What's Next for Your Tech Career: Talkin' 'Bout a Certificatiooooon
If there really is a time to every purpose under heaven, then it follows that some certifications would be appropriate for the early years of a typical IT career, whereas others would be appropriate for the middle and later years. A new post to the IT Career News blog of tech industry association CompTIA expresses general agreement with that sentiment, while setting out some parameters to help guide folks who are wondering when to set foot on various rungs of the certification ladder. For example, blogger Brett Hanley advises that: "If you're just starting out, you'll want to pursue IT certifications that acquaint you with how to maximize the use of computers and mobile technology in a business environment." Solid advice. And while the certifications CompTIA itself is best known for tend to cluster in the novice-to-journeyman range of IT career development, there are certainly some credentials in the CompTIA portfolio that are best pursued after a certain baseline understanding of various IT concepts has been established. It probably goes without saying that the specific certs discussed in Hanley post are all CompTIA credentials, but the general advice applies across the IT certification spectrum. Learn to walk before you attempt to run, my young padawan.
Microsoft Certification Exam: Whole Lotta Retirements Going On
Most of the certifications available from Microsoft Learning, the certification and training arm of software giant Microsoft, require the certification candidate to pass more than one exam. So a Microsoft certification exam being ushered into retirement doesn't necessarily indicate that the affiliated credential is also being zotzed. It also means that, unless a certification is about to entirely disappear, then retiring exams are likely to be replaced. Microsoft Learning does a pretty good job of tracking exam retirements and announcing replacements, and the latest evidence is a post this week recapping some previously announced retirements as the actual exam disappearance dates draw near. The post lists upcoming retirements from June 30 through Sept. 30, covering 18 different exams. Seventeen of those exams are being replaced. The lone exception is exam 74-343: Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2013, which is being given the bum's rush with no replacement announced.
Dice Blogger Lists Signs That You're Being Pushed Out
The kind of retirement where you step away from a career or job is generally self-determined. If an employer wants to part company with a particular employee, the more direct route is simply to fire or lay off that employee. Sometimes, however, an employer wants to have an employee take a hike, but while thinking that the decision to move on was of the employee's own making. It's a particularly devious mind game and one that most often plays out more or less according to the employer's desire. If you're worried that such a tactic is being employed against you, then you may gain some valuable perspective from a new post to the Insights blog of tech employment facilitator Dice. Blogger Nick Kolakowski explains five different symptoms that typically indicate a desire on the part of one's employer to show one the door – without actually showing on the door, of course. It's probably a pretty depressing situation to find oneself in, but Kolakowski also has some advice for employees caught in a downward spiral. You may indeed end up moving to a different job, but the transition doesn't have to be a rocky one.
How Long Do You Have to Work in IT to Become a CEO?
It's a trick question, of course, or at least not a question that has a one-size-fits-all answer. Some people barely work in IT at all before creating their own companies and rocketing to the top of the heap. Others climb the corporate IT ladder at a more standard pace, only getting all the way up to the Big Chair after decades of work. And, of course, most people who work in IT never get a key to the executive washroom at all, checking out of the employment sector altogether somewhere below the top tier of the standard org chart. Over at CertMag.com, the Certification Magazine website, there's some new Salary Survey information that paints a picture of where the largest numbers of certified IT professionals tend to wind up. For example among the thousands of people to participate in the 2019 survey, there was not a single individual who reported holding an executive position and also reported having worked in IT for fewer than 9 years. And even among survey respondents who have worked in IT for more than 20 years, executives are relatively rare. It's interesting to read down through the article and see where people tend to be clustered as total years worked in IT increases.
That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to the GoCertify News Editor.
