Back to Demand Driven Information Technology (NEG/DWG) Partner Guide.

The IT workforce is constantly evolving and growing. Many job seekers have excellent experience in the IT industry and are looking to stay in the field, while other job seekers are looking to enter the industry through entry-level roles. The good news is that there’s enough room for both! 

With​ the rapid changes in the industry, there is an increasing need to update job seekers who have IT experience with new technology trends, and to ensure there is a pipeline of incoming workers to meet demands. To learn more about IT employment and training trends, visit MSPmentor.

The IT Career Chart below created by Burning Glass is a simple tool to use for any level IT job seeker. The chart is a good visual for workforce center resource rooms and can also be used as a tool for career counselors when discussing IT with their clients.

When assisting job seekers with their best career path, it can be a challenge to determine if an IT position is a good fit for them, especially if they have never worked in IT before.  It is important to explore all the options when making career decisions.

The IT field is fast growing but there are many transferrable skills that can transition a client into entry level work. Below are links to skills/interest profiles, exploration tools, and some IT career interest questions to help your customers determine if IT is a good fit for achieving their career goals.

• Illinois workNet Interests Profiler - Have your clients complete interest surveys to consider their skills, explore their interests, and help them discover their career path.
  

• Illinois workNet’s Information Technology Pathway - To explore IT labor market information, follow the link and click on “Information Technology”.
  

• Your clients can use career and labor market information to:

• Complete job applications and prepare for interviews.

• Find out about expected number of job openings and how much a job could pay.

• Make a job change, relocate, or request a pay raise.
  

• Burning Glass Tools – You can work with your clients by going through Burning Glass’s Opportunities in Chicago’s IT Landscape slide deck to determine which IT pathway best fits your client’s skills, needs, and experience.  Please note:  The contents of the slide deck will be incorporated into Burning Glass’s Focus Suite set of tools, which is expected to go live in May 2015. 
  

The world of IT is incredibly complex.  As a workforce development professional, it’s sometimes difficult to grasp what job seekers who have an IT background are talking about when they discuss their skills, experience, and education.  To help you and your customers, use the CompTIA Certifications Roadmap web page.  This interactive page is designed to help anyone understand the different facets of IT career pathways, employment and certification.  The Roadmap includes many nationally recognized certifications, not just CompTIA certifications. 

To have a simple visual aide, you can also download the Certifications Roadmap as a PDF.  Using this visual, it’s easy to tell which IT certifications will lead to which jobs.  On the second page of the PDF, there’s a list of  IT acronyms for the most popular IT certifications. 

There are hundreds of other IT-related acronyms not included on this list.  If you’re finding yourself lost in IT alphabet soup, the Acronym Finder website is a good place to start finding additional information.

• CompTIA's Certifications Road Map

• Downloadable - CompTIA’s Certifications Roadmap (PDF)