Certification Magazine - January 2008 - (Page 3)

EDITOR’S LETTER Tools and Techniques for the IT Professional VOLUME 10 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 2008 GROUP PUBLISHER John R. Taggart | jrtag@certmag.com EDITOR IN CHIEF Norman B. Kamikow | nkam@certmag.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mike Prokopeak | mikep@certmag.com SENIOR EDITORS Daniel Margolis | dmargolis@certmag.com Brian Summerﬁeld | bsummerﬁeld@certmag.com Kellye Whitney | kwhitney@certmag.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Agatha Gilmore | agilmore@certmag.com Ben Warden | bwarden@certmag.com Lindsay Edmonds Wickman | lwickman@certmag.com DIRECTOR, CREATIVE & PRODUCTION SERVICES Kendra Chaplin | kendra@certmag.com PRODUCTION MANAGER Linda Dziwak | linda@certmag.com WEB MANAGER Chris Patterson | cpatterson@certmag.com DESIGNER Spencer Thayer | spencer@certmag.com E-MEDIA MANAGER Kat O’Connor | koconnor@certmag.com TRAFFIC COORDINATOR Cassandra Schmutz | cassandra@certmag.com VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS Gwen Connelly | gwen@certmag.com EVENTS MANAGER Trey Smith | tsmith@certmag.com EVENTS COORDINATOR Christen MacKenzie | cmackenzie@certmag.com EVENTS SALES MANAGER Tana Johnson | tjohnson@certmag.com BUSINESS MANAGER Vince Czarnowski | vince@certmag.com CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Cindy Cardinal | ccardinal@certmag.com LIST MANAGER Jay Schwedelson | mediatec@worldata.com REPRINTS reprints@parsintl.com OR call David Einziger at 212-221-9595, ext. 407 ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER & ADVERTISING DIRECTOR James R. Yeakel | jyeakel@certmag.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Dave Lienemann | davel@certmag.com Lisa Newton | lnewton@certmag.com PUBLISHER’S ASSISTANT Sarah Ryan | sryan@certmag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Agatha Gilmore Katherine Spencer Lee Ben Bradley Kelly Shermach Ben Warden Brian Summerﬁeld Kellye Whitney Ken Wagner Daniel Margolis Lindsay Edmonds Wickman Lisa Rummler Wayne Anderson Answering a Frequently Asked Question DANIEL MARGOLIS Given that this magazine is targeted at IT professionals, you might think that these pages would be the wrong place for an article telling the reader how to break into IT. But, “How do I break into IT?” continues to be the most common question we receive from readers. People seem to head here when thinking about entering the industry, either to run their case past the regulars on our forums and ask what might be their best cert path or point of entry, or just to read our current articles and archives to get a picture of the industry in general. So, our January cover story explores this issue in more depth. We don’t focus on how to make the leap into IT in speciﬁc industries (that could go on forever and still not address every one). Rather, we present how individuals in other industries can best market themselves to enter IT, as well as discuss what will likely greet a person upon initial entry to IT. One thing that will most likely not greet anyone on initial entry to IT is a job allowing a lot of telecommuting. Our discussion forums recently saw a new poster ask how to “begin a career in the IT ﬁeld [working] from home,” and numerous other forum members immediately dismissed the idea as “preposterous.” Apparently, at least some initial in-ofﬁce experience is necessary, but more experienced IT pros are now telecommuting in increasing numbers. Our Job Roles feature explores the day-to-day reality of working as a high-level tech remotely. It turns out it’s as convenient as you’d imagine, but it does give your job a leg up on invading other areas of your life. 8 Norman B. Kamikow PRESIDENT Philip S. Wolin GENERAL COUNSEL John R. Taggart EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT Patricia Pierce CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Certiﬁcation Magazine (ISSN 1529-6903) is published monthly by MediaTec Publishing Inc., 318 Harrison St., Suite 301, Oakland, CA 94607. Periodicals Class Postage Paid at Oakland, CA and at additional mailing ofﬁces. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to: Certiﬁcation Magazine, P.O. Box 2083, Skokie, IL 60076-7983. Subscriptions are free to qualiﬁed IT professionals. Non-qualiﬁed paid subscriptions are available at the subscription price of $39.97 for 12 issues. Canada/Mexico orders must be prepaid in U.S. funds with an additional $15 postage charge. All other countries outside the U.S. must be prepaid in U.S. funds with an additional $40 postage surcharge. Certiﬁcation Magazine, CertMag and CertMag.com are the trademarks of MediaTec Publishing Inc. Copyright © 2008, MediaTec Publishing Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of material published in Certiﬁcation Magazine is forbidden without permission. Daniel Margolis Senior Editor dmargolis@certmag.com Printed by: RR Donnelley Inc., Mendota, IL January 2008 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE 3 http://CertMag.com http://CertMag.com

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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