CompTIA Blog

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 pro ...

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 exp ...

A look at the week of August 14 in public advocacy for the IT channel: President Obama is currently weighing an executive order that would help prevent cyber attacks on critical infrastructure one week after the Senate failed to pass legislation, says the National Journal. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes that cloud computing is dangerous and will lead to major problems in the next few years, says the Huffington Post. GOP lawmakers in the Senate are firing back against Senate Democrats th ...

No doubt there exist many channel opportunities related to the cloud model, among them new sales and customer engagement scenarios as well as the chance to build recurring revenue streams. This is all good business. But the fast-moving shift to cloud is also profoundly disruptive and challenging. Ready or not, many of today’s solution providers find themselves re-evaluating how they conduct basic business operations, regardless of whether they are planning an all-cloud transition (for now, a rar ...

Leadership is defined as a function, act or role in guiding groups or individuals, but those who attended last week's CompTIA Breakaway conference know that description doesn't do it justice. The members who step up to head each of the association's 11 peer communities aren't paid for their efforts, and most spend hundreds of hours each year to accomplish all of their group's ambitious industry-enhancing goals. Much of their work happens behind the scenes, from organizing calls and planning upco ...

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 metaphoric ...

Legislation has been voted out of the Senate Finance Committee that would extend a number of popular tax provisions, including small business expensing, 100 percent exclusion on gain of small business stock, and the research and experimentation (R&E) tax credit.  The small business expensing provision would allow small businesses to immediately expense many asset purchases on their current-year tax return, as opposed to depreciating the purchase over a period of years.  This accelerates futu ...

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 ...

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 ...

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: ...

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, co ...

In an educational session on the last day of CompTIA’s Breakaway 2012, Keith Eades, CEO at Sales Performance International, sent attendees home with six pointers for better selling: Adopt a customer- and solution-centric philosophy – i.e., answer the customer’s problem. Use a buyer-aligned sales process – i.e., know more about how buyers buy than how your organization sells. Align sales and marketing – messaging, tools and conversations. Use management systems and disciplines that foster and sus ...

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 t ...

No business is too small to engage in strategic business planning. So says Scott Goemmel, business advisor with 4-Profit, who led a workshop on business strategy planning today at Breakaway 2012.“Most companies spend less than two percent of their leadership’s time on strategy, yet we’re the fastest changing industry,” said Goemmel. “That’s not nearly enough to take your company and move it forward.”In the IT industry especially, Goemmel said very successful technical people will start and grow ...

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 s ...