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By Janet Pinkerton
| August 08, 2012
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 ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| August 07, 2012
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 ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| August 06, 2012
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: ...
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By Jim Staats
| August 03, 2012
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 ...
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By Lisa Fasold
| August 02, 2012
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 ...
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By Jim Staats
| July 30, 2012
Working in Western Australia more than a decade ago, Michael Boughton was more committed to working on the land than LAN. A family man in his early 30s, Boughton was working as a farm technician, harvesting crops and maintaining 5,000 head of sheep.
That changed when his boss handed him an old, secondhand computer. In no time, a new hobby was born, eventually spilling into classes, part-time and full-time work.
"I saw that you didn't have to be a guru to work in the computer industry, espec ...
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By Leslie Hague
| July 25, 2012
Techopedia recently interviewed Carol Balkcom, CompTIA Director of Product Management, about security certification. Balkcom discussed the topics covered in CompTIA's two security certifications, as well as differences between CompTIA certifications and others in the market. See what she said. ...
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By Jim Staats
| July 23, 2012
Within the corridors of one of Japan's top technical consulting firms, a new skills training program is producing whiplash-fast results for those involved.
At the heart of this initiative is a core belief in the value of CompTIA A+ certification.
In the past year, the client services division of MicroMates, which provides IT equipment support for Ricoh Technosystems, implemented the "skills map" program to boost staff knowledge through a four-pronged focus on practical skills, communication ...
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By Jim Staats
| July 20, 2012
Takeaway of the week is it's hard to know who, or what, to trust. The future is bright for the IT job market. No, it's not. Oh yes, it is. Wait, maybe some of it is sunny and other parts are cloudy. No wonder the weather reporter always takes a beating from the public. Survey Says: Sunny Days for IT Job Seekers
If you're equipped with IT training and in need of employment, consider yourself luckier than most job seekers, according to a new survey.
More than half of the respondents to Career ...
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By Kelsey Wieties
| July 17, 2012
All CompTIA certification exams will now take place solely at Pearson VUE testing centers and no longer at Prometric testing centers. The goal of this change is to simplify the overall testing experience for all candidates who wish to take a CompTIA certification exam.
If you have a Prometric exam voucher, it is now valid at Pearson VUE testing centers as long as it has not expired. You can schedule an appointment at Pearson VUE either in advance or on the day you choose to take the test, as l ...
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