CompTIA Blog

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 ...

Andrew DiCosmo Andrew DiCosmo Software Engineer, Peters & Associates, Oak Brook, Ill. "I've been at the right place at the right time," Andrew DiCosmo says of his career. "And I had the right skills at the right time." Working at a local steel fabrication company in high school, he moved from a laborer to an office job, where his managers soon found out he was studying computers at ITT Technical Institute. So IT assignments, such as desktop maintenance and software upgrades, started co ...

According to some industry experts, cloud computing is both the biggest threat and largest opportunity facing the IT channel. Though that prediction may be confusing, there is a lot of truth in it, and it should sound an alarm for every single solution provider. The debate on the pros and cons of cloud services has been raging for quite some time, but few dispute that the delivery model is here to stay and everyone in the industry will have to learn to adapt. Each company needs to understand clo ...

Takeaways of the week for talented cybersecurity pros is that your country needs you, it just doesn’t quite know how to find you; for would-be healthcare IT pros, your services are definitely in demand; for closed-minded executives, open your eyes to the new job market of today. Cybersecurity Pros Wanted - 600 of ‘Em The federal government is ready beef up its cybersecurity ranks to the tune of 600 new roles, if only officials knew how to find folks. That’s the good and not-so-good news to come ...

With each new session of Congress comes new hope that more will be done, and in a more bipartisan manner, than in the previous session. This is especially true for those with an interest in the American workforce, as several key pieces of legislation that affect it are either long overdue on being reauthorized or are quickly approaching their reauthorization deadline. The following are pieces of legislation to look out for: The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) expired in 2003 and, due to partisan ...

"Get the right education. Keep learning. Reinvest your skills. Influence others and make your presence known. Mentor those people who can benefit from your insights." Ginger Moore, senior staffing consultant, Unisys Building an IT career requires focus, hard work and sometimes creativity, but the opportunities are vast, even for those who don't currently hold a four-year computer science degree or aren't currently in the IT workforce. That was the message of the Nov. 7 webinar "IT Careers ...

With the re-election of President Obama, a net one seat pick-up for Senate Democrats, and with Republicans maintaining control of the House, we can expect to see some of the same IT issues emerge during the lame duck and the 2013 legislative session that we saw in the last Congress.  First, the issue of cybersecurity reform emerged as a post election lame duck issue.  There is a distinct possibility that the White House may issue an Executive Order on Cybersecurity that would mandate owners and ...

CompTIA’s 10th Annual Information Security Trends study comes at a time of dramatic change in the IT industry. Cloud computing, mobility and Big Data are altering the landscape and ingraining technology in business operations like never before. Yet security remains a high priority, even among these more trendy topics. Four out of five companies place a higher priority on security today than they did two years ago, and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that global cybersecurity spending hit $60 bi ...

NetCom Learning will present an overview of the CompTIA CTT+ certification in a webinar on Wednesday. The Certified Technical Trainer certification covers core instructor skills, including preparation, presentation, communication, facilitation and evaluation in both a classroom and virtual classroom environment. The free webinar, led by Carmille Agana, will be from noon to 1 p.m. (CT). Agana will discuss the value of the CompTIA CTT+ certification, prerequisites, training and the steps to beco ...

Those who can walk the walk typically close more sales than those who can only talk the talk – a point that tends to get lost in the shuffle of a growing business. If an organization can’t deliver on the promises it makes to its customers and prospects, its chances for long-term success are greatly diminished.No ethical entrepreneur opens a business without a desire to provide high-quality products or services to his or her customers. Best intentions and goals rarely change over time, but each o ...

Takeaway of the week is a fun mismash of this and that, starting with the increased amounts of money awaiting certain skilled IT pros in the coming year, a biz-minded admonishment for those in-demand IT security folks and, lastly, an honest-to-God thumbs up for video gaming. Salaries get Mobilized Upward Next Year IT roles in mobile and wireless sectors, among others, will see hefty pay hikes in 2013, says a well-known industry staffing service. The money news to come out of Robert Half Tech ...

Heading into this Veterans Day weekend, we’d like to take a second to emphasize how important it is to support our nation’s veterans as they return home from war. The U.S. continues to suffer from high unemployment overall and veterans are no exception; as many as 850,000 veterans are currently out of work and a million more will be seeking employment in the next five years. This is unfortunate, as veterans know what hard work is and frequently enter (or re-enter) the workforce wit ...

Phil Norton Phil Norton Systems Analyst, Sourcebooks Inc., Naperville, Ill. As a teen, Phil Norton loved video games, computers and technology. He thought he'd become a programmer. But a high school internship working as a desktop maintenance technician at a local hospital led to a part-time desktop support job. "Working at the hospital, getting the feel of all the different aspects of IT, I realized I didn't just want to be coding," Norton says. "I wanted to get out there and help people. ...

Many small business owners have put off plans to hire and expand amid uncertainty around what they will face when several Bush-era tax cuts expire at year’s end, said USA Today. Although tax hikes appear to be a likely outcome, there are several legislative scenarios that could alter, minimize or even delay the tax hikes set to kick in this January.After warning that U.S. financial institutions will continue to be under constant cyber attack, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said tha ...

For a time, businesses’ print processes were a no-man’s land for managed services providers; they were considered the domain of companies selling printers and related equipment. But managed print services have grown and evolved in recent years, with MSPs making definite in-roads working with manufacturers, vendors and VARs to add print management capabilities to their portfolios.So, to reinforce and assist the growth of managed print, CompTIA today launched its new Managed Print Trustmark, a bus ...