Halloween is in the rearview mirror and the sprint through Thanksgiving and Christmas to New Year's Day has begun. It's an exciting time, a busy time, and a time, apparently, to get your rear in gear and finish up! Finish up your last certification of 2019, that is. Blogger Emily Matzelle, who shared her thoughts in a Monday post to the IT Career News blog of tech industry association CompTIA, doesn't want to hear your whining about holiday shopping this, or family road trip to grandma's house that. The way Matzelle sees it, there are still eight weeks left in 2019, and eight weeks is more than enough time to get a certification. Yes, Emily Matzelle has a plan, and the plan is for you to get certified in eight simple steps. There will be plenty of time to make and keep certification goals in 2020, of course, but 2019 isn't over yet, and that (apparently) means that it's officially Get to Work Time. Step One of Matzelle's plan, naturally enough, is "Decide Which IT Certification to Get," but the rubber really hits the road with Step 2, which is "Schedule Your IT Certification Exam." As in schedule it before the end of 2019. This a common bit of advice from certification gurus, as it means you both have a goal in your sights, and a compelling reason to work hard.
What Does the Future of Computer Networking Look Like?
Crystal ball-style prognostication is practically its own genre of technology writing. There are plenty of IT realities to grapple with in the present, but that never seems to stop, or even slow, the steady stream of speculation about what the future may hold. Over at the official site for Cisco Learning Network, the training and certification arm of computer networking titan Cisco, a recent post to the Talking Tech with Cisco blog zeroes in on five key items from Cisco's forward-looking 2020 Global Networking Trends Report. In particular, blogger Stephanie Smith focuses on what IT leaders can do to "build, evolve, and accelerate the technical proficiencies of their teams." For example, Smith says that leaders should focus on fostering a "culture of continuous learning." Most IT professionals expect to embrace new concepts and learn how to use news tools, but Smith says it's not enough to just give a friendly nod to the prevailing attitude. Rather, she writes, leaders should ensure that ongoing professional development is "baked into how individuals within an organization are measured and rewarded." In can anyone was wondering, certification is an excellent means of adding to one's IT knowledge base.
Your Certification Program Needs Strong Leadership
Over the past year-plus-a-handful-of-months, certification expert Warren Wyrostek laid out a 10-step plan for anyone interested in creating their own IT certification program. The final installment of that series was posted to CertMag.com, the official Certification Magazine website, in September. Wyrostek, however, is not resting on his laurels. A new series launched this week, this one intended to guide the thinking of anyone who has a new (or old) certification program and is fishing for the right person, with the right leadership style, to take the reins. There are nearly as many different ways of being a leader as there different days of the year that are considered banking holidays (it's closer than you'd think), and Wyrostek's plan is to weigh and consider a baker's dozen or so of the foremost leadership theories and assess their strengths and weaknesses as relates to managing a thriving certification program.
The Toughest Tech Jobs to Fill for Big City Hiring Managers
There are many, many opinions out there about which IT job sector is most affected by a shortage of skilled professionals to take available jobs. Tech employment facilitator Dice posted an interesting brief this week that reveals some data you may not have been expecting to see. Using data from Burning Glass and focusing on the U.S. "tech hubs" of New York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, and Austin, Dice has pinned down the 15 job roles it estimates that hiring managers are having the hardest time filling. Software develop (or engineer) is at the top of the list, with nearly six times as many job postings as the next-toughest position to hire, and an average "time to fill" of 39 ... time units of indeterminate length. (Weeks seems a little likelier than days, but we'd accept either. Alas, it's not clear from the post which is intended. The longest "time to fill" is 46 (somethings), which is what you apparently need to plan for if your intention is to hire a computer scientist in New York, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, or Austin. If you're headed to the job market in the short term, it may be worth your time to weigh the data here.
That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to the GoCertify News Editor.
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