CompTIA CertMaster, the new online study companion

CompTIA CertMaster

CompTIA CertMaster, the new online study companion from the people who brought you CompTIA A+, helps you master CompTIA curriculum with confidence. This revolutionary learning solution combines advanced brain science with powerful technology to help you:

•Master information quickly
•Recall the information when it counts
•Remember the content long term

This app is the companion to the web tool. Once you register online, you can use the app to pick up where you left off and continue your training on the go.

This version offers training for CompTIA A+ (220-801 and 220-802), CompTIA Network+ (N10-005), CompTIA Security+ (SY0-301 - SY0-401 is now available as well) and CompTIA Strata IT Fundamentals (FC0-U41).

What CompTIA CertMaster users are saying:
“CertMaster is like a memory game. It does what it professes to do – helps you learn a great deal of information in the shortest possible time.”

“This is perfect for any skill level. The explanations were clear and concise. Loved the images throughout and will continue to work through the modules.”

96% of CompTIA CertMaster online users rated the tool as excellent or good.

http://certification.comptia.org/Training/certmaster


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Poor app security will leave enterprises exposed

Study: Poor app security will leave enterprises exposed 
Three-fourths of mobile applications will not pass even basic security tests over the next year, a Gartner study says. New behavioral-analysis testing is necessary to detect malicious software and security risks for enterprise data, Gartner says.


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Survey: CEOs and owners now believe IT departments are critical to business

Survey: Execs believe IT departments are critical to business 

CEOs and business owners agree that IT departments are instrumental to the success of a company, a Modis report found, with executives placing high confidence in chief information officers. "With the ever-growing concerns of network security, mobility -- the opportunities and the risks -- Big Data, BYOD and Web development, the CIO is now a key steward on the CEO's leadership team."

TOOK THEM LONG ENUF!

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Recent high school graduate Clocks Six CompTIA Certifications in Two Years

Recent high school graduate Clocks Six CompTIA Certifications in Two Years


Sporting a backwards ball cap and a friendly smile, Robert Kosydar looks like your average 22-year-old, but check out his resume and you’ll see he’s advanced far beyond his status as a recent high school graduate. This government-contracted server systems administrator earned — in just two short years — six CompTIA certifications.

“My father was the one who initially got me interested in the field of information technology,” Kosydar said. “He’s been a professional in the field for over 20 years and currently operates a small business called Mission First Inc.”

Despite being head and shoulders above most of his peers, six certifications weren’t enough. Kosydar is working on his seventh — CompTIA’s Advanced Security Practitioner — and plans to follow that up with CompTIA Mobility+.

Starting Down the CompTIA Path

Kosydar graduated high school in 2010 and landed a contracted position for the U.S. Department of Defense. His employer started him on the CompTIA path.

“When they hired me, I had very limited knowledge of IT and they suggested [that I] begin studying for CompTIA exams as a way to expand my skillset,” he said.

While most people start out with an introductory course, Kosydar jumped feet first into CompTIA Security+ so he’d be compliant with the DoD 8570 Directive. The U.S. Department of Defense recognizes CompTIA certifications in its technical and management tracks for information assurance technicians and managers under this directive.

“After studying for over a year, I came into test day feeling very confident,” Kosydar said. “When the exam report said that I had passed at the end, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that all of my hard work had finally paid off.”

Certifications Mean More Money, Motivation

Earning the CompTIA Security+ credential led to a significant raise, which motivated Kosydar to keep earning CompTIA certifications. Between August 2012 and May 2014, Kosydar earned certifications in CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Storage+, CompTIA Server+ and CompTIA Cloud+.  He prepared for the exams in a variety of ways: boot camps, IT seminars, collegiate level courses, on-the-job training, practice tests and books.

CompTIA’s vendor-neutrality and the DoD Directive kept him coming back. “The exams are also structured very well and you’re allotted plenty of time to take them,” he said.

While most people start with CompTIA A+, that certification was his fifth. “I took the much more difficult path by attempting and passing the Security+, Server+, and Storage+ exams at first so that I could knock out the Network+ and A+ exams relatively easily,” he said. After CompTIA A+, he moved on to Cloud+ as a precursor to CASP.

“Just from working in the field of IT for roughly five years, I’ve found CompTIA certifications to be highly important, especially for young adults coming out of college who are seeking employment with a credible company,” Kosydar said.

Most companies are not only seeking individuals with degrees, but with certifications to accompany them, he said.

“CompTIA certifications have not only boosted my salary, but have allowed me to progressively advance in my career as an IT professional at a young age,” he said.

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FREE online learning to close security skills gap

FREE Internet learning to close cybersecurity skills gap 
Aspiring cybersecurity professionals will soon be able to hone their skills free of charge under a new online learning program subsidized by the U.K. government. The massive open online course -- or MOOC -- is being developed in conjunction with Open University and is expected to attract some 200,000 students.

Health care as next big IT growth sector

Tech investors home in on health care as next big growth sector 
Venture capitalists and other investors specializing in technology innovation are turning their attention to a new crop of companies seeking to leverage data analytics and connected devices to modernize the health care sector and improve patient outcomes. Data compiled by Reuters show that fund managers are bolstering their holdings in health care technology companies, with funding for the sector up 176% this year.

Free Linux Training

The nonprofit Linux Foundation announced a new Linux Certification Program to help systems administrators show off some credentials and get jobs based upon them. There are two certifications – one for early career admins and one for engineer-level admins.

The foundation says, “Combined with increased Linux training offerings and a free ‘Introduction to Linux’ Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) introduced earlier this year, The Linux Foundation Certification Program will help expand the talent pool of Linux professionals worldwide. Demand for experienced Linux professionals continues to grow with this year’s Linux Jobs Report showing that managers are prioritizing Linux hires and paying more for this talent. Because Linux runs today’s global technology infrastructure, companies around the world are looking for more Linux professionals yet most hiring managers say that finding Linux talent is difficult.”

“Our mission is to address the demand for Linux that the industry is currently experiencing. We are making our training program and Linux certification more accessible to users worldwide, since talent isn’t confined to one geography or one distribution,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at the foundation. “Our new Certification Program will enable employers to easily identify Linux talent when hiring and uncover the best of the best. We think Linux professionals worldwide will want to proudly showcase their skills through these certifications and that these certificates will become a hallmark of quality throughout our industry.”

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Continued high demand for Health IT Workers

Continued high demand for HIT employees 

A recent study predicts that the high demand for qualified health IT employees will continue in the near future, with 82% of survey participants saying they will recruit at least one full-time health IT employee in the next 12 months, compared with 79% in a similar survey in 2013. The study also noted that 58% of respondents said the position they are most looking to fill in the next year is in clinical application support.




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Mozilla targets with $33 smartphone

Gartner: Security spending will reach $71B this year 
Gartner predicts spending on information security will rise 7.9% this year, with data-loss prevention increasing by 18.9%. Gartner says mobile, social and cloud computing are driving the expected growth.


Federal government to recruit in Silicon Valley 
Todd Park, currently the federal chief technology officer, reportedly will move to the West Coast and oversee recruiting of Silicon Valley employees for the federal government, which aims to attract talent for tech positions.

Mozilla targets with $33 smartphone 
Mozilla has introduced a $33 Cloud FX handset in India in partnership with Intex Technologies India. Aimed at first-time smartphone buyers, the Firefox-powered phone contains two SIM cards, has a 1 GHz processor and supports up to 4 gigabytes of memory. "Using HTML5 enables the operating system to be very lean and it requires less memory consumption," Mozilla's Jane Hsu said.

Analysis: Companies struggle to supplant human manufacturing with robotics 
Building gadgets such as smartphones remains human-dominated because intricate devices are difficult for robots to properly assemble. Experts foresee continued demand for tech jobs. "Many of the middle-skill jobs that persist in the future will combine routine technical tasks with the set of non-routine tasks in which workers hold comparative advantage -- interpersonal interaction, flexibility, adaptability and problem-solving," David Autor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology wrote in a research paper.

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The Future still is IT Services

Through the decades of change and innovation that have marked the history of information technology, one constant has remained, according to a 30-year veteran of the IT industry.

“Your future lies where it has always been,” Howard M. Cohen told attendees at the CompTIA IT Services and Support Community Monday at ChannelCon. “It’s your services. The opportunities have always been in the things that you can do for your customers.”

Cohen spoke to the IT services crowd on “Tomorrow’s Tech” and what it means for IT services businesses.

First and foremost, he said, is the customer.

“What customers want is business relevance; technology solutions that are relevant to making their business operate better,” Cohen said. “Business relevance comes in the form of intellectual property, your intellectual property. That’s your differentiator, that’s your expertise.”

Infrastructure sales, maintenance, break-fix services and desktop deployment no longer will generate sufficient income to sustain a business, according to Cohen.

But application development and management, process improvements, network and systems management and cloud integration are services that hold long-term, money-making potential.

“The reality is the cloud is nothing more than the same services we installed for customers individually, instead they’re now installed in a single data center,” said Cohen. “I can serve a lot of customers with one infrastructure.  Better service at a lower price is hard to compete with”

Cohen urged his audience to expand its vision of what IT services include, starting with the initial customer consultation. Just as accountants, doctors, lawyers and other professionals charge for every initial consultation so, too, should IT solution and service providers.

“You deserve to get paid for the knowledge you have and that you share with a customer,” Cohen advised.

Cohen also identified several other areas that IT service firms need to look at, including:

Mobility: “The device isn’t the story, it’s the data.” Personal data and corporate/business data are stored on the same device. There are business opportunities to help customers keep those two data categories separate.

Big data: More and more companies are leveraging big data to improve their business. Anywhere technology is being used is an opportunity for you.

Routing: By 2020, an estimated 50 billion devices will connect to the Internet. “Turn you skills in routing protocols to help your customers get more things on the Internet.”

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Report: Companies need more highly trained security experts

Job Survey Report:
Chief information officers need more IT professionals skilled in cybersecurity. Many organizations do not have proper response plans and need to focus on recruiting individuals skilled in Big Data networks or outsourcing to third parties to help assess risk exposure.


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2 states see highest IT job growth in first half of year

2 states see highest IT job growth in first half of year
Dice is reporting that Texas now follows California in its number of technology professionals after it added 8,100 tech jobs this year. The state now has more than 143,000 professionals in technology. Dice also noted significant growth for Florida, which added 4,100 tech jobs for the first half of the year. The state has been implementing new initiatives aimed at expanding its young tech workforce by hosting workshops for middle- and high-school students.



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New MCPD Windows Phone Developer certification

Microsoft has announced the release of the new MCPD Windows Phone Developer certification. Microsoft's description of the new 70-599 exam is as follows: 

"This exam is designed to test the candidate's knowledge and skills on designing and developing applications for the Windows Phone platform. Note that candidates who earn the MCPD: Windows Phone Developer certification will be required to show continuing ability to perform in this technology area by completing a recertification exam every two years." 

Exams 70-506 and 70-516 are prerequisites. For more information, click here.

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Microsoft list of upcoming exam retirements

Microsoft has published a list of upcoming exam retirements for 2014 and 2015. 
Exams to retire include NAV, Windows Phone, Dynamics, and several other subjects. 
https://www.microsoft.com/learning/en-us/retired-certification-exams.aspx



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New version CompTIA's Security+ exam is available

As of May 1st, The new version CompTIA's Security+ exam is available. The new exam (SY0-401) is available immediately worldwide in an English language version. German and Japanese language exams will be introduced in the coming months. 



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In hiring for IT, cut to the chase.

As if the competition for top IT talent isn't challenging enough for most enterprises, experts say many companies are creating their own barriers to hiring by failing to fully optimize their search and recruitment efforts. 
Staffing professionals blame a lack of proactive communication and vague job descriptions as a sources of the breakdown and, among other things, they recommend that hiring managers construct concise job listings that prioritize skill sets. 
-Make your resume match the job post!

Financial services to provide IT job opportunities

Financial services to provide IT job opportunities for tech contractors

Tech contractors expect more work in the financial-services market over the next year because of regulatory-related work. "The majority of the demand we're seeing is for contractors with specialist technical skills as many businesses are investing in their reporting systems."

Hiring practices change due to clouds

Move to cloud prompts GSA to rethink hiring practices 
The rise of cloud computing is placing pressure on federal agencies to recruit IT workers with more varied and nuanced skill sets. Megan Schmith of the General Services Administration says this means looking beyond technical skills to find candidates who can manage data but also understand its place in overall department strategy.

Resume Tips for the IT Worker

Companies get a lot of resumes, and you want to stand out as much as possible. Take advantage of the fact that a reader's eyes go to the first half of the resume first, and that readers are more likely to remember the first and last line of every paragraph.

Your 'elevator pitch' --- the company is your customer and you're selling yourself to the job, so make sure your opening statement is powerful and aimed right at the position.

Relegate references to a separate page that's only sent if employers specifically ask for it, If they want references, they will request them; there is no need for you to waste space saying, 'References available upon request,' either.

Newer folks in the workforce should have a strong educational portion of their resume where they highlight skills, classes, projects, etc. that are relevant to the role they want.
Even if you don't have a lot of work experience, laying out the skills, roles and responsibilities you had and the outcome of those projects is also important to show you're adept at teamwork and have leadership skills. Make sure you are highlighting your individual role on the team and how you contributed to the project or program's success. Remember, the company is hiring you, not the group you worked with. 

Include an overview of tasks and duties during the duration of your time in each job, without going into the mundane, tedious tasks that are a given, like filing, copying and other administrative duties. However, you should provide information that shows results, says Sampson, and prove that you are able to work as a team, multitask, assume leadership responsibility and any other relevant information by using examples.

You should always be looking for ways to improve your abilities and gain new skills and knowledge, says Sampson, and add these to your resume. Taking courses and learning new skills can help you to stay current and have a competitive edge over others in the job market.

Finally, one of the most important steps is to proofread. A few missed commas or misspelled words may not seem like a big deal, but to a hiring manager or employer, these details can make a huge difference. If you're not certain, have a someone else review it and make sure to accept and incorporate their feedback.

CompTIA Has New Open Access Membership Model

CompTIA has new open access membership model 
The association has come up with a new, open-access membership model that enables both individuals and businesses to benefit directly from CompTIA resources, communities and programs at no cost, while simultaneously bringing more exclusivity and value to our dues-paying members.
 Learn more here.