CompTIA and triOS: Strategic Partners in Education

All members of the IT college staff are triOS graduates, like recently retired IT instructor Peter McKenzie, left, shown talking to triOS student Jose Ventura.

The No. 1 goal at triOS College — the largest private career college in Ontario — is maintaining its reputation of graduating job-ready IT professionals. And the school’s student success stories speak for themselves: “Before: Unsatisfied Employee. After: Network Administrator.” “Before: Warehouse Employee. After: Field Service Technician.”

“I was a late bloomer who had a clouded history and past with no real direction,” said Jose Ventura, a former technical assistant who now works at Kenaidan Contracting. For Ventura, the career-focused approach to education was exactly what he was looking for. “Something as simple as talking to an education consultant at triOS can change your life in a matter of minutes.”

The nine-campus triOS College is headquartered in Mississauga with campuses scattered to the west of Lake Ontario. Canadian owned and operated, triOS launched its first training centers in 1992 and its first career training program in 1994. They rebranded as triOS College of Information Technology in 1999, focused solely on technology training with a vision of improving lives through the sharing of information and technology.

At that point, triOS sought a partner who could offer vendor-neutral certifications and enhance what they’d already built. CompTIA and its industry-recognized IT certifications did this. A graduate could now leave triOS with both an education and the proof that he or she had capabilities to be a productive and key member of any company’s IT team.

“CompTIA has been a strategic partner for over 15 years and has helped to introduce us to valuable employer partners to hire our students, provided key industry data on the skills shortage in IT and helped us promote our technology programs to students,” said Jason Eckert, Dean of Technology, triOS College Business Technology Healthcare.

CompTIA’s global recognition and vendor-neutral certifications are still used to promote the benefits of technology and turn students on to the importance of certifications.

“We teach several courses that are geared towards a specific CompTIA certification.  For example, we have a course called Enterprise Security that specifically focuses on the material tested on the CompTIA Security+ certification,” Eckert said. The courses include some lectures, but are predominantly based on practical application and lab work. “It is critical that our students can demonstrate their skills and abilities.”

Free exams are included in the tuition price. At triOS, students train and test for various CompTIA certifications, including A+, IT Project+, Network+, Linux+ and Security+.

“We feel very strongly about certification as a means to help students feel confident in their skills as they seek employment,” Eckert said.

After much expansion and diversification, today’s triOS College Business Technology Healthcare offers programs in business, technology, healthcare, law and the supply chain. Internships are included in most programs. “Since IT is engrained in our roots, nearly all of our programs are driven by technology as a result,” said Eckert. “Each program includes computer training to ensure that students have the basic skills to be employable.”

Terry Erdle, CompTIA’s executive vice president of certification and learning, called triOS “the kind of academic partner you want to have.”

“The distinct training offered by triOS gives students a leg up when they’re starting out and helps those with jobs move farther up the ladder,” said Erdle. “triOS gives students the tools they need to succeed.”

Career-Changing Training

When Robbie Hicks couldn’t find steady work as a graphic designer, she started seeking out a second career. After looking into several campuses, she decided triOS suited her best and attended from January to July in 2013, earning her CompTIA A+ certification.
“I feel that my time at triOS and my CompTIA A+ certification has given more credibility to the idea that IT is not just for guys,” Hicks said. “I think my IT professor said it best at our graduation: ‘Guys, there are women in IT — and they are good!’”

Hicks, known on campus as a diligent worker, received the Campus Director’s Award upon graduating — followed by a job offer. Today, she works as an Apple sales and training specialist at sister stores iConnect, in Milton, and Creative Technology in Burlington, Ontario.

“I was a bit tentative, but felt that triOS had prepared well for all aspects of IT,” she said. “I took the chance and now I couldn’t be happier!”

Certifications are key to producing graduates who get jobs. Eckert said, “Our CompTIA-certified graduates have greatly enhanced their employability within the job market.”

All members of the IT college staff are triOS graduates, and each brings real-world experience into the classroom to help students reach their career goals.

When Ventura was young, he learned about technology and electronics from his father, who immigrated from El Salvador with a master’s degree in telecommunication. Captivated by the blinking cursor, Ventura started tinkering. “This cursor intrigued me,” he said. “It brought forth thoughts of things like, ‘What can I do with this blinking cursor? What can I tell this thing to do?’”

He started fixing computers for family and friends. “It was very simple back then. I was maybe 14 or 15 years old,” he said. He later moved into the retail and service market, but realized he wanted something more. Looking around for schools and training centers, he found a triOS campus that had just opened in his neighborhood. There, he developed skills in enterprise support — a new direction from the retail side. “It’s a totally different game,” he said. “I’m dealing with a company as a whole, rather than specific individuals.”

He attended from 2011 to 2012, earning his CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications, and the first part of the Linux+ exam. Outside of CompTIA, he wrote Microsoft exams for Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise Support Technician.

The natural career advancement meant more than a significant increase in salary. “There’s satisfaction knowing that I can provide for not just a few people at a time, but more like a few hundred,” he said.

triOS helped Ventura get his foot in the door with resume builders and advice on things like interview skills from triOS staff. “CompTIA certifications specifically have turned my simple concepts of technology into a realization,” Ventura said. “I now realize not only what technology is, but its true function and benefit to our world.”