Be an IT Free Agent

It's a big weekend in the professional sports world. This is the weekend when NBA players who have played out their existing contracts can sign new deals. Some will sign with the teams they already play for, and others will seek employment in a new city, playing for a new team. A player who is contractually in a position to seek a new deal is called a free agent — available to every team, free to weigh competing offers and seek the best deal from the highest bidder.

For fans, the start of NBA free agency can be both exciting and ennervating. Your team might attract the interest of an exciting young talent, vulture a savvy veteran from someone else's roster, or lock up a franchise star with a new long-term deal. Of course, all of those hopeful outcomes are dependent on convincing the player in question to sign on the dotted line, and he might well decide that he likes someone else's competing offer better.

Unlike in the professional sports world, IT workers looking for a new gig aren't likely to have their every move tracked by breathless reporters. Also unlike in the professional sports world, there's practically zero chance that the average IT worker will ever lay eyes on a seven-figure salary number at the bottom of an official offer sheet. Yeah, technically we're allowing for the possibility. Unless you're launching the next Google or Facebook, though, don't count on it.

You can still make plenty of money, however, and enjoy a long career, by honing your IT skills and hitting the open market. There are more jobs than workers in most corners of the IT industry, and as the world in general become ever more reliant on computers and information technology, the gap is likely to widen. Essentially, there is almost always going to be someone out there who is eager to find a worker who has a strong degree of IT expertise.

If you're currently in a different line of work altogether, or if you'd just like to learn new skills, then you've come to the right place. Certification is one of the best possible ways to prepare yourself to become an IT free agent, and TestOut Continuing Education offers some of the best certification study and training materials available anywhere. There's plenty of money out there for skilled IT free agents. Get started with your training today, and get your piece of the pie!