IT Insights Blog — Jobs

On April 4, 1975, two men in Albuquerque, N.M, ventured into a fairly new market with some new ideas and founded what was at the time a language software development company. That company would one day become one of the largest, most influential companies in the world, showcasing the now ubiquitous name of Microsoft. Bill Gates and Paul Allen couldn’t have known how successful their venture would become when it all began. Now, not only is Microsoft continually distributing best-selling products like the Xbox, Microsoft Office and the Microsoft Windows operating system, but the company is training the next generation of IT professionals with its unique certifications.

Sales has evolved. The “used car salesman” persona that many of us associate with salespeople is fading. Today, consumers are able to research products, read reviews, and get recommendations from friends before they even talk to a salesperson. There are times, even, when the consumer knows more about the product than the salesperson does. A salesperson today is now more of a consultant, someone the customer trusts will treat them fairly and take care of them. Indeed, sales is more customer service-focused than ever before. If a salesperson treats a customer badly, then that customer can go online and leave a frank assessment of their experience, which can have an immediate negative impact on the company.

We are living in a Golden Age of IT employment. The advent of the Cloud, the Internet of Things, and Big Data are combining to make the job market for skilled It professionals hot — and it’s getting hotter. According to the 2016 Salary Guide for Technology Professionals, from Robert Half, the global leader of professional staffing services, there are more jobs than people to fill them. areerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists International report that there is a significantly greater number of job IT job postings than hires per month.

2:45 A.M. is early. Real early. Especially when you’ve had a hard time sleeping because you know that you’re going to be on live TV in a few hours. Getting some decent shut-eye is difficult when you are constantly considering just how bad things could go. Will my mind go blank? Will my statements be coherent? Should I invest in a yurt out in the remote wilderness in case I royally mess things up and want to completely disappear from society? Such was my state of mind earlier this week.

There are a lot of different reasons to get certified. Many employers offer better pay to employees who enter the workplace with one or more cert, or get one while on the job. And if you're considering a new career direction, then there's no better way to build a new IT skill set, or enhance an existing one. Many (if not most) working professionals, however, also view certification as a tool to directly improve their job performance.