Certification Magazine - September 2007 - (Page 39) TECHNIQUES continued from page 37 • Am I Prepared or Willing to Move? Each region of the United States has its own unique technical skill sets that are in demand — sought-after skills in one part of the country might not be so popular in your neck of the woods. I visit at least a dozen prospective students each month who express their desire to learn and become certified in video game programming/design. There is no doubt this skill set is very valuable in Silicon Valley, but my school is in the heart of the Midwest: Kansas City, Mo. There are no Pixars that I know of that are looking for talented video game designers here. So, if your new IT niche is narrow, be prepared to move to where the jobs are. • Am I working for the right company? Should I even be working for a company at all? Don’t assume your company will welcome your decision to pursue a new IT niche — if you work for a progressive company that values its employee’s growth, you are in the minority. Your new niche might not be aligned with the company’s core business. If you were hired as a help desk technician, and you now want to move into CRM development, you might be presented with all sorts of obstacles. If this is the case, be prepared to find a new company to work for that can benefit from your new skill set. Some IT fields do not lend themselves at all to fulltime employment, and you might have to go it on your own and become self-employed. Web development and design are two prime examples. Most successful webmasters are self-employed consultants who design and develop Web sites for small and midsize companies that cannot afford an onstaff full-time Web developer. http://www.americansentinel.edu/Programs/Certifications/ http://www.americansentinel.edu/Programs/Certifications/
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