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Posted: 17 Apr 2020
Technical accreditation's are important when you want to progress your career, says Eolas Recruitment.
A question IT job hunters often ask is how to improve their chances of landing a particular type of role. While it might sound obvious, one of the best things to do throughout your career is to enhance your qualifications. This article highlights some accreditations that strengthen your tech CV.
A good project manager needs both technical and management skills to motivate and lead their teams and ensure that projects are delivered on time. Project manager job specs typically look for experience of managing multiple projects as well as resource planning, analytical and reporting skills. People management and technical skills are also important, particularly the ability to manage teams using technologies like Microsoft Dynamics CRM, .Net and MS SQL. Many project managers have the PRINCE 2 qualification and employers increasingly look for PRINCE 2, PMP, CAPM or equivalent accreditations for project management roles. Courses are provided by a variety of trainers throughout Ireland including the Institute of Project Management, the Institute of Public Administration and Griffith College to name but a few.
Wider use of open standards, the Internet, and a variety of advanced technologies have heightened the importance of information systems security and data protection. Technical qualifications are important in this complex area of IT work. You need to have good knowledge of hardware, software, networks and cloud applications and, as your career progresses, you also need people management skills. Useful accreditations to have on your CV include ISA qualifications (which relate to the standards used to protect critical control systems), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP). Many academic institutions also offer relevant courses. Post-grad programmes at the time of writing include an MSc in Cybersecurity offered through the ICT Skillset programme.
DevOps engineers and cloud technology specialists are among the most sought-after IT professionals in Ireland. As in other IT roles, a blend of technical and people skills are required — particularly for senior roles where good communication including an ability to express yourself to technical and non-technical people is often important. Useful qualifications to have on your CV include technical accreditations such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Kubernetes certifications. Examples of relevant post-grad courses currently available in Ireland are an ICT Skillset MSc in DevOps and an MSc in Computing in DevOps.
The International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) certification can help you acquire a software testing job anywhere in the world. This qualification is held by many IT professionals working as software testers and in quality assurance roles.
Industry accreditations are also useful on your tech CV. IBM offers a range of certifications such as the IBM Certified Application Developer qualification and an IBM Data Science Professional Certificate which gives you machine learning skills and teaches you how analyse and visualise data. Likewise, Cisco’s Certified Network Associate (CCNA) is highly relevant for a career in IT. Examples of jobs that may specific a CCNA requirement include Senior Network Engineer, Cisco Network Engineer, Systems Administrator and Network Support Analyst.
Management qualifications are a definite advantage when it comes to applying for senior roles and some employers will support your studies. Multinationals in Ireland tend to favour the MBA qualification. Providers offering courses include the UCD Smurfit Business School and the University of Limerick.
Although your degree and relevant job experience can seem like a good fit for a particular role, the chances are you will be competing against candidates with additional technical and/or management accreditations. This is particularly true for senior roles but it also applies to a broad range of mid-level positions from project management through to information and cybersecurity, cloud and DevOps. Elsewhere on this blog, you will find articles on how to prepare for your first management role and tips on how to set personal development goals. As always, our key message for candidates at all levels is that the best way to progress your IT career is to have a good relationship with a specialist recruiter. Click here to read what candidates say about Eolas Recruitment and contact our team for further information.
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