CompTIA Blog

High school sophomores from Louisiana and Arkansas participate in a robotics challenge during the 2012 Cyber Discovery Camp at Louisiana Tech University. How can America better interest its youth in IT careers? Although nearly all of teens and young adults report they "love" or "like" technology, only 18 percent say they have a "definite interest" in an IT career. These findings from CompTIA's recent study "Youth Opinions of Careers in Information Technology" point to a career interest ga ...

Two charitable organizations dedicated to changing lives through technology careers are partnering in the heart of the country.Per Scholas — a successful Bronx-based IT training organization in operation since 1998 — and the Creating IT Futures Foundation are combining for a full-court press approach to IT training in Columbus, Ohio. Both organizations are 501(c)(3) charities dedicated to changing lives through technology training and preparing graduates for paid apprenticeships and full-time jo ...

Before you head into your next IT job interview, check out these common IT job interview mistakes to learn how to avoid them. Hiring professionals from IT staffing firms TEKsystems and Robert Half Technology, as well as companies in the telcom and energy industries, told CompTIA their solutions for how candidates can stay clear of common IT job interview pitfalls.  Mistake #1: Not researching your prospective employer ahead of the interview. Solution:  Always visit the company's w ...

Takeaway of the week is that your next IT role might be in one of those places you'd least expect it — say, Wall Street or surrounded by marketing professionals. Expand your horizons and your job search. If you're in the Baby Boomer generation, though, you're probably already doing that. Next Big Thing in IT? Marketing The increased use, critical nature and technical goals of social networking for many organizations have inched marketing and IT denizens toward a match made in tech heaven. Fi ...

“Unless you have 100% customer satisfaction…you must improve.” -- Horst SchulzConstant improvement is a mantra among IT channel companies, especially when it comes to the services they deliver and the clients that receive them. There’s no place for complacency in an industry as competitive as this, and owners have to keep their eyes, and business practices, focused properly on process upgrades and other enhancements to ensure their long-term success. Identifying the areas where a company needs i ...

On September 26th, in partnership with the Illinois Technology Association (ITA), CompTIA launched its second TechVoice Chapter in Illinois.  The official kick-off, which was also co-hosted by the Partnership for a New American Economy, took place at the ITA offices in downtown Chicago.  The aim of this first gathering was to introduce the 65 attendees to a proposal now pending in the United States Congress called the Startup 2.0 Act (H.R. 5893 and S. 3217).  By hearing from one of the Congressi ...

Sen. Jay Rockefeller solicits info on cyberthreats. Senate blocks a $1 billion veterans jobs bill. House of Representatives blocks legislation easing retaining foreign workers educated in STEM fields. Sen. Jay Rockefeller is sending letters to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in order to understand how companies handle cyberthreats and what they believe the government should do to help, says the Wall Street Journal. The surveys are meant to guide lawmakers on how to proceed with cybersecurity leg ...

In order to enhance certification exam security, CompTIA will require all test-takers worldwide to have their photo taken and signature recorded as part of the admissions process at all Pearson VUE testing centers. These changes will take effect December 1, 2012. CompTIA believes these new measures will decrease the likelihood of test item theft, proxy testing and other forms of exam fraud. Both the photo and signature will be securely stored and protected at Pearson VUE and CompTIA. All testi ...

Earlier today, the White House issued a letter addressed to Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, signed by John O. Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.The letter states “the President is determined to use existing executive branch authorities to protect our nation against cyber threats.” This letter makes clear that in the absence of comprehensive cybersecurity legislation the White House will ...

Aaron Woods For Aaron Woods, director of Xerox Corp's North American Reseller Relationships and Partnership programs, information technology has been his ticket to a long and satisfying career. But at first, IT was simply his way out of a boring Army job. Newly enlisted in the Army in 1967, Woods expected to be sent to finance school after basic training. But thanks to a military paperwork snafu, he wound up a clerk typist. “That's not something I wanted to do forever,” Woods recalls. S ...

In the IT channel, a lot of focus is placed on the market potential of certain solutions and technologies, especially in areas where few solution providers would dare to invest their resources. If the opportunity for entering a new market isn’t large enough or requires too much time or money to get started, it often gets shelved until the situation changes to make it a more lucrative endeavor. But one aspect many companies overlook is the cost of what’s not on their list of portfolio options.Fiv ...

Takeaway of the week is a nice and tidy set of fun-filled nuggets that just about everyone in and around the IT job market will find interesting. Tech hiring hotspots are examined West Coast to East Coast with some surprising results; big-picture career decisions are broken down in ways that every candidate should be doing them if they haven't already; and sometimes career advancement begins outside of working hours. Tech Hotspots with a Shocker Up Top So long Silicon Valley? Nice knowin' y ...

Small business owners feel policies favor large businesses. Republicans oppose more regulations to boost private businesses’ cybersecurity. Former FBI official calls for clarity on how to combat cyberthreats. Small business owners feel too many policies endorsed by politicians favor large businesses, says Bloomberg. SMBs say politicians unjustly believe that small companies operate just as larger corporations do when in reality they are not operationally similar. Republicans feel tha ...

While Congress and the Administration concentrate on the upcoming elections, Middle East crises and keeping the government running, expiration of the Bush tax cuts looms as a huge issue for all Americans, especially small businesses.  Currently, business planning is near impossible, as major tax increases could take effect on January 1, 2013.  The potential expiration of these cuts could cause an economic slowdown as consumers and businesses face uncertainty on their 2013 tax bills.  This uncert ...

Microsoft recently estimated that this year, sixty percent of the market will remain on traditional servers, while 30 percent will be virtualised and 10 percent will have moved to private clouds. By 2015, however, Microsoft expects a big shift; with just 10 percent on traditional servers, 20 percent virtualized, 40 percent on private Clouds and 30 percent in the public cloud.With such change expected and happening, it is key that channels engage and plan around how to adapt to selling cloud solu ...