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John A. Venator

In the 13 years that I've been President of The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), a not-for-profit trade association serving the technology community, I've seen the industry change dramatically. We've gone from an industry where PCs were available only to a select few, to a time where there's a computer in almost every household and, it seems, the more software one has the better. We've watched as the Internet and e-commerce have grown and ushered in a whole new breed of knowledge workers, savvy on technologies that we could only dream of a few decades ago.

This "revolution" has also had a tremendous impact on the certification industry. Both the number and types of technology certifications have expanded in the past few years. We've also seen a shift in the demographics of certified individuals. Today more certificate holders are women, students, retirees, minorities, ex-military personnel and even members of the clergy.

CompTIA recently certified a nun who maintains her convent's computer system thanks to her A+® certification training. We've also certified a retiree in Florida who uses her A+ skills to repair the PCs in and around her retirement community.

Perhaps the most promising batch of "new" certificate holders are those who eagerly use certification as a "stepping stone" to a career in information technology. This is vital considering the skills shortage we are currently facing. The rapid technological advancements of the past few years have created a "skills gap" in the workforce that has led to a severe shortage of IT professionals-from highly skilled and educated programmers and developers to service and support technicians whose work does not require a college degree.

Analysts predict that the skills gap, estimated at 1.6 million today (according to the Information Technology Association of America), will continue to grow if we don't train the next generation of workers now. Training these new certificate holders will be the first step in helping to alleviate this problem, and CompTIA is actively working to support this effort.

We recently established the CompTIA Education Foundation to promote new talent pools of individuals involved in technology, and to encourage youth and adults to pursue careers in the technology industry. The Foundation provides support for workforce development via partnerships with our members, business leaders, corporations, government and educators to accomplish its mission of fostering technology careers. Most recently, we announced a $1 million certification scholarship program to encourage underrepresented populations, such as people with disabilities and economically disadvantaged persons, to pursue careers in IT.

Our JOBS+ workforce development area is also working in conjunction with other organizations to train and certify the next generation of knowledge workers. The group targets five critical areas to ensure success: outreach, curriculum development, certification, career development and training. Model programs are currently under development throughout the United States and the group hopes to have 200,000 new IT professionals ready for employment by 2004.

Certification in the information technology industry is a gateway to job entry and career development. In today's ever-changing technology community, more and more people from a much more varied background will use it to become skilled in new technologies.

Consequently, we will continue to see the number of certified professionals grow and diversify. Certification can be a powerful tool when used to its fullest potential. It provides numerous benefits to those who hold certificates, but it should not be a substitute for hard work and experience.

Certification is:

• A tool that people successfully use to challenge themselves
• A road map for continuing education
• A means to enter into a new specialty
• Evidence that you are motivated and actively working to stay current

The facts behind employer interest in job candidates holding certification

The popularity of certification as a benchmark for measuring technical expertise has never been greater. Already, there are almost one million holders of technology certifications worldwide and there are no predictions for a slowdown in certification growth. Businesses are quickly realizing the benefits of hiring certified individuals. A recent survey conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) found that 78 percent of companies experienced more productivity from their certified employees, and 92 percent realized financial benefits by having certificate holders on staff.

For employers, certification serves as independent validation that an individual has demonstrated the skills and abilities required to complete the certification program. But more importantly, certification allows companies to be more efficient which in turn leads to greater profitability. Moreover, the money saved by increased uptime and help desk efficiency ultimately serve to offset the costs associated with continuing education for employees.

Certification is a gateway to learning new technology. We know that certified professionals are able to manage larger, more complex systems, allowing for a greater return on investment and further reinforcing the case for certification. According to IDC, companies that support certification have more innovative computing solutions. Also, certified teams are accomplishing more in a shorter period of time than their non-certified counterparts. Certified technicians handle a greater number of calls, solve more problems and formulate solutions based on product knowledge.

Training is a likely answer to the question of how to improve performance, but many supervisors today are not accepting training alone as the solution to this dilemma. If companies are going to invest the time and money to train, they expect proof of learning in the form of an employee taking an exam and earning a recognized certification. By requiring employees to achieve certification as a result of training, IT managers can rest assured that the learning experience has been productive.

In addition, certified employees tend to display more loyalty, so employers experience less turnover and save money on training costs. An employer who has made the certification investment usually treats those employees with respect and offers incentives and/or bonuses to encourage the continuation of certification training. It's no wonder that many of today's leading IT companies have adopted certification as a hiring standard, a criterion for promotion and a motivational tool.

To learn more about the types of certification available, career path opportunities, and training resources please visit us at www.comptia.org.

John A. Venator is President and CEO of CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, the largest global trade association supporting the IT industry. CompTIA has 9,600 corporate members and 10,500 individual professional members.