” on the Jobfully Blog, “during a job search you meet new people more often and are regularly creating a first impression.

“As a job seeker, you are selling yourself,” the post goes on suggest. “You are a package. Your achievements, credentials, experience and promise of future value are the great product inside the box. Your appearance and presentation are the outside of the box.”

The posting suggests that interview candidates really need just one or two good quality ensembles that project professional looks. Assemble a networking or first interview outfit and a variation on it and ask a good friend to weigh in with an evaluation.

Hughes said in all cases of attire, make sure not to wear anything distracting.

“The focus needs to be on the interview and the candidate,” she said.

What someone wears to an interview “can quickly speak to their judgement and common sense. If a candidate comes to an interview with a frayed polo shirt and sneakers on, it shows a general lack of awareness and respect,” added Hughes.

She concurred with her peers on the value of prior research on a prospective employer’s culture and dress code.

“An applicant for an IT job in a law firm may want to consider a sport coat, while an applicant for a job at Zappos could probably be much more casual,” Hughes said.

The following is a general list of interview attire options for men and women, culled from various professional recruitment firms.
Men’s interview attire:

Suit (solid color - navy or dark grey)
Long sleeve shirt (white or coordinated with the suit)
Belt
Tie
Dark socks, conservative leather shoes
Little or no jewelry
Professional hairstyle
Trimmed nails

Women’s interview attire:

Suit (navy, black or dark grey)
Suit skirt, length allowing you to sit comfortably
Coordinated blouse
Conservative shoes
Limited jewelry, nothing dangling
Professional hairstyle
Neutral pantyhose
Light make-up and perfume
Manicured nails

How Can We Train IT Pros for the Third Platform

Lisa Fasold — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:45:54 GMT

With a jam-packed room of CEOs from IT training companies during Colloquium today in Chicago, CompTIA discussed how as a group we can solve the IT skills gap quandary. Speaker Cushing Anderson, VP of worldwide project-based services research, IDC, also broadened the discussion to how trainers can best equip their students and clients to prepare them for the 3^rd platform now coming of age in the IT industry.

As CompTIA Todd Thibodeaux explained to the training audience, Colloquium is really a conference to bring the association and the trainers together so that we can learn from each other and grow the industry and the IT workforce.

As Thibodeaux went on, while the economy has slowed down, the 2008 economic downturn masked one of the biggest times of creativity in our industry with the advent of managed services, cloud computing, healthcare IT, connected networks and connected applications. During that timeframe, individuals have become their own IT managers, as the industry struggles to answer the question, “If your personal phone is your primary computing device, who is in charge of making it work?”

The pool of students going into IT careers is shrinking. Teen interest levels in the IT industry is lower than before the IT bust. At Colloquium, we will tackle, “How can we turn that trend around?”

CompTIA A+ certified IT pros make $5k more per year in their first job than people graduating from college with a social science degree. And, newly certified IT pros are much more likely to find their first job at a faster rate than students graduating with a social science degree. Yet that higher salary and faster job acquisition still aren’t motivating students into IT training.

Thibodeaux also implored the attendees to show kids and parents how non-math/science students can still consider an IT career.

As Anderson broadened the discussion, he addressed how the IT industry is moving to the 3^rd platform era. The 1^st platform focused on mainframes. The 2^nd platform involved PCs, the Internet and client/server systems. The 3^rd platform revolves around mobile devices and apps – mobility, analytics, social networking, cloud and mobile apps – pushing technology to apply to a specific business or consumer problem.

Anderson said that more smart mobile devices than PCs shipped in 2012. There were 26.8 billion mobile app downloads in 2011. By 2016, there will be 137 billion.

As new global players emerge in the 3^rd platform, China also became a larger tech market than Japan this year. China is now second in the world (U.S. is the largest market).

In 2012, 80 percent of tech spending will be on 2^nd platform products and services (20 percent will be on the 3^rd platform). But spending on the 3^rd platform will grow by 15 percent by 2020 versus 2.5 percent for the 2^nd platform. The 2^nd platform will remain flat – it’s keeping the lights on in the CIO world – but we also must embrace the 3^rd platform where the larger tech changes will come, explained Anderson.

In 2012, there are five large providers for public cloud offerings – this will grow to 40 by 2020. Who will be the third platform providers?

Second platform incumbent leaders (e.g. Oracle, SAP, HP)
Emerging market local heroes (e.g. Infosys, Alibabe)
(Re)born on the 3rd platform upstarts (e.g. Google, Amazon)
Industry-centric “business-as-a-service” (e.g. MetaScale, Panoptix, OptumInsight)

Anderson urged the training audience to help their customers align training behind business objectives. Regardless of IT focus, IT is a fight for relevance in the 3^rd platform. He said, “Your client’s innovation leveraging the 3^rd platform innovation requires training which supports:

Urgency: new training modalities and techniques to support knowledge now,
Competencies: scale, community and context,
Competition: changing uses and adoption models of IT.”

To close the IT skills gap within the 3^rd platform era, we must prove that a trained person is better than an untrained person or untrained application – an application will work better with a trained person helping it.

IT Certification equals Flourishing Career

Janet Pinkerton — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:40:29 GMT

For Dujon Walsham, passing up university in favor of taking IT certification trainings was a great decision. Five years after receiving his first professional certification (CompTIA A+), he has multiple CompTIA and vendor-specific certifications under his belt, and his career in the United Kingdom is flourishing.

His current job involves helping companies like eBay and British Airways adopt cloud computing systems, and he receives several calls per day from companies like Microsoft and Barclays asking him to come and work for them.

Studying IT at college, he recalls, “I felt like I was only scratching the surface. It was great in theory, but didn’t really teach me the interesting side of IT, such as the actual details of how computers work. Then I came across CompTIA A+, which was exactly what I was looking for. It’s a more career-focused IT qualification which assesses the skills the IT industry actually wants.”

For more information about how commitment to earning IT certifications can open up a new world of job opportunities, read Walsham's personal success story.

Weekly Word on the Street: Computer-Related Employment to Rise 22%

Jim Staats — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:46:27 GMT

Takeaway of the week is computer-related occupations are projected to have a 22-percent increase in employment according to the U.S. government. However at least one government official is already pointing the finger at the dearth of IT pros for U.S. cybersecurity challenges.

U.S. Report: Healthcare and Mobile Technology to Boost IT Jobs

Employment in all computer-related occupations is expected to grow by 22 percent by the year 2020, U.S. officials said.

According to the biennial update of employment projections released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), healthcare IT and mobile networking growth will be big boons to this workforce increase that will help some IT sectors more than others. Software developers will be the focus of the greatest demand during this period of time forecast - growing in numbers by some 28 to 32 percent - a Computerworld report on the findings states.

The report noted that U.S. programming roles in the coming decade will be hit hard by offshoring, likely putting in peril the U.S. stature as the worldwide leader in IT, insiders noted.

“The BLS projections are a bad sign for the U.S. IT graduates from universities,” said Victor Janulaitis, CEO of research firm, Janco Associates. “Those numbers do not cover the net growth necessary to give all of the graduates jobs.”

Other tidbits from the report findings:

Demand for database administrators will rise along with the ever-growing pile of big data that today’s technology can pull.
Both healthcare and security needs will help boost demand for IT managers, but cloud computing system designs could render that increase somewhat temporary.
Computer programming, most susceptible to offshoring, is estimated to show the weakest amount of growth.
Mobile networks and healthcare will also be responsible for beefing up the ranks of systems analysts.

Generation Gap Blamed for Cybersecurity Slips

A senior U.S. official suggested the growing threat of cyber-attacks across the globe stems from technology-deficient policymakers in various countries with a sea change coming.

Rose Gottemoeller, acting under-secretary for arms control and international security, told an audience this week at Estonian IT College that higher-ups in many countries “barely even know how to use an email,” an IndustryWeek article reports.

“The change will come with the new generation,” she said in her address at the Baltic nation considered to be very technically-savvy.

The nation, home to NATO’s cyber-defense center, has, however, also seen first-hand the damage that can be done in a cyber-attack. Russian hackers were likely to blame for a nasty bit of damage inflicted during a 20078 dispute with the region’s Soviet-era masters in Moscow.

Gottemoeller said governments across the world should incorporate open-source IT and social networking into arms control verification and monitoring.

“New concepts are not invented overnight, and we don’t understand the full range of possibilities inherent in the information age,” she said.

Considering a career in IT security? Learn about CompTIA Security+ certification.

Where Silicon Valley Startups Go, Investors Follow

Just the latest in a long line of sure signs that Silicon Valley once again is seen as the goose that lays the golden eggs: a recent event showing off dozens of startups drew a record number of investors and other interested individuals.

The well-known Y Combinator incubator program for the first time was shifted from the company’s Mountain View office to the nearby Computer History Museum where an estimated audience of more than 450 clogged the space to hear pitches from 66 teams, a Reuters report noted.

Turnout for the event, known in some circles as the geeks version of the Kentucky Derby in which the burgeoning businesses are the gazed-upon show horses, is the latest signal that the region is deep in the midst of an investment craze.

Though what may have helped bump up numbers for the startup program was that founder Paul Graham squeezed the program into a one-day event, another first. Investors at the event were able to log into a software program to schedule separate meetings with startups, outside of the main stage presentations that drew loud applause in many cases, according to attendees.

How CIOs See Things

New technology, security issues and better business focus are some of the key issues facing today’s chief information officers.

That’s some of the more pertinent news to come out of a moderated discussion among three individuals holding this position for some of the country’s biggest firms published in the Wall Street Journal.

Those involved in the discussion included D. Michael Bennett, of security giant BAE Systems Inc., Steve Randich, of Citigroup, and Wayne Shurts, of food retailer Supervalue.

Asked to share what they see as some of the more important technologies to emerge in the past year, answers included mobile computing, an increased business focus and more sophisticated cyber-attacks.

The leaders all agreed that addressing security threats remains paramount, but varied in their route to accomplish this. Responses included monthly awareness training via short email cartoons, integration of all security tools and controls and a deeper focus on workplace demands caused by mobile devices.

Advice for Young Women Starting their Careers

Janet Pinkerton — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

On Sarah Pang’s first day working for Illinois Sen. Alan Dixon, in the early 1980s, she asked the senator what her responsibilities would be. “Are you willing to take out the garbage?” he asked.

Pang said yes and didn’t take offense. “I knew exactly what he meant,” says Pang. “He wanted to know ‘Are you willing to do what it takes to make the place successful?’”

Currently senior vice president of CNA’s corporate communications and public affairs and co-chair of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's transition team, Pang advises young women launching their careers to think hard about what’s best for their employers and find ways to help the organizations run more smoothly and efficiently.

Other tips from Pang:

Work hard, and know your stuff: “I might not be the smartest person in the room, but I try to be the most prepared person in the room….People will almost always let you out-work them.” Being first in the office and the last to leave is not a healthy long-term career advancement career strategy, Pang notes. “But starting out, that’s the first way people notice you.”

Look for ways to control paper and process. Early in her career, Pang would volunteer to take meeting notes and keep agendas. “Those kinds of things helped my bosses, but also gave me a reason for being in the room,” says Pang. “Over time, it was a way to prove that I had more to offer.”

Continually seek and accept more responsibility: “People will turn to hard-working folks,” she says. “You learn from getting assignments.”

Know Your Company’s “Playbook:” Learn its vocabulary, its structure, its goals and processes. “You should know the terms, so you don’t have to play catch-up all the time,” she says. “You want to be able to quickly understand the issues and know what’s taking place.”

News and Updates

10 Ways to Improve Your Writing

1. Make it a habit to plan, draft & revise — everything

2. Write with your goals and your readers' interests in mind

3. Think Conversation, Not Gettysburg Address

4. Draft freely, set the draft aside, and then come back to revise

5. Get to the point — quickly!

6. Organize your information for the reader

7. Eliminate—or reduce and explain—IT jargon

8. Keep Your Writing as Short as Possible

9. If you need help with grammar and punctuation, get it—ASAP.

10. Read everything aloud

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Andrew DiCosmo
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Phil Norton
Systems Analyst, Sourcebooks Inc., Naperville, Ill.

Damien Manuel
Information Security Governance Manager,
National Australia Bank