Ed Puchot Shares His IT Experiences

By Rachel Fabro, Staff writer

If it wasn't for Ed Puchot's brother, he would never have wound up in the IT industry. Ed's brother, Samuel, started his career working on his CompTIA A+ certification. After a few months, Ed noticed how Samuel could answer any question about computers that was thrown at him. Samuel later gave Ed his CompTIA A+ book.

Read more about how Ed grew his own knowledge of IT.

Tell Us About Your Experiences as an IT Professional
We would like to talk with active IT Professionals about their careers. Do you have any stories or insights to share? If you are interested in talking with us and sharing your experiences, please send an e-mail to editorial@comptia.org. Thank you.

Certifications Keep Mark Schroeder on Track
By Kristin Clifford, Staff Writer

Mark Schroeder keeps his skills up-to-date by studying for the latest versions of the certifications he holds. Schroeder works as a network engineer for CACI, Inc., as a contractor for the U.S. Air Force.

He recently earned all three designations of the updated CompTIA A+ exam. Schroeder first took the CompTIA A+ exam in 1998. He renewed his certification in 2005 and decided to renew a third time with all three designations.

"The reason (I renew certifications) is because I don't have a lot time to read IT or computer periodicals every day and keep up with the latest and greatest technology," Schroeder said. "CompTIA has done an outstanding job in keeping their certifications on the brink of technology and not only on the brink of technology, but also what you need to know to be successful in the IT world. So when a new exam comes out, I try to study and get up to speed with the exam so that I learn everything I need to know for the challenges that I face every day."

Find out more about how certifications help Mark Schroeder stay up-to-date.

CompTIA Releases Study on Skills Gaps in the IT Workforce

The IT industry is constantly evolving. In order to gain a better understanding of trends and gaps in worldwide IT skills, CompTIA commissioned the Center for Strategy Research, Inc., a Boston-based market research firm, to conduct a survey among organizations worldwide to identify IT skills gaps and solutions to close these gaps.

The research identifies trends in IT skills, explores issues surrounding recruiting and hiring,investigates the current and potential IT market growth and demand for IT professionals, and discovers which factors most influence, and are expected to influence, the IT industry.

The respondents were 3,578 "IT Managers." All are responsible for the hiring and/or managing of at least three IT employees, at companies with ten or more employees. The survey sample was comprised of a minimum of 250 IT Managers from each of the following countries: Australia ,

Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands , Poland, Russia, South Africa, England, and U.S.

Key findings from the study include:

• The top three most important IT skills are security (74% rating it 6 or 7 in importance on a 1-7 scale), general networking (66%) and operating systems (66%); these skills are expected to decline most in importance over the next five years.
• When comparing reported proficiency in skills to importance of skills, the skill with the widest "gap" in proficiency is security/firewalls/data privacy.
• By far, the skill expected to grow most in importance over the next five years is RF mobile, wireless technology (39% say it will be important one year from now vs. 55% say it will be important five years from now).
• When asked what their organizations should be doing to enhance employees' IT skills, the top two answers are sending employees for professional training externally (42%), and providing incentives, rewards (41%). Also important (third in order of importance) is sending employees for certification (36%).
• IT managers currently report and anticipate future increase of their staffs (46% currently say increasing, 52% one year from now, and 64% five years from now), the IT workforce of their countries (57% currently say increasing, 59% one year from now, 62% five years from now) and the IT workforce worldwide (65% say currently increasing, 68% for both one year from now and five years from now).
• The plurality of respondents (38%) report there are not enough qualified IT candidates in their countries.
• Programmers/coders/developers (25%) are the positions most likely to be open, and Quality Assurance positions are the least likely to be open.
• An index was created to enable comparisons in confidence about the growth of the IT workforce among different groups. While IT managers overall are "bullish" about the growth of IT workforces, India , China , Russia and Poland are more confident in that growth than other countries, those in the IT industry are more confident than those in other industries, and small companies are more confident than mid-size or large companies.
• The fast pace of technological change (52%), budget constraints (51%), security and compliance (48%), and consumer needs (47%) are currently the top factors driving change in the IT industry.
• An aging workforce is the least important factor now (21%), but is anticipated to grow most in importance five years from now (45%).

We will be exploring key findings from this study and how they relate to IT Professionals in the next few issues of IT Professional Access. For more information on the study, visit www.comptia.org/research.

Career Opportunities with CompTIA Network+

The demand for skilled network support professionals continues to grow, and CompTIA Network+ is a valuable credential to help start or enhance a networking career. In fact, many IT certifications integrate CompTIA Network+ into their curriculums. Microsoft added CompTIA Network+ into their Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) program, and other corporations such as Novell, Cisco, HP, Lotus and 3Com also recognize CompTIA Network+ as part of their certification tracks.

CompTIA Network+ prepares networking professionals to earn vendor-neutral certifications in other areas of expertise. CompTIA Network+ certified professionals who want to diversify their base knowledge in other areas should also consider pursuing CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Server+ or CompTIA Convergence+. While CompTIA Network+ is not a prerequisite for any of these certifications, however they are highly recommended. The third column of this chart shows possible job titles of candidates who would benefit from earning these credentials.

For more information on CompTIA Network+, visit certification.comptia.org/network+.

CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ Offers New Opportunities for IT Pros

Get in on a growing marketplace - digital home technology installation. The lack of technicians qualified to install, integrate and provide service and support for digital home systems has been a major growth inhibitor for the industry. To address this problem, CompTIA and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the preeminent consumer technology industry trade association, have joined together to create CEA-CompTIA Digital Home Technology Integrator (DHTI+) certification.

Acquiring CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ certification gives you a competitive edge over others trying to enter this new and expanding market. CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ certifies that individuals have the basic skills and knowledge to configure, integrate, maintain, troubleshoot, and comprehend the basic design concepts of electronic and digital home systems.

Once you are trained and certified, your customers will experience better, more efficient service. Getting in during the early stages of this growing market, and developing a loyal customer base will enhance your business. Customers who experience efficient service will develop loyalty, and thus increase your likelihood of repeat and referral businesses. If you're working independently, this means business growth - if you work for an employer, they will be impressed with your initiative.

CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ was developed and validated by the industry. The target candidate works in a variety of industries and positions related to home technology, including technology integrators, security system technicians, cable, satellite, telecommunications and A/V installers, electricians and network administrators. CompTIA recommends individuals have 18-24 months experience in some area of home technology integration.

For more information, visit certification.comptia.org/dhti+ .

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