The global IT skills gap, Jamaica’s high unemployment rate and the country’s growing IT workforce are all variables to a problem UTech Jamaica SCIT instructor Elmarine Jimenez would like to help solve. “If we can bring those together, it’s a solution for everybody,” she said.
Jimenez teaches at the University of Technology, Jamaica, formally the College of Arts and Technology, which is known throughout the Caribbean for being hands-on and technical. Quality and care, she said, make the school unique.
“We’re not just filling the students with information, but making sure that they understand what they know and that they can sit for the exam and be successful. If you’re solving a shortage, it can’t be just about teaching the students and leaving them,” Jimenez said. “It’s teaching with a heart and not just for commercial purposes.”
‘CompTIA Helped Us Find Our Voice’
If Jimenez has her way, UTech will be the region’s source for IT education and workforce training. “It’s a good mix with the partnership with CompTIA. We want to be the leader when it comes to current technology; to be the point of contact for Jamaica,” she said.
UTech began offering CompTIA courses in summer 2013 with CompTIA Network+, later adding CompTIA Linux+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Server+ and CompTIA A+. She’s working to expand the offerings this year to include CompTIA Project+ as well. UTech also offers Cisco courses and are a Cisco Networking Academy.
Graduate students took up most of the seats in UTech’s early certification classes. “Traditionally, our students are ones that already have jobs but they want to grow in their company,” she said. “Or they do a degree in IT but it doesn’t necessarily transition into IT.” For students looking for resume-boosting certifications, Jimenez encourages CompTIA Network+.
“There are aspects of [CompTIA] Network+ that don’t really overlap with the others and at the same time help you with troubleshooting,” she said. “It’s a really good program. For a young professional going into IT, Network+ gives them all the tools to survive when they’re just starting.”
When UTech began building its certification courses, Jimenez heard CompTIA might be able to help. Hoping to get a better understanding of how, she attended CompTIA’s Annual Member Meeting and saw the global IT industry association in action — beyond its mission of building vendor-neutral certifications that measure foundational skills.
“They have the most content experts, and the whole process of writing the exam and remaining really advanced,’” she said.
Through the resulting academic partnership, CompTIA helped UTech find its audience, connect with students and develop relationships with area exam publishers. “CompTIA has helped us find our voice,” Jimenez said.
CompTIA also helped with marketing and advertising, reaching out to new students and expanding the program into high schools.
CompTIA has also helped keep UTech instructors — all locally sourced — current to new changes in technology and the IT industry. “For me, I wanted heart and passion, so all of our existing instructors and also members of staff are certified as well,” said Jimenez, who earned her CompTIA Network+ certification when the program began, adding it to her roster of certifications for Cisco, Microsoft and Linux. She discovered CompTIA Network+ covered a lot more than she’d learned in her initial IT training, circa 1996, and that CompTIA’s version covers material other certification courses don’t.
“The market has changed, and more is required of your students,” she said. “They can’t just be one thing — they have to be multi-talented.”
UTech is cost-effective, and thanks to CompTIA, students who take certification courses receive a discount voucher so they can sit for the exam. “We are assisting them on their CompTIA journey,” Jimenez said. “We’re not giving them a certificate. You have to sit for the exam and earn it. All of the students come in knowing they need to take the certification.”
Closing the Skills Gap From Jamaica
Jamaica’s official language is English, and the country resides in the same time zone as major U.S. cities like Chicago — two reasons Jimenez believes UTech is well-positioned to help close the global IT skills gap. About 50 students have gone through UTech’s certification classes so far, and while many of the early students were already employed, Jimenez is working with newer students on professional skills like resume writing.
“They haven’t gotten jobs, but it’s because of factors like resume writing and interviews,” she said. “Based on my personal experience from transitioning from being a student to being a professional, the job market is not what it used to be. If they know more, they can do more.”
As she graduates more and more certified students, Jimenez is positive UTech’s program will help connect people who need jobs with employers who need qualified help. Solving this problem is what drives her to improve the program at UTech and get Jamaica certified.
“It’s funny — people have difficulty finding jobs, but it’s not that there aren’t jobs available. We’re trying to solve that need of linking the two together. Employers want skilled workers, and people want jobs,” Jimenez said. “At the end of the day, you really can help. You’re changing lives.”
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Michelle Peterson is a communications specialist for CompTIA.
