Janet Pinkerton Posts

An IT career was something Derrick Graham pursued for years, completing online-college level IT classes while enlisted in the Navy and working as an aircraft mechanic.  But it wasn’t until he completed CompTIA certifications required by Department of Defense Directive 8570 at a New Horizons Learning Center in Durham, N.C., that Graham won his first IT job. “I didn’t get my first break until after obtaining Security+, which met one of the DoD Directives,” says Graham, now a help desk ...

An IT career was something Derrick Graham pursued for years, completing online-college level IT classes while enlisted in the Navy and working as an aircraft mechanic.  But it wasn’t until he completed CompTIA certifications required by Department of Defense Directive 8570 at a New Horizons Learning Center in Durham, N.C., that Graham won his first IT job. Derrick Graham “I didn’t get my first break until after obtaining Security+, which met one of the DoD Directives,&rd ...

Lewis Shoulders is still in his teens, yet he’s already a respected IT network technician in the United Kingdom, flying round the world, working on luxury yachts, rubbing shoulders with celebrities.By age 18, he had earned his CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certifications, using the UK training company Zenos to train for Network+ and set up job interviews before landing a job with Livewire Connections. The Surrey, England-based provider of maritime IT networks and entertainment systems uses mob ...

Lewis Shoulders is still in his teens, yet he's already a respected IT network technician in the United Kingdom, flying round the world, working on luxury yachts, rubbing shoulders with celebrities. By age 18, he had earned his CompTIA A+ and CompTIA Network+ certifications, using the UK training company Zenos to train for CompTIA Network+ and set up job interviews before landing a job with Livewire Connections. The Surrey, England-based provider of maritime IT networks and entertainment systems ...

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 ...

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 body.C ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 certificatio ...

Okay, IT professionals, what’s your career roadmap? Employers, what your plan for validating your IT employees’ skills? Find both on CompTIA’s online IT certification roadmap to learn which credentials—from CompTIA and other organizations — will advance specific IT careers. This one-of-a-kind tool identifies industry IT certifications used on various IT career paths as a worker progresses from beginner/novice to the intermediate, advanced, specialist and expert le ...