Certification Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 22)

time to get back to your current level of salary and benefits. Qualiﬁcations and Certiﬁcations There are three different types of qualifications for any IT job: professional, vocational and academic. Increasingly, medium to large companies around the world expect IT job candidates to be educated to the degree level, preferably in a computing- or IT-related subject. Having a degree shows employers that you’re able to commit and have been introduced to a wide variety of subjects, making you a well-rounded professional. Remember that you do not necessarily need to have a degree in computer science. Other fields may provide you with skills and coursework that are still applicable. Be prepared to defend your lack of experience and your education in another area. Plan in advance how to articulate what your degree has in common with information technology or business pursuits and how you can be an asset in an entry-level IT position. Vocational qualifications exist for those who don’t like or don’t do well in the academic route. Partially work-based and partially theory, these can complement academic qualifications very well. A lot of countries, especially in the EU, have backed this form of education. Increasingly, medium to large companies around the world expect IT job candidates to be educated to the degree level, preferably in a computingor IT-related subject. Having a degree shows employers that you’re able to commit and have been introduced to a wide variety of subjects, making you a well-rounded professional. often of little value outside the most basic of entrylevel jobs and may not provide much ongoing value beyond your first position in information technology. Professional qualifications are slightly different from academic and vocational qualifications in that they validate your job role and responsibilities. While there are a lot of qualifications for higher-end IT professionals, there are also many professional cer- In the United States, there are a variety of vocational or technical institute programs that a professional making the transition to IT may be interested in. Traditionally, a candidate can complete a certificate program that provides noncredit evidence to a potential employer that you have completed coursework in a particular specialization within a subject area. However, these types of nondegree certificates are 22 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE January 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification Magazine - January 2008

Certification - January 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Academic Connection Dear Techie Virtual Village Making the IT Leap: How to Move Into the Industry Inside Certification Phoning It In: Telecommuting Systems and Networks Engineer Interface Band of Brothers: Why You Should Join an IT Association Ad Index Endtag

Certification Magazine - January 2008

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