by Kevin Smith, COTP
According to reports published at Dice Insights (dice.com), a leading website for technology careers and The Channel Company, a top IT firm (CRN.com), there are some hot careers and certifications that you should definitely consider if you’re looking to maximize your income potential.
According to DICE, here are some of the fastest-growing tech sectors:
Application Service Provider: A business providing computer-based services to customers over a network, such as access to a particular software application using a standard protocol (such as HTTP)
Docker: An open platform for developers and system administrators to build, deploy, and run distributed applications.
HTML/HTML5: Hypertext Markup Language is the core language of the World Wide Web and is used to develop most websites.
Kanban: A lean method to manage and improve work across human systems that aims to balance demands with available capacity and improve the bottlenecks.
Help Desk: As the new technologies emerge and evolve, competent Help Desk personnel with a high-level of technology knowledge are in demand.
Network Attached Storage: A file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients.
Mastering the skills above is a great idea, but according to CRN, getting certified is even better. Here is a list of some of the hottest IT certifications and how the CRN website describes them.
PMP: The Project Management Professional certification indicates someone has the knowledge and skills needed to guide projects to a successful conclusion, on-time, on-budget, and using available resources. Currently 1,400 jobs on Dice request PMP certification.
MCSE: Microsoft's Certified Systems Engineers is for professionals who spend their time maintaining, designing, implementing, and administering technology infrastructures using Microsoft 2000 Windows Server and other Windows server platforms. Nearly 1,000 available career opportunities on Dice request this certification.
CompTIA's A +: Professionals with this certification have demonstrated they can install networks, conduct preventative maintenance, secure them, and troubleshoot them. Currently more than 500 jobs on Dice require A+ certification.
CCNA: Cisco Certified Network Associates can install, configure, run, and troubleshoot midsize routed and switched networks, know the basics about security and wireless, and can work with a number of protocols. There are more than 650 job opportunities on Dice request the CCNA designation.
MCP: Microsoft Certified Professionals include developers, trainer, system architects, and other IT professionals.
CompTIA's Network +: Network+ proves a technician's competency in managing, maintaining, troubleshooting, installing, and configuring basic network infrastructures. It's included in the certification programs of vendors including Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, and HP.
CISSP: Five years of experience in information security are needed before a professional can become a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. Nearly 750 open available career opportunities request this certification.
MCSA: The Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator certification is earned by experts in systems administration and troubleshooting networks that use the Windows Server operating environment.
ITIL: The three-tier IT Infrastructure Library certification comprises the Foundation Certificate (basic knowledge of ITIL terminology, service support, and service delivery), Practitioner Certificate (an understanding of specific processes within IT Service Management), and Manager's Certificate (expertise in overseeing service management functions).
CompTIA's Security +: Knowledge of system security, network infrastructure, access control, and organizational security is needed to obtain this certification.
If you don't think a certification is important for your dream job seach, check out the requirements for two IT jobs posted on the DICE site:
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be delving deeper into some of these technology skills and certifications in more detail.
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Kevin Smith is a service veteran and has been teaching the CompTIA A+ Certification prep course since 1999. He has served CompTIA as an A+ Subject Matter Expert for several versions of the A+ examination. Kevin, who is the author and publisher of the “A+ Study Hall’ electronic courseware, which includes practice testing, received his A+ Certification in 1997 while owning a small computer service company. Kevin is a graduate of the SUNY Buffalo system, holds the CompTIA A+ Certification, and is a Certified Online Training Professional (COTP) with the International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals (ICCOTP).
Kevin Smith is a service veteran and has been teaching the Com