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Skills Employers Require of IT Professionals; Training Opportunities, Free Training
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Employers look for team building and communication skill, and specific IT training. This article explains the right combination of skills required by employers, how to get free training and how to take advantage of vendor-sponsored and employer-sponsored training opportunities. This article looks at initiatives taken by employers to enhance their IT employees' skills. |
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Despite an increasing number of professionals pursuing a career in IT, thousands of computer and information technology jobs across the U.S. remain unfilled. Industry experts point to an IT skills gap between supply and demand. A degree in computer science or related discipline alone is not the only way to pursue a career in IT. A degree is often both not required and not enough without other adequate information technology training or experience to guarantee a successful career in IT.
Employers are looking for IT professionals with the right combination of technical and business skills and industry experience. Information technology training should address the question of what skills do companies require of IT professionals in order to produce highly employable IT workers. What ability do employers expect the person to enter with? And what combination of skills do they expect the employee to have in order to learn, keep up with the best in the industry to bring it to the organization, troubleshoot, and solve problems on the fly?
Many employers are taking the lead in providing a collegial atmosphere where they expect employees to learn, and support information technology training by providing employees with IT training, vendor sponsored training, computer-based training and in-house training.
The nonprofit sector has also taken a role in developing the IT workforce to fill the demand for information technology jobs y providing training organizations such as the National Education Association's CyberLearning to develop technology staff for the nonprofit sector. CyberLearning http://www.cyberlearning.org offers technology scholarships for a wide array of contemporary IT courses.
Leading companies in the computer industry, such as Microsoft, Cisco, Sun, IBM, Veritas, Network Associates and others offer certification courses, product seminars, and free magazines to instruct people in their products, the latest developments, and interfaces with other business processes and equipment in the IT infrastructure. |
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Free IT Training; Scholarships for IT Training; Loans for IT Training
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The nonprofit sector has taken an active role in developing the IT workforce to fill the demand for information technology jobs in its sector of over 585,000 nonprofit organizations. Education is the watchword for better employment. The National Education Association founded Cyberlearning.org at http://www.cyberlearning.org to offer IT Scholarships and cash grants to individuals for information technology training and certifications, and matching grants for information technology training for employees to K-20 schools, non-profits, and government agencies.
Technical colleges, graphic arts and design schools, computer-based training programs, and Certificate programs, as well as two-year and four-year colleges and universities, offer education loans for IT training programs. Taking a low-interest loan for information technology training can be an excellent idea. If training is applied seriously - and prospective employees pursue the right supply chain of jobs for the IT industry - a loan in IT training and career development will pay off a thousand fold.
As part of its advertising, marketing and public relations efforts, the IT industry offers free product seminars to information technology employees. Look for these announcements in your workplace. Attending vendor product seminars and Internet fairs is a good way to see what is new and upcoming on the horizon. Often Internet fairs and IT trade shows are also open to the public.
Free magazines are also a way to see what the major IT vendors are offering and learn about the latest issues in IT development. For the newcomer in the workplace, ask your colleagues to look at their magazines. Send in the reply card or request for free subscription and you will soon be receiving your own subscription and announcements to product demonstrations and trade shows. |
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Information technology job descriptions provide a fairly clear idea of what skills companies require of IT professionals. Both business communication skills and technical skills are required. While skill sets for computer and information technology jobs may vary according to the job designation, business skills requirements tend to be similar.
Communication skills, team working skills, problem solving skills, and good command of English are strongly preferred, because most computer and information technology jobs involve constant interaction between IT staff members and end-users or customers.
Job descriptions for high-level computer and information technology jobs may sometimes read like an IT manager job description, with IT professionals expected to take responsibility for such tasks as IT strategy formulation, project management, and co-worker training. However, employers are just as ready to look for people with "smarts" who have a basic skill set and are a demonstrated learner.
Information technology training background must incorporate or demonstrate core business skills to address employer's requirements. Do not be put off by high powered information technology job descriptions. Most IT professionals brought their communication skills to the job along with their information technology training and learned additional skills, software, hardware, and systems analysis work as they performed the job
On the technical side, what skills do companies require of IT professionals? Where possible, a four-year degree, particularly a technical degree, is invaluable to anyone intending to build a career in IT. In addition, a 2 year or 4 year degree builds the confidence to work with a league of professionals and make the decisions to satisfy management. IT infrastructures and applications are highly important to an organization - employers want employees who bring the discernment to make good decisions and handle responsibility.
Employers are willing to hire someone without a bachelor's degree, provided the job candidate has earned relevant industry training, with possible certification and accumulated significant work experience. Vendor-related information technology training is considered highly desirable. IT professionals from the entry-level to the most advanced levels should seek it at all times.
Building credentials may seem difficult at first. Technical work for your own small business, freelance clients, and first employers builds significant training experience and understanding of the industry. Where you want to go and where you need to go may be two different things. First experience should point a direction to both.
Jumping to your next position and making your next career move is relatively easy once the desire is there. With the willingness to go to the right companies, the companies with the IT work, professionals who want to build a successful career will succeed. You will win because of the quality of your contacts. As your employer or employers offer you work, you will intuitively know how, when and where to obtain further training. You will develop new skills through on-the-job experience and training, vendor-sponsored training, computer-based or on-site information technology training to grow your career. Keeping pace with technology will secure your labor market mobility. |
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IT Project Manager Training, IT Security Training and Consulting: Initiatives taken by employers
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A typical IT manager job description shows that the position requires a developed, hands-on leader who possesses the right combination of technical skills, business acumen, and organizational capabilities. Often included in an IT manager job description are responsibilities for coordinating workflow processes and production support and directing business systems design and programming projects. Senior IT project managers may be expected to decide on business process review proposals as part of their IT manager job description. In addition, an IT manager job description for senior IT project managers may include the responsibility for providing information technology training and developing internal training materials.
Employers acknowledge that finding the right candidate who meets all qualifications stated in an IT manager job description can be sometimes difficult. This is why companies that already have IT project managers in the organization often take the initiative to provide them with additional information technology training. Employer-sponsored IT project manager trainingmay be either facilitated by an in-house senior IT project manager or outsourced to a consultant IT training vendor. Aside from IT project management training, a consultant IT training vendor may also offer IT security training and consulting services. The content of IT project management training will depend on the current and anticipated needs of the organization. Companies who hire a consultant IT training vendor for IT project management training often ask for IT security training and consulting as well, to train their employees on dealing with various security threats and developing an enterprise-wide security program.
Working for a consultant IT training vendor, provides opportunities to develop IT project management training knowledge, and IT security training and consulting experience. A consultant IT training vendor, often an IT Outsourcer, demonstrates mastery of the latest computer security products and technologies and shows awareness of product, planning and implementation. Furthermore, a consultant IT trainer shows how core IT project management principles including quality control, audit, access control, and security software can be implemented to minimize security risks. |
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The Right Combination: Information Technology Training & the Right Contacts for Quality Employment
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You will win because of the right combination: information technology training and the right contacts for quality employment. |
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