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By Janet Pinkerton
| December 20, 2012
Hunter Iemmolo works with IT Instructor Scott Johnson at Martin County High School's IT Career Academy. Iemmolo, a junior, plans to pursue a career in computer science, spurred by his experience in the IT Academy.
Florida is using high school and middle school IT career academies, industry certifications and local business involvement to build a statewide IT skills pipeline to extend into college and the workplace.
The pioneering effort comes at a time when companies across the United Sta ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| December 20, 2012
"The evidence keeps growing that career academies work," says Andrew Rothstein, special advisor on educational policy at the National Academy Foundation (NAF), a non-profit that supports a national network of 60,000 students in 469 academies, including some of Florida's IT career academies. NAF works with school districts to develop the career academies in general and often provides technical assistance to support non-NAF academies. According to the NAF: In 2011, 97% of NAF seniors graduated fr ...
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By Jim Staats
| December 14, 2012
Takeaway of the week is really a fresh set of takes on some old, established takeaways, such as "certifications are valuable difference makers in the IT job market" or "healthcare IT continues to grow and evolve" and then there's the "IT job market remains strong into 2013." Oldies, but goodies. Certifiable Difference Makers Everything is taken into consideration in a competitive IT job market and some certifications more so than others, according to a well-known industry recruitment firm. As ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| December 12, 2012
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 act ...
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By Jim Staats
| December 07, 2012
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 ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| December 04, 2012
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 ...
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By Kelsey Wieties
| December 03, 2012
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 vendo ...
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By Jim Staats
| November 30, 2012
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, ...
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By Leslie Hague
| November 29, 2012
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 usi ...
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By Jim Staats
| November 23, 2012
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 ...
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