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The CompTIA A+ is an entry-level certification that prepares computer professionals for technical support and technician positions. It covers skills like installing and configuring computer and mobile operating systems, basic networking, troubleshooting and security skills. The CompTIA A+ certification is also the foundation for more advanced certifications like Network+ and security certifications from other organizations.

A+ certification is required by support technicians at Dell, HP and Intel, and the Department of Defense recognizes the certification as being valuable. CompTIA says that more than one million IT professionals worldwide have the A+ certification.

Once you’ve obtained your CompTIA A+ certification, you have several good career options to pursue. Here are a few of the main possibilities and a brief description of each.

IT Technician

These professionals typically monitor and maintain a business’s computer systems, making sure they are functioning well and will continue to do so in the future. They may also install software, set up computer equipment, and help users learn how to use the system, both by direct training and by answering ongoing questions.

Enterprise Technician

Enterprise technicians handle the customized system of servers and other software infrastructure that make up many larger businesses. Enterprise systems are typically set up to deal with large amounts of data that may be sensitive in nature.

PC Technician

These professionals install, maintain and troubleshoot company workstations that include PCs, some of which may be networked together. Upgrades and maintenance for these workstations will ensure optimal functioning for employees. Helping employees when they have problems with their workstation is usually a major part of the job.

Help Desk Support

Help desk support staff typically deal with clients or co-workers by phone, chat or email when they need help to understand how a program works or when they run into a problem or a malfunction. This job requires excellent communication and people skills as well as a lot of patience for helping different users with the same few problems most of the time.

Most entry-level technician and support desk jobs have set hours, which may be a typical 9-to-5 schedule or more challenging shifts that give coverage when it is needed. Occasional overtime may be requested to cover illnesses or vacations, or when there are serious problems with the system that require lots of help and support.

With some time and experience, any of these jobs could lead to advancement and managerial positions that include supervision of other team members and more responsibilities. More advanced certifications will help to build on foundational skills and help you qualify for promotions over time.

PC AGE offers courses for many of the most in-demand IT certifications, including CompTIA A+, that can lead to IT careers. Request info to find out all the ways we can help you find a new career.

Some IT professionals entering the job market might think cover letters are a thing of the past. Surely no one expects you to write a letter with your application and resume in this day and age?

Actually, recent data shows that about half of hiring managers do expect applicants to include a cover letter when they apply for a job, and that 49 percent of HR managers consider cover letters second only to resumes in importance.

Cover letters are meant to grab the attention of hiring managers and showcase the best information about you—to be a sales pitch for your resume and application. Here are some of the things you want to do in a cover letter:

—DO be enthusiastic about the opportunity. You want hiring managers to notice your passion and drive.

—DO focus on what you can offer, not how much you “want” or “need” the job.

—DO be specific about previous accomplishments that relate to the current opportunity.

—DO keep it to one page or less—more than that will be ignored and maybe even tossed without reading.

—DO tie your letter into company background and culture—which means doing your research.

—DO have a mentor or colleague proofread and offer constructive feedback about errors and what you can do better.

—DO use the hiring manager’s name, if at all possible. If not, address it to “hiring manager” or “to whom it may concern.”

—DO be professional, but not too formal. Let your personality come through in an appropriate way while keeping to a business letter format.

—DO your best to stand out from the crowd by using a postscript (PS.) that highlights your skills and promises more.

And here are some things to avoid:

—DON’T apologize for any perceived shortcomings. You don’t want to put any negatives into the hiring team’s heads.

—DON’T repeat what’s on your resume.

—DON’T sound needy. You want them to come away thinking they need you, not the other way around.

—DON’T make grammar mistakes—nothing destroys professionalism faster.

—DON’T try to tell everything you have ever done.

—DON’T make it less than three paragraphs: one to get their attention, one to show what you have to offer, and one to show you will fit in at the position and the company.

—DON’T tell them they won’t regret hiring you, or you’ll prove yourself to them, or that they “won’t be sorry.” Stick to your accomplishments instead.

—DON’T include a cover letter on an online application if there isn’t a provision to upload one, or if the application asks you not to include one.

PC AGE offers computer coursework that can jump-start your IT career, earn you valuable IT certifications and help you advance in your field. All our courses also include help with job search skills like resume and cover letter writing, interviewing skills, and more. Request info about our programs to see how you can benefit from all we have to offer.

Due to its open source nature and less stringent hardware requirements, some foward-thinking enterprises are making the move to Linux. As a result, there’s a need for quality Linux administrators who know their way around this OS.

Here are some essential skills you need to be a Linux administrator.

1. Evaluation skills.

Because of Linux’s open source nature, administrators need to be able to evaluate whether different programs and pieces of code are of a sufficient quality and that they are secure enough to use on a company’s servers and systems. Evaluation skills will keep you from using poorly coded software that will not perform the way it is needed, or programs that may have vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.

2. The ability to learn fast.

Linux commonly uses several different systems (Red Hat, Ubuntu/Debian, Gentoo) and shells (BASH, ZSH, Python) and systems for writing scripts to stop, start and manage services (systemd, upstart and init.d). To work effectively in Linux, you really need to know all of these different systems to some extent, since different open source tools will use different systems. You will always be learning something new with Linux and you will put it all to good use if you’re going to keep up with the newest and best tools and applications.

3. Good interpersonal skills.

More than likely, you will need to communicate with both other IT personnel like technicians and fellow Linux administrators and the end users of your company’s network, who will not understand most technical IT terminology or processes. You may also be asked to communicate in written form by writing reports about usage, project status, and compliance with regulations.

4. Teaching skills.

You may also have to conduct trainings and write materials to support them. As the Linux administrator, you may have technicians or engineers working under your leadership, and you may also have to conduct end-user trainings where you put into layman’s terms the way the system works and what it can do to facilitate the business of the company.

5. Cybersecurity knowledge.

While you don’t need the kind of in-depth knowledge and skills that a Certified Ethical Hacker or other Cybersecurity Specialist needs, you have to at least know the basics to be able to tell when the system might be at risk and how to protect it. You also need the skills to understand and work with the company’s cybersecurity professionals or support staff. Knowing what vulnerabilities are common with Linux and what a cyber attack on a Linux system looks like is a good start and will help you know what to do if the system is ever compromised.

PC AGE offers comprehensive IT training through coursework that prepares students to take and pass rigorous and coveted certification exams or go on for an IT degree, or both. You can start your IT career in just a few months with PC AGE, or get more training and qualify for jobs farther up the ladder with bigger responsibilities and a bigger salary to match. Request info about all of PC AGE's programs to see how you can start your new career or train for a better job. 

Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing

As a job seeker, it can be a major source of concern when you have a gap in your resume. If potential employers see that you spent time unemployed, they may think that your skills are not up to par or that you may not be a quality employee. It is possible to deal with a gap on your resume in a way that puts potential employers at ease and benefits your IT career, however.

First of all, if the gap wasn’t recent, it won’t be cause for concern. Employers are not going to give much weight to a short gap a decade or more ago—that’s ancient history. If you’ve been solidly employed since then, there’s no need to worry. Employers may not even realize that there was a gap that far back if you’ve had several jobs since, because you don’t have to list every single job you’ve ever had on your resume anyway.

A Resume That Reflects Real Life

For more recent gaps, you may be able to show that you were pursuing continuing education, volunteering, or helping your community while you were out of work. These are all valid to list on your resume and can show that you weren’t idle between paid jobs.

If there is a reason you were out of the workforce, like having small children or taking care of an aging relative, you should be candid with the employer. It’s best to state matter-of-factly what you were doing during the gap and not be apologetic about it.

If you can show that you kept up with your skills and updated them recently, this can also help to cover a gap, especially one that lasted more than a few months. The right employer will be more interested in knowing that you have current skills than that you worked continuously, as long as you can show you are well-qualified for the job.

Using Dates to Camouflage a Gap

It should go without saying that you don’t ever want to lie about a gap if asked about it. Employers can and do verify work experience. You may be able to get employers to overlook a brief gap of a year or less, however, if you list jobs by years, not months on your resume. If you ended one job early in 2017 and started one late in the year, there will appear to be no gap.

Some job applications do specifically ask for months, however, so you will need to be accurate there and if asked about it specifically during a job interview. And while you can use a functional resume to highlight skills rather than job chronology, functional resumes do raise red flags with some employers, who see them as an attempt to hide a spotty work history.

Avoiding Negativity

In some cases, you may have an employment gap because your previous employer fired you, or you felt you had to resign on less than glowing terms. Even if it’s entirely true, you want to avoid bad-mouthing your former employers because it just never comes off well for anyone, no matter how justified.

Using euphemisms like “we had different management styles” or that the company was “downsizing” or cut your position is always better than the raw, unvarnished truth, at least the way you see it. Potential employers can often read between these lines to figure out what happened without you telling them, and they will appreciate your refusal to badmouth the previous employer because they will want the same treatment from you if you ever stop working for them at some point in the future.

Being able to successfully explain a work history gap in itself shows skills that an employer may find attractive, like diplomacy, insight, and good moral character. It’s worthwhile to take the time to do it right, and it may end up being a positive for your IT career rather than a negative.

PC AGE offers courses that prepare students for IT careers as well as for various certifications that employers value. Request info about our programs and how you can gain the IT skills you need.

Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing

Hackers are constantly coming up with new ways to attack businesses and steal data or disrupt operations. During March alone, IT Governance listed 47 major ransomware attacks and data breaches against companies, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and school districts. Nearly 21 million records were leaked during these attacks.

One of the biggest ransomware attacks took down systems throughout the city of Atlanta, and the perpetrators demanded thousands of dollars in payments. Microsoft, Cisco, and the FBI had to get involved in the investigation. Another attack in March may have exposed the personal information of over 5 million ex-servicemen.

New Cyber Threats Create New Cybersecurity Needs

Artificial intelligence uses algorithms and programming to learn from past events and tailor programs to be more successful in the future. Unfortunately, even as security teams learn to use AI to detect security threats better, hackers may be using AI to develop more sophisticated and successful cyber attacks.

Hackers continually try to develop ways to thwart security protocols. One new technique is detecting “sandboxing” environment attempts; sandboxing aims to isolate and analyze malicious code to understand its operation and help prevent future infiltration in a production environment. Hackers are nowadays able to have the code  wait until it confirms is not within a sandbox perimeter before executing, making it harder to protect the system and understand how malware works.

Targeting Internet of Things (IoT) devices hasn’t been a top priority for hackers because the data they contain is usually encrypted and not valuable. But IoT devices are open to other vulnerabilities and can be herded and used on attacks against websites, the power grid, smart cars and other devices with the intention of shutting them down and disrupting society and people’s lives.

State-sponsored attacks have been notably few in recent years. However, more nations are acquiring the know-how and the infrastructure to launch these attacks in an attempt to disrupt U.S. operations.

Because threats like these are growing every day, cybersecurity professionals are in-demand at many companies and organizations. Each hacking attempt or data breach means an opportunity for IT professionals to protect against further security problems and address the cyber threats that loom on the horizon.

Cybersecurity is a growing field, and companies are having trouble finding enough professionals to meet their needs. Shortages of security personnel are expected to last well into the future, giving IT professionals with cybersecurity skills many opportunities for jobs with competitive salaries.

PC AGE offers students courses in cybersecurity that can even lead to certification in the field of IT security or ethical hacking, both of which can help to meet the security challenges faced by many organizations. With cyber threats growing and continually evolving, the need for cybersecurity professionals with the latest comprehensive training has never been higher. Request info about our programs and courses including those that provide cybersecurity training. 

Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing

According to Glassdoor, only about 15-20 percent of available jobs are advertised on job boards and websites. Many smaller companies don’t have a big enough hiring budget to pay for these listings, so they use other means to get the word out when they need to hire.

It is possible to find out about available jobs even if they aren’t advertised, however, if you know where to look. There are several effective methods for finding unadvertised jobs, and some of them are even fairly fast and easy to use (others take longer).

Ask Around

Using your professional contacts is one of the best ways to find out about job openings that are beneath the radar of most people. Many companies use referrals extensively from their employees and other contacts to hire, and some even offer rewards for bringing in a successful hire (you).

Use Career Services

Your school’s career services office will likely have information about unadvertised jobs as employers try to connect with students who will soon finish their coursework. Even if you completed your studies years ago, career services offices are typically happy to let you use their resources and help you in any way they can.

Search Companies’ Career Websites

This option is probably the most time-consuming because there are a lot of companies out there to search, but this will turn up open positions that aren’t posted elsewhere in many cases. You can also mention that you found the job on the company website when you are interviewed, which will show that you take your time and do your research.

Search U.S. Jobs

This site compiles job listings from employers’ job sites into one place so you can search without spending the time to go to each company’s website. The jobs listed are mostly from larger companies including many of the Fortune 500. For smaller companies, you may still have to go to the website for job postings.

Google Search For ATS Postings

Many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to screen applications and resumes, and although these systems are not always easy to navigate, they can give you a backdoor way to find job postings. All you have to do is identify the name of the system—one of the biggest is Taleo—and do a site-specific search to find all the companies posting certain jobs on that system, many of which are unadvertised.

Here is an example of the search:

site: Taleo.net intitle: careers network administrator

This will give you a list of all the company sites using Taleo that have network administrator jobs listed. You can specify any kind of job you want instead of “network administrator,” and you can add other keywords after network administrator that will narrow down the listing further if you need to.

Other ATS systems include BrassRing, Jobvite, and Homegrown. These four are used by over 60 percent of employers for resume screening, and there are a number of other smaller ATS systems as well. If you know that one system is widely used in your industry or geographical area, that might be a good one to search in addition to these larger ones.

PC AGE offers career services to all students to help them find IT jobs upon completion of their coursework. Some students even have a job lined up before they leave school. Request info about all our programs and courses that lead to many different IT careers. 

Hackers are typically seen as criminals that use their tech skills to break into companies’ computer systems and steal information, money, or customer data. In most cases, hacking is extremely unethical and involves committing crimes that hurt others.

What Is Ethical Hacking?

It can be difficult to understand how hacking can ever be ethical, but some IT professionals decide to become hackers that use their skills to benefit companies rather than hurt them. Increasingly, companies are looking to hire these “white hat” hackers to help their cybersecurity team identify and counter cyber threats.

Ethical hackers aim to develop the same skills as malicious and criminal hackers—but only because they need to know all the devious and criminal methods hackers use for their harmful activities. One of the best ways to combat and counter hacking attempts is to have someone on your team who knows the methods of attack that hackers will use and how to prevent them. This is what ethical hackers do.

How Do You Become an Ethical Hacker?

Many ethical hackers get started by learning hacking skills informally or on their own, then adding to those skills in order to use them to help businesses and organizations. Others need to learn through coursework how to become one.

No matter how you learn to be an ethical hacker, you will learn about security threats, attack vectors, and hacking methodologies that hackers may use against companies as well as what to do to prevent them or protect the company against them.

It is not always easy to demonstrate ethical hacking skills to an employer. Not only don’t most employers understand cybersecurity in depth, but you can’t exactly expect companies to give you access to their secure systems when you aren’t yet an employee.

This is where having an ethical hacking certification is helpful because the certification means that you have passed an exam and demonstrated that you can apply ethical hacking skills in a variety of real-world situations. Having the ethical hacking certification will put employers’ minds at ease about your ability to defend against security threats.

Continuing Education

A white hat hacker’s education can never be finished because criminal hackers are coming up with new ways to break into companies’ systems and exploit vulnerabilities. The certification for ethical hacking must be renewed every three years, and considerable effort will be required to maintain and update your skills in order to be effective at countering new hacking methods.

PC AGE offers Certified Ethical Hacker training courses to prepare students to earn the certification and become an ethical hacker for a company that needs help to fight against security threats. Request info about all the courses we offer to learn IT skills and prepare for the newest jobs in IT. 

PC AGE has helped thousands of students get the skills they needed to start or advance in an IT career. By helping students gain advanced computer skills including networking, data analysis, and cybersecurity, PC AGE prepares students for a number of different careers in the IT field.

Over the past few years, many students have written to PC AGE instructors and staff to tell their success stories about finding jobs and changing their lives because of what they learned with us. Here are some of their stories.

1. David D. now works as a desktop support technician for the Associated Press. With just one year of training, he was able to get this great position, in which he helps with troubleshooting and installation of software to maintain the AP’s computer systems and networks. He credits our dedicated instructors for helping him learn the skills he needed to start his career.

2. Josh P. started his job as a network engineer less than a week after he finished his coursework at PC AGE. Not only did he learn computer skills, but the career placement department also worked with him to develop an effective resume and to practice his interview skills, which helped him get his job.

3. Mike M. attended PC AGE 19 years before writing to us to tell us that he is now a senior systems engineer and that his son would be enrolling at the school the next semester to begin his education in the IT field.

4. John P. thought the job he applied for to support equipment for Bank of America was way beyond his skills even after his time at PC AGE, but he was surprised when he was told by the hiring manager that he was the frontrunner for the job after his interview. “You somehow turned a college drop out into an IT professional, and in just a remarkable two months I got the job I wanted,” he wrote in a letter of thanks to PC AGE.

5. Jordan H. was promoted to supervisor within the first six months of getting a job and now has the title of lead integration configuration technician after less than two years of taking courses at PC AGE. Like Josh, he feels strongly that besides the technical skills and knowledge he gained at PC AGE, the interview and resume skills were valuable in preparing him for the hiring process.

6. Leah C. earned a two-year computer degree in her home country. She moved to New Jersey from Florida to get more computer training after coming to the U.S. and working in health care for a few years. She earned several IT certifications and got a job as a help desk support technician with Verizon two weeks before graduation. “I would recommend PC Age Career Institute as a mom and a wife holding a part-time job; I did it and so can you,” she shared.

7.  David M. went on from taking courses at PC AGE to earn an associate’s and then a bachelor’s degree, fulfilling a lifelong dream. “As I work at different sites, I come across plenty of network engineers who went to PC AGE,” David wrote. “Your school is incredible with the knowledge I learned supporting Microsoft Servers and how I apply it at my current job. Performing all of those labs over and over again stuck with me. Just want to thank you and your staff for everything and keep up the good work!”

PC AGE offers rigorous IT courses that teach real-world skills and help students earn IT certifications that make them stand out among employers. Request info about our programs from skills courses to job placement.

Companies have begun to see the advantages of moving their data and networks to cloud-based services, including less need for expensive physical equipment, user-friendliness of cloud services, and cost savings. Cloud services may seem easy to use, but they do present challenges that include security and protection against cyber threats.

It is not enough to assume that the security of the cloud services provider will keep workers safe when they use their data, as numerous cloud data breaches from the Pentagon to Yahoo have shown in recent years.

3 Major Cloud Security Challenges

The following security challenges leave cloud practitioners at risk and need to be addressed by cloud services users.

1. Encryption of end-user data.

Data in the cloud may be encrypted while it’s there, but when it is brought out of the cloud for end users to access on company or BYO computers and devices, it needs its own encryption to remain protected. Data and services accessed from the cloud without encryption at the end-user level are vulnerable to cyber attack and compromise.

2. Access keys and permissions.

The same access keys and permissions are needed to control access to cloud services as physical networks and servers. These keys are necessary to keep unwanted people from accessing a network, and if the keys aren’t used properly to restrict user access, the network may be vulnerable to hackers.

3. Shadow IT.

Shadow IT occurs when one department decides to purchase and use its own cloud services without informing or involving the company’s IT department. Shadow IT is a problem because practitioners generally don’t follow any security protocols the IT department would insist upon, so access is wide open to anyone who can find a way in. IT departments should regularly monitor how the network is being used to expose shadow IT and bring it under their more secure umbrella.

Other Key Issues In Cloud Security

One problem that often occurs when companies migrate to the cloud is that they offset its cost with cuts in the IT department. With a smaller budget and less staff, IT may not have the resources to implement user-end cloud security, and upper management may not see the necessity of these measures.

Additionally, the cybersecurity talent shortage may be impeding IT departments’ efforts to address cloud security issues. Existing personnel may not have the skills to know what is needed or how to meet the unique challenges of cloud security.

Cybersecurity professionals such as those trained by PC AGE can earn certifications that demonstrate knowledge of cybersecurity principles and skills, including cloud security. Request info about all our programs to see how PC AGE can help you start or advance your IT career. 

Rameez Khizer, IT Marketing

If you’re an adult who’s still struggling with the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, you aren’t alone.  Even those who think they know which career they want to pursue often end up doing something else after their education is complete. Rameez Khizer

In a way, being unsure can actually help you in the end, because you will probably spend more time figuring out what you really want than someone who has grown up thinking they want a particular career. Here are some tips for deciding which career path to take that may help you on your journey.

1. Do a career assessment.

Most colleges have assessment tools available that will help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as well as personality traits that might predispose you to particular career fields. Career counselors may also be available to work you through the process in a more personal way. Alternatively, there are tools online if you live in an area where in-person assessments are not available. Rameez Khizer

2. Explore several options.

Most career assessments will give you several options that seem to dovetail with your skills and traits. Try to identify some career paths that you can explore and research further. Eliminate options you have no interest in doing, even if they come up high on your assessment.

Look up each career field, including the types of jobs you can get, degrees or other education required, and opportunities for advancement. Think about what’s important to you in a job. If pay is important, look at that. Working hours, vacation time, and benefits probably vary by the job, but you may be able to gain some insights on these things during your research. You don’t want to spend months or years preparing for a career that will never pay you enough for you to be happy, or one that requires long hours if you want to have a good work-life balance. Rameez Khizer

3. Go deeper.

Once you have narrowed down your options to two or three, ask around to see if anyone you know has connections to people with the kinds of jobs you are considering, and ask them to introduce you so you can set up a time to meet with them and ask questions about their careers. Online and print research are useful in getting an overview of different career fields, but talking to people who are actually in those fields will help you get a vision for what a job in that field might look like.

4. Make your choice.

After you have spent some time researching and talking to people, you should be able to choose one career field. Pursue the education you need to enter that field with reasonable certainty that you will enjoy your work and find it satisfying. Rameez Khizer

5. Keep your options open.

You may have chosen a particular career field, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be in that field for life. Most adults working today will have at least two to three different careers in their lifetime as their interests develop and change. Furthermore, a good opportunity may present itself in a different field even though you may have developed skills in preparation for a certain career.

One career field with plenty of opportunities is information technology. If you have an aptitude for computer skills or have pre-existing skills in technology and computers, taking some IT courses can help you get a whole new career started or qualify you for a promotion in your current job or a job in a different specialty area. Rameez Khizer

PC AGE offers IT courses that lead to certifications employers value and to more advanced jobs in the IT field. Request info on all our programs and begin to discover how our IT courses can give you a career you will enjoy.