The Importance of a CompTIA Certifications for IT Professionals in 2020
Organizations and IT professionals across industries operate in a digitally transformed work environment with ever-evolving technologies. Competitively demanding businesses expect tech-professionals to have strong foundations with tested and verified skills. IT professionals also recognize the need for a never-ending learning approach to make themselves more valuable in an ever-changing industry. That’s where vendor-neutral CompTIA IT certifications play a crucial role!
“CompTIA-Certified professionals outperformed non-certified ones in factors like knowledge, job performance, reliability, and proficiency.” — An IDC study.
IT professionals with prominent CompTIA certifications earn annual average salaries up to $100,000.
CompTIA IT Certifications Benefits for IT Professionals
. CompTIA IT certifications provide the bigger picture of how the technology works.
. Increase a professional’s confidence and ability to carry out tasks.
. Improve your communication with skilled coworkers.
. Help you gain credibility at your workplace.
. Prove to hiring-managers that you are serious and dedicated to your career advancement.
. Lead to attractive salaries and rewarding opportunities.
. Let you utilize lucrative government and military technology positions.
. Increase your job security and enable IT career growth.
CompTIA Certifications Benefits for Businesses
. Hiring CompTIA certified employees boosts productivity.
. Leads to better customer satisfaction.
. Also, on many occasions, the benefits are visible in the form of low employee turnover.
Top Three Highly-Sought-After CompTIA Certifications
1] CompTIA A+ Certification (or CompTIA A+ 2019 with core series)
. Exams: 220–1001 (Core 1) and 220–1002 (Core 2).
. An entry-level credential for IT operational and technical support roles.
. Ensures you are adequately prepared for troubleshooting and problem-solving.
. While handling critical tasks at higher levels, professionals with A+ certifications show a 53% improved performance as compared to the ones without certifications.
. A+ certified employees with less than 1 year of experience, show 52% more domain knowledge than non-certified support professionals with 3 years of experience.
. Professionals with 10 years of experience show 25% more core domain knowledge than the non-certified ones with similar experience.
. Job roles that use A+: Support Specialists, Desktop Support Analysts, Help-desk Tier 2 Support professionals, and Field Service Technicians.
. The average annual salary in the US: $60,000.
. With work experience, additional qualifications or certifications: As high as $100,000.
2] CompTIA Network+ Certification
. Exam: N10–007.
. Considered the first choice for networking professionals.
. Validates your competency as entry-level networking professional. Includes configuring, managing, and troubleshooting networks.
. Pays more attention to the logical framework of the technology and not merely on the hardware.
. CompTIA Network+ certified professionals can configure networks more quickly, test, and validate network solutions efficiently.
. Some job roles that use Network+: Junior Network Administrators/System Engineers, Network Support Specialists, Network Analysts, Help-desk Technicians, and Network Field Engineers.
. The average annual salary in the US: $63,000.
3] CompTIA Security+ Certification:
. Exam: SY0–501.
. Widely seen as the first security certification any IT professional should earn.
. A global certification that is ISO 17024 standards-compliant and approved by the US DoD to meet directive 8140/8570.01-M requirements.
. Verifies your skills needed for identifying and addressing security incidents.
. Incorporates best practices in real-world scenarios and hands-on troubleshooting.
. Security+ certified professionals are 85% more confident with their skills and knowledge necessary for the successful execution of their job roles.
. With 1–3 years of experience, they usually have 58% more domain knowledge as compared to the non-certified professionals with the same experience.
. Job roles that use Security+: Systems Administrators, Network Administrators, Security Administrators, Junior IT Auditors, Penetration Testers, Security Specialists, Security Consultants, and Security Engineers.
. The average annual salary in the US: $42,128- $95,829.
CompTIA certified IT professionals perform better as compared to the non-certified ones. Let’s go through the following situations to understand the difference.
1] Working at the Help-desk
**Non-Certified IT Professional:
· It has been a long time since this employee last swapped out RAM. Therefore, he searches around to remember how to do it.
· Years ago, he generally used to factory-reset his Windows machine at home and never needed a copy of the OS to reinstall. Now, while using the same method for saving a customer’s laptop, he forgets a step or two.
· The non-certified professional also struggles with a new range of tech issues that are taking time to troubleshoot.
**A+ Certified IT Professional:
· Earned the CompTIA A+ certification in high school.
· A+ knowledge is fresh on the first day of work in tier 1 support.
· Knows system specs and layouts for various computer models. Therefore, swapping out components is easy.
· Understands how software interacts with the OS. It leads to highly efficient troubleshooting skills.
2] Working at Computer Networking
- *Non-certified IT professional:
· While working, the employee realizes the knowledge is incomplete.
· Knows data packets flow through the Ethernet cable to the wall, is learning more about switches and routers; however, he still must approach coworkers for answers.
· Knows the commands, but not why they work.
**Network+ Certified IT Professional:
· Earned the CompTIA Network+ certification to master computer networking.
· Understands the concepts and knows how to build networks, in addition to troubleshooting.
3] Working at Cybersecurity
*Non-certified IT professional:
· Knows infrastructure, however, finds it challenging to work at an organization with a serious focus on cybersecurity.
· Gets confused by jargon related to penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.
**Security+ certified IT professional:
· While running information assurance scans on the server using a vendor-supplied tool, the vendor-neutral knowledge gained from CompTIA Security+ helps in identifying security risks.
· Security+ training reminds him of what to do while manually installing patches on machines not connected to the internet.
Each of the above situations demonstrates obvious benefits from CompTIA certifications in helping IT professionals do their jobs better.
CompTIA educates your IT workforce and offers certifications for individuals of all skill and experience levels. Explore CompTIA training and certifications from NetCom Learning, an authorized CompTIA Platinum Partner.
