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By Jim Staats
| March 23, 2012
Takeaway of the week is a bright future for the right job seeker in locales as diverse as Seattle and Asia. Cloud computing, big data and - who knew? - software sales are the dominant themes in the rumbling IT job market. The upshot? Stay current, become business savvy and that bright future could be yours. Coffee, Rain and Tech
Is Seattle the new Silicon Valley?
While the job market continues to percolate in the titan of tech regions, several factors are leading many to point to the emerald c ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| March 22, 2012
The big smile on her face stopped him in a hall of the Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech). After some small talk, ChiTech Head Recruiter Walid Johnson finally learned why one of his high school students was smiling so wide. She told him, “For the first time in my life, I feel like it’s actually OK to be smart.” That was the biggest compliment Johnson ever heard a student give the school, and it came from a young woman, whose gender currently make up 49 percent of ChiTech’s student ...
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By Jim Staats
| March 19, 2012
When Andres Vazquez Castillo dreams, he dreams big. Vazquez, CEO of Mexico-based management services firm, iGenera, is the driving force behind a regional technical education program that, he hopes, can forge a better life for hundreds of would-be professionals across the country and beyond. And CompTIA A+ is at the center of his big, bold vision. “Technology in Mexico is antagonistic,” said the 46-year-old entrepreneur, noting a minority of the population has access to the best tools available ...
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By Jim Staats
| March 16, 2012
Takeaway of the week is it’s still a good thing to a talented, well-versed and highly trained IT job seeker, even though it might not feel that way to those deep in their search. Another batch of glowing indicators show those savvy with cloud computing skills, a keen eye for business paired with a smart head for technology and a willingness to explore other geographic locations might just have the world at their feet. Relevance in the New IT World
OK, we all know that cloud computing, mobile a ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| March 15, 2012
Some may fret about the shortage of women in technical and scientific career tracks, but the young women of Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech) have no time for that. They are too busy—working to learn all they can about technology, science, math and entrepreneurship while pursuing their individual goals. And they are thriving. In 2011-2012, ChiTech’s third school year of operation, 49 percent of the student body is female. Chosen by lottery, ChiTech students’ love and aptitude for techn ...
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By Jim Staats
| March 14, 2012
Virginia student Nicholas Anderson took an immense amount of pride in the knowledge he was the 200,000th person to earn CompTIA Security+ certification.
For the 24-year-old, it’s the veritable ‘cherry on top,’ upon earning his first accreditation in the sector and the industry where he has always wanted to work. Now, Anderson just hopes to pair it with post-college employment. “It’s definitely something I value along with focusing on my own career path,” he said. Anderson, who is studying info ...
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By Janet Pinkerton
| March 13, 2012
Michael Buckenberger, director of admissions at New Horizons Computer Learning Centers in Durham, N.C., is amazed that the private sector doesn’t consistently value military job experience the same way it values non-military employment. But he’s seen IT certifications make all the difference for veterans seeking to validate their skills for a private sector job. “The same vet who spent six months unsuccessfully looking for work can come in here and earn two certifications, and—Boom!—he’s ...
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By Jim Staats
| March 12, 2012
Takeaway of the week is likely more job options, job security and, likely, compensation for IT job seekers with the right skills and experience - namely, those targeting the emerging field of data scientist, skilled and/or experienced in cloud computing, mobile apps, big data management and, lastly, visionaries in our new IT security world. According to a whole host of studies, reports and surveys, the IT job market is your world, the rest of us just live in it. Seeking Skilled IT Talent a Tough ...
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By Amy Carrado
| March 12, 2012
Is there an organization that is perfectly content with the level of skills and expertise their employees possess? Doubtful, but for both good and bad reasons. Given today’s unforgiving competitive environment and the skills needed to effectively support ever-changing technology, an overarching gap in IT skills is no surprise. As the data in CompTIA’s State of the IT Skills Gapstudy echoes, a vast majority of employers (93%) indicate there is an overall skills gap, the difference between existin ...
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By Brian Sherman
| March 09, 2012
Almost every sector of high-tech is booming and those upward trends look to continue for quite some time, but one group seems to be trailing a bit behind the curve. Despite the growth in numbers, the percentage of women in IT (compared with men) has been in a decline over the past several years. Research from the National Center for Women & Information Technology found that female IT industry employment reached its high point in 1991 at just 36 percent of the workfor ...
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