What IT Certifications are Most in Demand?

Once you have decided the direction of your technology career, ie: networking, security, cloud, software development, then choose the professional certification that matches your experience level. Examples of highly desired IT discipline-based certifications are listed below:

CGEIT – Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT

PMP – Project Management Professional PMP

CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional

Today’s Trends & Employer Needs

When our IT recruiting team is speaking to employers that are searching for contract or permanent IT professionals, here’s what’s on their shortlist of desired certifications:

Networking: Cisco CCNP – Cisco Certified Networking Professional

Cloud: AWS Certified – Amazon Web Services Certified

Security: CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional

You’re Credentialed, Now What?

Technical staffing companies and IT recruiters are searching for candidates just like you! You should make it easy for them to find you with these three simple steps:

Step 1: Update your LinkedIn profile.

When adding your credentials, write out the entire certification name and use the acronym. Example: CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional.
If the vendor supplies a certification icon, make sure you use it on your LinkedIn Profile, business cards, email signature, and company biography.

Step 2: Update your skills section in LinkedIn.

This is how information technology recruiters search for candidates with your certifications.

Step 3: Leverage LinkedIn for your career search.

By nurturing, building and leveraging your LinkedIn network on a continual basis, it’s much easier to reach out to them for career advice or job search help when you need it because they are already engaging with you. Learn more in our “Keys to Leveraging Your LinkedIn Network,” article.

           
Chart Your Next Career Move

Don’t wait for an opportunity to find you, reach out today to the experienced information technology recruiters at Open Systems, Inc. Our IT recruiters are well connected and informed on the latest placement opportunities and are continually looking for certified IT professionals like you. Connect with one of our IT staffing specialists today.

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Here are four keys to improving your coding skills that you can start immediately.

Practice. And then Practice More Code Writing.

It’s quite simple and practical: to keep your coding skills sharp, keep writing code and then write it again. Start with writing large, complex programs. This will help you identify where you make repetitive mistakes. Soon you’ll learn how to identify and proactively avoid these errors. Writing shortcode is a great way to learn how to write quickly. Actually timing yourself for shortcode experiments is a great learning activity that allows you to measure your proficiency.

Modify and Refractor Programs

Modify a part of code and see what happens to the software. By practicing code modification, you can better identify any bugs you’re trying to fix. Refactoring is a step beyond modification of code. With refactoring, you improve a program without actually changing the functionality of it. Start by changing the name of a variable or the type of variable. Eventually, you’ll be converting inline code into a method or function. The goal of refactoring is to determine if there’s a better way to write the code or improve the code without changing the functionality or front-end of the program.

Find a Mentor

In the coding field, there’s always going to be someone with more experience and more knowledge. Whether you’re just out of college or it’s your 5th year, you need a mentor who will be honest with you about your skills and the quality of your writing. Mentor’s have the experience to give you feedback and suggestions that may change how you approach your work.

Stay Connected

The tech community, and in particular the coding community loves to share and learn from each other. There are vast amounts of blogs, books and industry websites that are current on coding trends. Just when you think you don’t need to keep learning, then become a mentor. You’ll discover a fresh perspective by teaching others, and often learning along the way.

Coders, Software Development Positions are in Demand

You’ve taken the first step by wanting to increase your coding skills. The next step is to take your career to the next level. Even if you are just pondering a career move, it’s time to contact the IT professionals at Open Systems, Inc. (OSI). Our experienced IT recruiters stay informed on the IT skills needed to advance your career as well as the most current positions that fit your needs. Contact the IT recruiters at OSI today!

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How do you keep your LinkedIn network engaged,  so you can leverage it for your next job opportunity? Let’s look at a few network building activities and how they can be leveraged on LinkedIn.

Set the Settings Right

Before we get started on the tips section, it’s important to make sure your effort gets the results you want. First, go to your Privacy settings and select ‘YES” for ‘Sharing Profile Edits’ and ‘Notifying Connections When You’re in the News.’

Now your network will see your updates, news, and postings.

Profile and Pictures

Next step to managing your LinkedIn network is updating your profile. LinkedIn pictures should be headshot only, directly looking at the camera with a smiling and inviting look.

How current is your profile? Even if you think it’s current, still update it! Additionally, update it monthly. This is easy to do by adding new skills or adding a bullet on a new project you are involved with.

Each time you update your profile, whether it be your photo, adding a skill or changing your summary, your network gets updated (as long as you followed ‘Set the Settings Right’ instructions).

This is your network ‘awareness’ management. You are now staying top of mind in your networks’ news feed.

Advance Search for People

Use the advanced search function to identify companies you would like to work for. LinkedIn will provide you a list of all the people in your network that are associated with that company (past and present). Start connecting with them and be honest about your intention. A simple, quick statement, “I admire your work at XYZ company and would like to connect.” or “We share the same interest of Growing Atlanta’s tech community, let’s connect.”

Additionally, follow the company page and interact with their postings. You can start by liking posts and as you become more familiar with the company’s goals and mission you can begin adding comments so your name becomes familiar to them.

Groups

When you identify people at companies’ that are in roles to that could help you get a job, find out what groups they belong to and join those groups. Connected group members can direct message other group members. When you do connect, be genuine and get to know their involvement in the group and the group rules. Often, sales-type messaging is forbidden and you can become banned.

Moving Forward

LinkedIn is a valuable social channel for finding and connecting contacts that can help facilitate your next career move. Equally important is connecting with recruiters that specialize in the technology, IT or engineering job market.

At Open Systems, our technical recruiters can help with your next career move, our nationwide network can connect you with job opportunities that work best for you. Learn more today.

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The best ways to advance your IT career are to add value, offer solutions, enhance your skills and network.

Add Value

Your value comes from being a reliable and top contributor. You can increase your value by volunteering for projects that focus on increasing revenue or reduce costs within your organization.

Often IT professionals are the ‘unseen’ hero. Unfortunately, this trait is not rewarded in many corporate cultures. It’s important to be seen and heard by others.

There’s a balancing act of being seen and not being boastful. One option is offering to present a project summary or outcomes assessment to the company or stakeholders on a project you participated in or led.

Focus on Solutions

IT professionals are problem solvers. Pair problems with potential solutions when addressing your team or supervisor.

Avoid being perceived as someone always talking about problems and obstacles. Try focusing on what the desired outcome of the solution is, such as better user experience, faster payment processing or increased sales.

Enhance your Skills

Technical requirements of an IT professional are always evolving. To advance your career, it’s soft skills that will get you promoted into a management role. Communication skills, business acumen, and empathy are the skills that will separate you from artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic replacement.

Enhancing your soft skills is a lifelong pursuit. Practice listening to others and then asking questions to ensure you understand the meaning, intent, and emotion of what is being said. Work to understand your entire business, not just the function of the IT department. And above all else, express empathy. People want to be surrounded by people they like and that understand them.

Networking – Especially When You Have a Job!

Professional recruiters, like Open Systems, see this scenario often. You get the job of your dreams and then you drop off the face of the earth.
Networking with your peers, mentors, and former colleagues is actually easier when you are not looking for a job.

Also, keep your LinkedIn profile updated, continue to reach out to new contacts and connect with Open Systems.

Moving Forward

Often in order to advance your IT career, you need to move onto a new company. This is when the experts at Open Systems can guide you to your next IT role. We have IT job opportunities in a variety of industries and at all career levels. Contact us today to learn more.

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