At the associate level, certification holders operate switched and routed networks of medium size. The designation verifies that an IT professional has the capability to troubleshoot, operate, configure, and install switched and routed networks. Also, certified associates will be able to understand the principles of wireless network access, resolve security problems, and use WAN to connect to remote sites.

To earn CCNA certification, students must pass certain exams. Two-part Interconnecting Cisco Networking Devices courses will train students for their required exams. Applicants may choose to take one exam, the 640-822 CCNA, or two smaller exams, the 640-822 ICND1 and also the 640-816 ICND2. For testing sites and testing schedules, students should consult the Pearson Education website.

Recertification needs to happen every three years. In order to recertify, certification holders must take the appropriate exam before their certification expires, and valid certifications may be renewed indefinitely. If certification holders miss the deadline, they will have to go through the original process again, before getting recertified.

Countries and industries are transforming, and adopting networking technology. For this reason, the demand for certified technicians continues to rise. In fact, employment for systems administrators and computer support specialists should increase about eighteen percent by the year 2016. Computer support specialists earned an average of $41,470 annually, and systems administrators earned an average of $62,130, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

IT professionals will open the door to many employment opportunities, by obtaining their CCNA certification. Customers and users will need certified professionals to provide them with education and assistance, as computer systems continue to grow more complex. Businesses will also employ consultants, to upgrade, customize, and manage their systems.

Article Source

Don’t Panic. To quote Douglas Adams( from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy), those are the most important two words when you’re taking an exam. If you haven’t taken an exam in a while, or there’s a bonus riding on it. The most important thing is to keep your wits about you, breathe deep and remember that the worst thing that will happen is you’ll fail and have to take the exam again. Granted, that’s not necessarily a great outcome, but it’s not like someone’s going to beat you with a stick.

You Won’t Know Everything. This is the corollary to the first rule. There will be questions you don’t know the answer to. There will be questions that will possibly talk about something you’ve never seen or heard of before. That’s going to happen. You’re not going to know everything, and you’re not going to get every question right. It’s OK. You don’t usually have to score anything above 70% to pass. Nobody is going to see your score unless you show them the score sheet. 70% is passing. 71% means you studied too hard.

When All Else Fails – Guess! On the certification exams, there are right answers and everything else. The everything else includes blank questions and wrong answers. They score the exact same – zero points. There’s no harm in guessing. With that in mind, when you’re looking at a question you don’t know the answer to, try to eliminate wrong answers. You can almost eliminate one right away, and frequently two. If there’s only 4 possible answers, you’ve now given yourself a 50/50 shot. And there will be times when you’ll be able to eliminate three out of 4. If you can do that, then you’ve managed to figure out the right answer. The exam doesn’t ask you to “show your work”, only what the right answer is.

Mark the Tough Questions for Review. You have the ability to mark questions and review them at the end of the exam. This can be helpful for questions you’re spending too long on, or ones you simply don’t know. Later questions may help jog your memory and you’ll be able to come up with the correct answer later. That said, be very careful about changing answers as your first instinct is almost always correct. Make sure you have a rock solid reason to change the answer before doing so.

Keep the Easy Questions Easy. There will be questions where you’ll read it and instantly know the answer. Then a bit of doubt will creep into your mind, and you’ll wonder if it really is that easy. The best plan of attack is to simply reread the question one time, make sure you chose the right answer, and click next. Don’t over-think it. Don’t talk yourself out of the right answer. If you know it and you know it’s right, move on.

Heres wishing you good luck in your next exam!  I hope that you find the tips help.

Pros and Cons of Full Time/Permanent Employment:

Most people consider these kinds of positions to be more stable. In my experience, stability of these kinds of positions is debatable, but in most scenarios I would agree with this assessment. In some companies, yes, these kinds of positions are truly more stable than contract positions. However, if a company is truly going through tough times and needs to reduce “overhead”, full time employees are just as likely to be laid off as contractors. However, in that scenario, there is the possibility of filing for unemployment benefits, so that is a plus. In addition to the cash compensation, full time employees typically get a whole host of benefits such as paid federal holidays, paid vacation and sick time, and matching funds for 401k retirement account contributions up to a certain limit. These benefits add a significant amount of value to your compensation. One of the biggest benefits however, is membership in the company’s group health plan. This membership allows you to get health care at a decent cost with many companies because of the fact that the company covers a significant amount of the monthly premiums on your behalf. If you are fortunate enough to work for a large company you can get even more benefits such as discounts through partner networks, holiday or performance bonuses, and the like. The downside to being a full time IT professional is the competitive environment. There are many other people competing for the same promotions and to move up the corporate ladder just as you are. At many places, overtime is also an issue because you do not get paid anything additional for working more than 40 hours in a week if you are salaried. Some companies take advantage of this and you can end up working late into the evenings or on weekends.

Pros and Cons of Contract Employment:

The biggest downside to Contract Employment is the uncertain nature of it. You always have to be on the lookout for the next position before your contract ends just to be safe. You do not get any additional benefits such as paid vacation or paid holidays, so you have to try and build that into your contract rate up front. The biggest downside is it is very costly to purchase health insurance for yourself and your family outside of a group plan, and after the first year of coverage, your premiums continue to rise at a fast rate multiple times a year. On the positive side, there is the opportunity to make a lot more cash by working a contract position. Especially, if you are a healthy single individual, contracting may be the way to go. You can purchase a “High Deductible” medical plan to keep your monthly premiums low if you do not visit the doctor often. You can negotiate a very good contract rate. The reason for this is that oftentimes, companies that hire contractors do so because they lack that skillset in house and need to supplement with an outside resource. This puts you in the better negotiating position. Also, since overtime will have to be paid at your contract rate, you will find most employers will want you to work only 40 hours. This is great for you to have a lot of leisure time to yourself and if you do have to work you get paid for it. You also rid yourself of the mental burden of competing with others in your department for promotions and can focus on doing the best job you can do and bringing value to the company so you can stay employed as a contractor. The other benefit to contracting is that as you move from one place to another you get to see a variety of environments and the positives and negatives of each.

The above discussion is just the start of the things you need to think about before you make a decision on what type of employment is best for you. You should also talk to other IT professionals in your area of expertise and find out what has worked for them.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6207383

If your are currently an IT professional looking to advance your career, you should take a hard look at Cisco Certification. Cisco is the leader in networking and switching technologies. With VOIP and other growing internet technologies the use of networking equipment is only going to grow. There are a wide range of jobs that can be leveraged by obtaining a Cisco certification. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by.

There are three (3) certifications that will surely advance your career. The first is the Cisco Certified Networking Associate (CCNA). This is the entry level networking certification that will get your foot in the door. Many organizations require this certification for you to prove that you understand the basics of Cisco networking and switching technologies. You can’t go wrong by making this your short term goal and achieve this valuable certification. The average salary for a CCNA is between $60,000-$76,000. Not bad for entry level eh!

If you want to be a Mid-level networking engineer you must obtain your Cisco Certified Networking Professional (CCNP) certification. You can start with the CCNA and build on it by taking additional exams to finally obtain your CCNP. Make sure you gets some hands on experience before attempting this exam as they are no walk in the park. Cisco has created an excellent set of exams to make sure that the certification has true “real world” value. If you can pass their exams, you are ready to manage real IT corporate networks and make yourself a valuable career in networking.

If you want to be at the top of the field, you will want to consider the Certified Internetworking Exper (CCIE) certification. This exam has both a written and practical exam. The failure rate of the practical exam is extremely high but is well worth the effort. Most CCIE certified engineers make well over $100,000 per year. For many, this takes several years to achieve after getting some real hands on experience.

My advice would be to start with the CCNA certification, get yourself in a good corporation and use your skills hands on. Many organizations will help you pay for your additional certifications after you have been employed for a year or more, sometimes less. This is a great avenue to advance your career even further while making a great salary as well.

Careers leveraging certification offer many benefits, including:

1) Massive job growth. Networking will continue to grow.

2) Financial security and a high quality of life.

3) Growing Career opportunities in other areas of IT.

4) The possibility to work in a global organization with potential travel opportunities.

5) The ability to create innovative technology solutions.

Considering the many benefits of certification, it is hard to imagine why you wouldn’t want to pursue it further. If you are new to IT, you might want to get a good foundation in computing before trying to obtain your CCNA or other networking certification. This will prove to be very helpful in understanding the core technologies.

For those that are working as an entry level desktop or computer support staff this may be a great career move for you. Get started by searching online for authorized training centers and courses in your area to get started. If you unsure if this is the right move for you, go to your local book store and you will find many books on the exams. Take a look and make sure the topic interests you before you invest significant time and energy in taking the exams.

Best of luck to you in advancing your IT career!

Matt D Murren owns and operates http://www.cisco-certification-advisor.com Cisco Certification

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Murren

One factor that helped make up for that was that the Novell exams were adaptive. If you missed a question on a particular topic, you would continue to be asked questions about that topic until you got it right. You couldn’t afford to be weak in any topic, because the exam would most likely find that out and keep hitting you with questions on that topic until you failed.

Adding to the stress, after a certain number of questions your exam could end at any time. You had no idea how many questions you would get, just that you would get at least 15. Every time you hit the “next” button after question 15, you didn’t know if you’d get another question or if the exam would suddenly end and give you a pass or fail response.

Times have changed. Cisco has led the way in introducing simulator questions to their exams, where the candidate is presented with a simulation of a router or network and asked to perform tasks that someone who is ready to earn that certification should be able to perform. This is a much better test of competency than the exams were eight years ago.

What will be the next “big jump” in computer certification exams? To earn the world’s most difficult technical certification, the CCIE, the candidate must first pass a rigorous 100-question qualification exam, and must then pass a practical lab exam. The candidate is presented with an exacting set of network requirements and must build that network on a pod of Cisco routers and switches in less than eight hours.

This is just personal opinion and not “insider information”, but I believe the day will come when the CCNA, CCNP, and other Cisco certifications will require some kind of hands-on practical lab to earn the certification. What better way to test competency than to have to perform tasks on real Cisco equipment? There would be more overhead for Cisco with this kind of testing, since lab equipment and lab proctors would be needed, but the already-prized CCNA and CCNP would become that much more valuable in the workplace if employers knew that to earn that certification, the job candidate had to pass a hands-on exam.

This would benefit the candidates as well, since it would do an even better job in protecting their investment in time and money. This could also be the next step in ferretting out candidates who try to get past the CCNA and CCNP exams via braindumps. As I always tell my students and customers, when you’re standing in front of that router or switch, there is no multiple choice … you either know it or you don’t!

CompTIA Certification Programs
CompTIA certifications are a recognized credential throughout the IT industry, validating foundation-level IT knowledge and skills. CompTIA offers twelve certification programs in key technology areas.

CompTIA A+ Certification
CompTIA A+ certification validates the latest skills needed by today’s computer support professionals. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification recognized by major hardware and software vendors, distributors and resellers. CompTIA A+ certification confirms a technician’s ability to perform tasks such as installation, configuration, diagnosing, preventive maintenance and basic networking. The exams also cover domains such as security, safety and environmental issues and communication and professionalism.

CompTIA A+ ensures the right people have the right skills. While many of the essential skills are universal, there are additional skills required to support the needs of businesses. By offering certification options for specific job scenarios, CompTIA A+ gives individuals the ability to grow their careers in a certain area, and employers the flexibility to choose the exam combination that best fits their needs.

CompTIA Network+ Certification
CompTIA Network+ validates the knowledge and skills of networking professionals. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification that recognizes a technician’s ability to describe the features and functions of networking components and to manage, maintain, troubleshoot, install, operate and configure basic network infrastructure. Although not a prerequisite, it is recommended that CompTIA Network+ candidates have at least nine months of experience in network support or administration or adequate academic training, along with a CompTIA A+ certification.

The demand for skilled networking support professionals continues to grow, and CompTIA Network+ is a valuable credential to help launch or enhance a networking career. In fact, many IT certifications integrate CompTIA Network+ into their curriculums. Microsoft added CompTIA Network+ into their Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA) program, and other corporations such as Novell, Cisco and HP also recognize CompTIA Network+ as part of their certification tracks.

CompTIA Network+ and Related CompTIA Certifications
CompTIA Network+ prepares networking professionals to earn vendor-neutral certifications in other areas of expertise. CompTIA Network+ certified professionals who want to diversify their base knowledge in other areas should also consider pursuing CompTIA Security+, Server+ or Convergence+.

CompTIA Server+ Certification
CompTIA Server+ validates the knowledge and skills of advanced IT technicians. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification for individuals with 18-24 months of experience with Industry Standard Server Architecture (ISSA) technology. CompTIA Server+ certifies technical knowledge in areas such as RAID, SCSI and multiple CPUs, as well as capabilities with server issues, including disaster recovery. Although not a prerequisite, it is recommended that CompTIA Server+ candidates hold a CompTIA A+ certification.

Many corporations recognize the importance of staffing technicians who can competently perform basic server support. Companies such as CDW Computer Centers and CompuCom value the CompTIA Server+ certification and require it of their IT employees.

CompTIA Security+ Certification
CompTIA Security+ validates knowledge of systems security, network infrastructure, access control, assessments and audits, cryptography and organizational security. It is an international, vendor-neutral security certification that is taught at colleges, universities and commercial training centers around the world.

Although not a prerequisite, it is recommended that CompTIA Security+ candidates have at least two years of on-the-job technical networking experience, with an emphasis on security. The CompTIA Network+ certification is also recommended.

Because human error is the number one cause for a network security breach, CompTIA Security+ is recognized by the technology community as a valuable credential that proves competency with information security.

CompTIA RFID+ Certification
CompTIA Radio Frequency Identification (RFID+) certification validates the knowledge and skills of professionals who work with RFID technology. It is an international, vendor-neutral credential that recognizes a technician’s ability to install, maintain, repair, and troubleshoot the hardware and software functionality of RFID products. Although not a prerequisite, it is recommended that CompTIA RFID+ candidates have a minimum of six to 24 months of RFID or other auto-id technology experience.

RFID is quickly becoming the standard technology for tracking goods in the supply chain, but it will only be effective if it is executed by properly trained and certified individuals. CompTIA RFID+ provides a baseline for the knowledge and skills required of RFID workers, giving business owners the opportunity to hire qualified professionals, and individuals a credential to prove their ability.

CompTIA CTT+ Certification
CompTIA CTT+ (Certified Technical Trainer) certification validates excellence in instruction. It is a vendor-neutral certification that is applicable to training professionals in all industries. CompTIA CTT+ recognizes the mastery of core instructor skills, including preparation, presentation, communication, facilitation and evaluation in both a classroom and virtual classroom environment.

Certified instructors are essential for students who want to receive top-notch training, and employers agree that a professional training staff is valuable to the company. Adobe, Dell, Microsoft, Novell and Ricoh recommend that their trainers be CompTIA CTT+ certified. The Training Associates also look for CompTIA CTT+ certification when hiring trainers.

CompTIA CDIA+ Certification
CompTIA Certified Document Imaging Architech (CDIA+) validates the knowledge of professionals who deliver document imaging solutions. It is a vendor-neutral certification that proves expertise in the technologies and best practices used to plan, design, and specify a document imaging, management system.

CompTIA Linux+ Certification
CompTIA Linux+ is a vendor-neutral certification, generic across distributions, that validates the knowledge of individuals with a minimum of six to 12 months of practical Linux experience. Professionals holding the current CompTIA Linux+ credential can explain fundamental management of Linux systems from the command line, demonstrate knowledge of user administration, understand file permissions, software configurations, and management of Linux-based clients, server systems and security.

Because of the growing popularity of enterprise-ready platforms such as Linux, both employers and professionals realize the importance of skill validation. The industry recognizes that CompTIA Linux+ certification is a good indicator of foundational proficiency in everyday management of Linux-based clients and basic management of server systems.

CompTIA Project+ Certification
CompTIA Project+ is a globally recognized project management certification that provides validation of fundamental project management skills. It covers the entire project life cycle from initiation and planning through execution, acceptance, support and closure. Unlike some project management certifications, CompTIA Project+ can be acquired in a quick and cost-effective manner. There are no prerequisites, and candidates are not required to submit an application or complete additional hours of continuing education.

CompTIA Project+ gives project managers the skills necessary to complete projects on time and within budget, and creates a common project management language among project team members.

CompTIA Convergence+ Certification
CompTIA Convergence+ validates the knowledge and skills in the area of Communications Technologies (CT), where datacomm, telephony/telecommunications, video and broadcast multimedia technologies combine into a single IP-based delivery system. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification that recognizes a technician’s ability to design, implement and manage both data and voice networking. Although not a prerequisite for CompTIA Convergence+ certification, it is recommended that CompTIA Convergence+ candidates are CompTIA Network+ certified and have 18 to 24 months of work experience in areas that include data networking, VoIP, and other convergence related technologies.

The demand for skilled technology professionals with knowledge in convergence technology continues to grow, as more businesses adopt IP Telephony Solutions. CompTIA Convergence+ is a valuable credential to enhance a career with convergence technology. Corporations such as Avaya recognize CompTIA Convergence+ as part of their certification tracks.

CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ Certification
CEA-CompTIA Digital Home Technology Integrator (DHTI+) validates the knowledge and skills of home technology professionals. It is an international, vendor-neutral certification that recognizes a technician’s ability to configure, integrate, maintain, troubleshoot, and comprehend the basic design concepts of electronic and digital home systems. It is recommended that CEA-CompTIA DHTI+ candidates have 18-24 months experience in some area of home integration technology.

CompTIA PDI+ Certification
CompTIA Printing and Document Imaging (PDI+) validates the knowledge and skills necessary to support printing and document imaging devices including printers, copiers, scanners, multi-functional devices and fax machines. It is a vendor-neutral certification that recognizes a technician’s understanding of basic electromechanical components and tools, print engine and scan processes and components, color theory and connectivity/networking. The exam also covers soft skills such as customer service, professionalism, safety and environment. While there are no prerequisites for the CompTIA PDI+ certification exam, it is recommended that entry-level candidates have foundation-level knowledge or hands-on experience working with printing and document imaging devices.

CompTIA PDI+ provides a solid foundation for a career involving the service and support of printing and document imaging devices. Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and service providers find that CompTIA PDI+ certification ensures that their technicians have the core knowledge and skill sets to provide effective repair activities.

 Soiurce:http://ezinearticles.com/?Boost-Your-Career-With-Comptia-Certifications&id=2390731

The IT Industry

With an addition of close to 50,000 IT jobs over the course of 2010, growth rates that significantly exceed national levels, the dynamics of IT employment are changing, and you, the job seeker, should act accordingly.

As more positions are opening up, more people are looking around; so hiring managers are having a difficult time finding qualified IT professionals. To get their attention, you’ll have to step up and stand out. If you’re mass-mailing your resume to employers without catering it to each company and position, you’ll be easily dismissed. Spend more time researching the company, customizing your resume and cover letter, and even partnering up with a good recruiter, and you’ll soon get noticed.

Additionally, while IT hiring is up across the board, many employers are turning to contractors rather than permanent employees: The number of contract workers is reported to have risen 20% in the last 5 years and is expected to continue increasing. Why? The reasons for hiring contractors include advantages such as, no legal obligations to provide benefits like healthcare or retirement plans, lesser risk of hiring and firing related lawsuits, and lower training costs. Also, a generational shift in career values is also leading a significant number of workers to pursue contract and freelance positions, giving employers a greater selection of workers.

It’s definitely worth looking into contract opportunities instead of limiting your job search to permanent positions. Plus, giving your job search strategies a personal, customized touch will definitely help prepare you for the 2011 job market.

Social Media

While social media platforms are nothing new, 2010 did introduce new demographics and interaction trends to the web. Twitter alone reportedly added 100 million new users over 2010, and regular interaction of all users has more than doubled since 2009.

These kinds of numbers have peaked the interest of many employers, and a growing number of companies are entertaining the idea of using social media in the hiring process, if not already actually doing so. Whether it’s by posting job ads on these platforms, directly reaching out to job seekers, or generally building their employer brand through online community, employers have clearly taken social media in the hiring process to the next level.

And going forward, your job search will have to reflect that change. Keep in mind that social media in the job search will not lead to instant results; it’s a gradual process, and it’s about regular interaction and relationships. If you’re on Facebook, become fans of companies you’re interested in. Watch for updates regarding the company and open positions, and leave constructive comments on their statuses.

If you’re on Twitter, feel free to follow companies and any relevant personnel who may tweet about the company and any open positions. Get familiar with hashtags that may lead you to announcements about job opportunities and helpful job seeker resources. Build your community, interact with fellow job seekers, share valuable resources you come across, and generally get your name out there.

If you’re on LinkedIn, join relevant groups related to job seeking, specific technologies and skills, industries, or specific companies. Make new connections with group members and don’t neglect aspects of LinkedIn like the Question and Answer sections.

Evolving Technology

This one’s to be expected since any good techie will know that technology is constantly evolving. But 2010 saw some massive changes that will push IT job seekers more than ever to stay up-to-date with technology and to keep an open mind as technology begins to evolve beyond their wildest dreams.

Opportunities in sectors like networking, data storage, and green technology are predicted to pop up at an alarming rate over the next few years, but bigger than anything is mobile technology. In 2010, sales of smart phones exceeded those of laptops and desktop computers. And with competitors like Apple and Android sparring for the number one spot, and mobile applications becoming more intense and allowing for greater user interaction, opportunities in mobile and web technology will flow in overwhelming numbers.

Source: http://goarticles.com/article/3-Important-Ways-2010-Changed-the-IT-Job-Search/3936233/

Regardless of your circumstances – employed or seeking a job, secure or uncertain – it is a good idea to have an up-to-date resume. When economic times are particularly harsh, it is even more important to be prepared. A well tailored resume will help you do just that. As a technology professional, your resume requires special attention to the blending of business and technical expertise. In this following article, I’ve listed ten best practices to make your resume stand out.

Best Practice 1: Introduce Yourself

Start with an introductory paragraph. This paragraph, often called the summary of qualifications, has the most prominent place on your resume and is your opportunity to make a good first impression. You’ll have 30 seconds at best so make the most of it.

I call this paragraph the why hire me statement. It describes all the reasons why the reader should look further – give them a reason to keep reading to the end of the resume. Consider this to be like your elevator speech; keep it short, concise and focused on results. Avoid the temptation to use much overused and nearly meaningless buzz words. Who doesn’t claim to be results-oriented and self-motivated? You want to stand out from the rather substantial crowd around you, not blend in.

Best Practice 2: Describe Yourself as a Valuable Employee

Make a statement about the value that you offer. Most often this is done by describing past achievements and the positive results that they produced. For IT professionals, writing about accomplishments without direct links to technology is difficult. Making a connection to business value seems unnatural for those who often think of their activities as technologically focused.

Think of the value in two ways:

The value you provide within your team. A collaborative team has interdependencies that require joint effort and achieve shared goals. A successful team is both effective and efficient.

Effective means that the team produces results that really matter to someone. How did you contribute to being an effective team? Perhaps you were the requirements analyst who ensured that you built the right systems to really meet business needs. Or maybe you were the tester who improved user trust and confidence by making sure that they don’t see the bugs in a system.

Efficient means that the team is conscientious about using resources – money, people, tools, technologies, and the time of busy business people. How do you contribute to team efficiency? Are you the facilitator who ensures that meetings are agenda driven, focused, and productive?

Maybe you’re the optimizer who gets the most from existing technologies, or the innovator who finds quick and inexpensive solutions to pressing problems.

The external value that you provide: When looking beyond the team, value can be defined in terms of your individual contributions and/or the contributions made by the team. Someone or something benefits from the team’s efforts. Who is it and what do they gain? If it’s a thing such as a process, ask why a new or updated process was needed. What was the problem and how did the process changes fix the problem? If it’s a person, ask what capabilities they now have that were previously missing.

Children use the why, why, why method not to intentionally irritate their parents, but to get more and more information. For resume writing, we’ll use the “so what?” method. We’re looking for results – you did something and something positive happened. Here’s how it works.

• Defined and developed data architecture for data warehousing, BI, and operational systems.

So what?

• Set standards for data structures, data naming, data storage, and metadata management.

So what?

• Improved the consistency of data design practices across multiple applications and were better able to track data through multiple systems.

So what?

• By tracking data through multiple systems, I was able to identify inconsistencies and redundancies, to correct the inconsistencies, to remove the redundancies, and to improve the overall quality of the data

So what?

• With improved data quality the information delivered became more reliable and trustworthy; business and IT relationships improved and continue to do so today.

So what?

• Defined and developed data architecture for data warehousing, BI, and operational systems that resulted in improved data quality. The information delivered became more reliable and trustworthy; business and IT relationships improved and continue to do so today.

Best Practice 3: Know your Career Objective

Your career objective tells a potential employer what you want to do. A clearly defined objective states your commitment to achieve a particular goal. It becomes a personal reminder of what you want to achieve and keeps you focused on specific results. A targeted objective makes for a more effective job search and puts you in a better position to evaluate work situations.

Use the process of creating your resume as an opportunity to clarify and define your career objectives. A generic objective such as “I want to work for an organization where I can use my excellent programming skills” casts too broad a net and is better left out. Use a specific job role such as Infrastructure Specialist/Network Engineer or subject areas such as desktop support, help desk or IT support to distinguish your goals. If you can’t articulate what you want, then you leave it to the resume reader to impose his/her own interpretation.

Best Practice 4: Present Yourself in the Best Format

Choose the format that best highlights your strengths. There is no a one-size-fits-all resume format. Each person brings different perspectives, education, experience, and expertise. A resume should be designed to present your strengths in the best possible light. Looking good in a photograph depends on the angle from which the picture is taken, the lighting, and the frame in which the photo is presented. Looking good in a resume depends on the perspective from which you describe yourself, the characteristics that you choose to highlight, and the structure within which your resume is framed.

There are no strict rules for resume formatting, but three common formats and some general guidelines are helpful:

Chronological - This format lists your experience in reverse chronological order so the most recent work history comes first. If you’ve had few jobs because you’re new to IT or have been with one employer for an extended period then a chronological resume might work well.

Functional - This format is also known as a skills-based format. First it lists your skills organized into major categories such as Process Improvement, Quality Assurance or Operating System Administration. If you’ve had lots of different jobs within IT you’ll need a format that emphasizes your skills and experience and removes the focus from timelines.

Combined Functional and Chronological - This format starts with listing experience chronologically and adds functional formatting within each job listing.

It’s not always apparent which format works best when you start writing a resume. So if you’re just getting started, chronological makes a good beginning. Once you’ve listed the chronological information then you can hunt for repetition, patterns, or categories of skills that suggest functional organization. Ultimately you may want to draft both chronological and functional formats so that you can compare them side by side to make a good decision.

Best Practice 5: Highlight what Interests You and Hide what Doesn’t

Diminish prominence of those skills no longer of interest. Don’t highlight the skills and activities that you no longer enjoy. When you have a “been there, done that” attitude, you need to make a decision. You can exclude these items entirely because they’re not relevant or you can include them but diminish their prominence. When included at the same level of significance as the things that you really want to be doing, they hide your interests, obscure your message, and confuse the reader.

Consider this example: You’ve spent the past year designing, developing and implementing data marts for sales, marketing, and customer analysis and reporting. You learned a lot but you’re ready to move on to something new. Don’t sacrifice valuable resume space to explain each project in detail. Condense it. Summarize it. There were similar activities so you don’t need to repeat them. Focus on what you learned and apply it to what you want to do next.

Even when you minimize things that no longer interest you, you will be asked about them in interviews. Be prepared to position them to convey the right message: “While designing and developing data marts, I learned a lot about choosing the right data structures for many different kinds of analysis and reporting requirements. This is why I would be a good choice as a data architect.”

Best Practice 6: Include Your Industry and Applications Knowledge

IT professionals tend to discount their business applications knowledge. They see their value in terms of expertise with tools and technologies. Learning about business and business applications is often treated as preliminary work that must be done before getting on with the real work – the technology piece.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The prospective employer knows the value of business and application knowledge. Knowledge of business applications is every bit as important as your technical knowledge. It should command space on your resume. Consider, for example, a healthcare employer who is seeking a database developer for their claims management systems. You have lots of Oracle experience but the employer uses SQL Server. If you mention only technology, your resume is lost in the crowd. When your resume also describes your claims processing experience including the fact that you have worked extensively with Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for Medicare claims, you now stand out from the crowd. The wise employer knows that it is faster, easier, and cheaper to teach an Oracle developer to work with SQL Server than to teach a SQL developer the healthcare industry.

Best Practice 7: Show Yourself in Different Lights

Consider creating multiple versions of your resume. Each job listing is unique in its combination of tools, technologies, experience, skills, industries, etc. Present your background and experience in light of these distinctions. One technique is to write a cover letter that pulls relevant information from your resume and matches it to the job listing. This works well if your cover letter and resume stay together, but they often become separated during screening, review, and routing processes. Your resume needs to stand on its own without assuming an attached cover letter. To accomplish this you may need different versions.

Managing your resume versions can become a project in itself. There are software vendors who will be glad to help. If you are using a do-it-yourself-method, keep it simple. A spreadsheet should suffice. Keep separate copies of each resume distributed and create a unique identifier by embedding some of your metadata such as company name, job title, and date sent in the file name.

How do you know when you’ve exceeded your version limit? When you can’t clearly recall each version, you’ve gone too far. The purpose of the resume is to get an interview. In the interview, your resume acts as a reference, but not as a script. If you need a content management system to keep track, you’ve over the edge.

Best Practice 8: Feature Your Proficiencies

List the right amount of technical skills. If the first page of your resume is covered with a massive grid listing all your programming, language, and database skills, then you’re a true geek. You derive your value from the technologies you use. The rest of us need to strike a balance between technology, and business applications and processes. When too many technologies are listed, it is hard for anyone to see which are current and in which you are most skilled.

Throughout your career, you’ll be exposed to many different technologies and will achieve varying levels of expertise in each of them. They don’t all matter to your current job search. My preferred technique lists technologies where you have greatest proficiency on the first page of the resume under the heading Technology Summary. You can optionally list other technologies with which you are familiar in a less prominent place under the heading Other Technologies. The other technologies will be recognized by automated resume scanners but placed so they don’t hide your primary technical skills from the human reader.

Best Practice 9: Age Gracefully and Let Technology Do the Same

Remove the really old technologies. It’s a resume, not an antique show. No one cares about your ability to optimize IDMS queries, or about your programming skills in ALGOL or PASCAL. Including nearly forgotten technology will not help you get the job that you want. But it might help you get a job that you don’t want.

Some older technologies are still widely used today. Where these technologies overlap with your experience and ability, you’ll need to give it some careful thought. There are employers who do care about your ability to program in COBOL. But do you want to be a COBOL programmer again? Many companies have legacy systems that someone has to operate, maintain, and enhance. If you decide to stop chasing technologies and step back from technology’s leading edge, that someone could be you. It’s a choice, but be clear about your motivations. It will impact your career.

Best Practice 10: “Right Size” Your Resume

Make the size of the resume match the length of your experience and the breadth and depth of your skills. Your resume is not a novel. It is a snapshot summary of your work history that provides highlights of your achievements. When you have lots of experience, it isn’t realistic to list everything that you have ever done. Every sentence or phrase in your resume should say something important about your qualifications; otherwise remove it.

If you are a recent graduate with minimal experience or relatively new to IT, then it’s unlikely your resume will extend past one page. You simply do not have enough to say, and it doesn’t impress anyone to “bulk up” with excess words. If you have depth of knowledge and long experience in IT, a one-page resume is probably impractical. Don’t try to condense your resume down to one page if it means tiny margins and small fonts, but don’t treat a 20+ year career as an excuse to produce a five-page resume.

Here’s a good test. Review your resume sentence by sentence and ask yourself.

• Is this skill relevant for my desired job? If so, how relevant is it?
• Does this skill combine with my other skills to create a powerful message?
• Is this skill recent?

If you can’t say that a skill is recent and relevant, and that it works well with your other skills, then there is no reason to keep it. Non-related items distract the reader, confuse your message, and eat up valuable time.

Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?Competing-in-the-IT-Job-Market&id=4815498

Information technology is an extremely competitive and challenging career field. Because it is so challenging the salaries are also very competitive which drives even more job seekers into the applicant pool. Within the IT field there are certain things that you can do that will help you stand out from the crowd and catch the eye of a hiring manager. You need to register yourself online. It is amazing how many people in the IT field do not realize the benefit of registering online on job boards and applicant pools. The entire career field is dedicated to information technology so it only stands to reason that hiring managers within the IT field will utilize the latest technology in their candidate searches.

The IT recruitment process can be tedious but by placing your name in all the right places you greatly increase the chance of your name and resume being found. If you are looking for Oracle jobs, or Cisco jobs, programming jobs, or computer hardware repair jobs you still need to register online and establish a presence online so you can easily market yourself. Most hiring managers will use some form of online registration database during their IT recruitment process. These registries make it easy to navigate, easy to compare applicants, and easy to contact potential applicants.

The best IT jobs no longer go to the most qualified applicant. Instead, they go to the applicant who knows how to market themselves and get their resume in front of the proper person. If any of you want Oracle jobs you cannot sit on the sidelines sending out resumes and expect a job to fall into your lap. You have to take an active role in your job search and do your parts to help yourself get found.

IT recruiters have a relatively easy job because they have such a large pool of qualified applicants to choose from. You can make their job even easier by making your resume, credentials, and contact information readily available through an online job registry. The more work you put in the more successful you will be!

You have to ask yourself a few simple questions to determine if the goal you have is worth achieving. If it is worth it, then determine what your odds are in achieving it. If you answer any of these questions with an emphatic ‘yes’, and you are honest with yourself, then your goal is really something worth pursuing.

Here are 5 simple questions to ask yourself before you begin setting goals that are worth achieving.

1. Is this goal really yours?
2. Are you passionate about this goal?
3. Are you willing to pay the price for your goal?
4. Will this goal bring you satisfaction?
5. Is there a plan to achieve your goal?

These questions will determine whether you have a goal worth pursuing – and if you do, take the action in order to achieve them.

1. Is this goal really yours?

The first step in setting a goal that you can achieve is to make sure you take ownership of it. If these are goals of someone else – someone who sees you achieving the specific goal: like your parents, your family, your boss, or some friends, then it is not your dream but someone else’s. If you answer ‘no’ to this first question, you will not be able to answer any of the next 4 questions with a ‘yes’ and this goal or dream is not worth pursuing.

If you take ownership of your goals you will not be embarrassed to share it with the world. People close to you know what your goals are and even if they put you down or bring negativity and try to distract you from your goals, you will still pursue it.

2. Are you passionate about this goal?

If this goal is really yours, how bad do you want it? How compelled are you to go out and achieve it. Are you going to stop at nothing to fulfill it do you stay awake at night thinking about it? Has it been important to you for a long time or just now? An intelligent long term goal is not something that comes your way and you immediately do what it takes to achieve it, without understanding if it is achievable.

Passion goes a long way. Passion for the right goals and dreams will lead to the desire to accomplish it. If it is the wrong goal – something you don’t own, something you aren’t passionate about for a long time, it will only lead to failure.

3. Are you willing to pay the price for your goal?

Have you considered what you are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve your goals? This sacrifice can’t ruin your life by getting in the way of a career, family, personal values, etc. But there will be sacrifice along the way. If sacrifice is time: are you willing to quit your time-consuming activities, 10hours of television, and weekend nights with friends? If you need to save money, are you willing to cut restaurant bills, your clothing bill, or even mobile air time usage?

Without a change in your life, how can you commit to your goals? You need to be able to pay the price whether its money, time, luxuries, or other things that may get in the way of the pursuit of your goals. The key question is are you ready to give whatever it takes?

4. Will this goal bring you satisfaction?

The only thing you can control are your actions. The results may not always be what you expect. But as you pursue your goals and see the ‘end’, will it really make you happy? You may pursue a goal that takes several years. Can you foresee, no matter how long it takes or no matter what you sacrificed, that it will bring you satisfaction?

If it’s financial freedom and you commit to 5 years to achieve it, and along the way you had to forego several vacations to Dubai or Europe, for years you had to say ‘no’ to that luxury vehicle or a new home, for years you had to put off what you want for only things you need, will you still feel satisfied at the end?

If this is a goal worth pursing, the end result better bring you satisfaction no matter what!

5. Do you have a plan to achieve your goal?

If you don’t have a plan, you will never achieve your goals. Has someone else done what you want to do? Is there a specific map to follow? (use Google, it’ll help a lot). If there is, this is your plan. Your plan can’t just be an idea in your head. Your plan must be shared with other people you respect and who can give you honest objective feedback and help you along the journey.

If you have a plan, it’s time to start making those changes in your life to create the right habits to put this plan to work.

By taking ownership, and having a plan, you have better odds of achieving the goal you set out to pursue. If you answer any of these questions without an emphatic ‘yes’, then you need to examine if you are being honest with yourself and if this goal is really something worth pursuing. If it is worth pursing, you will achieve it.