Computer and server networking through certifications can lead to a great career.
A recent article in the NY Times not only shared data on declining college enrollment, but also raised the question: Is college worth it? For many college-aged young adults in the United States, apparently not. According to Best Collegestheir research shows that college enrollment has been declining since 2010. Over the past decade, total college enrollment has fallen by about 1.95 million students, or about 10 percent. to reach approximately 17 million students in spring 2023. Why?
This could be due to a multitude of reasons. It seems that many young people are questioning the value of their education due to its high cost and relevance. Or maybe it’s because Fortune 500 companies, including Google, IBM, and Apple, have eschewed their long-standing degree requirements. This shows. As of November 2022, only 41% of job openings in the United States required a bachelor’s degree, according to a think tank analysis. Burning Glass Institute. Or maybe thanks to technology, young adults have figured out how to acquire knowledge and skills from a variety of other sources.
The nature of employment is changing rapidly and the average length of service is decreasing. According to Payscale, the average person currently experiences 12 job changes in their lifetime. Due to automation, we should expect this figure to more than double in the coming years. As employment tends toward shorter commitments, employers are far more interested in the immediately applicable skills a potential worker brings to a task than in the school work he or she has completed or the reputation of the school he or she has. he attended. Perhaps it’s time to consider an alternative to a college degree: certifications.
For many employers, certifications are becoming a much quicker and more effective way for hiring managers to assess a person’s skills. They are less invested in how the learning happened and much more interested in interviewing only those who passed the proficiency test. For this reason, recruiting companies may rely much more on certifications than academic degrees for their preferred form of recruiting new employees.
Both LinkedIn And Indeed gave their views on what type of high-level certifications should be acquired to get hired. Some of the key areas are listed below.
Computer networks. The whole world is now connected to computers and devices and someone needs to manage the complex networks we rely on.
Cloud computing. Cloud is an interesting marketing word for storage and computing power of remote servers. Almost every viable application we rely on today is in the cloud, from Amazon to Instagram to Microsoft applications. Certified experts are needed to handle anything cloud-related.
Project management. There is nothing that is really done today, especially in a work environment that is not a project. Oh, you might have a strategy and even a tactical plan, but you need really good people to manage all those projects.
Online marketing. Today, many elements can go into a marketing campaign. Not only offline but also online marketing is done in an integrated manner with a variety of media choices. Obtaining key certifications here, in Hootsuite, Google Analytics, and Tableau, among others, will be essential.
Sales. You really can’t move a business forward without having people who know how to sell. SPIN Selling and other sales training certifications will be important to those of you who were born to sell.
For those of you with entrepreneurial ambitions, honestly, go work for an entrepreneur in one of the positions above and get some “on the job” knowledge that you just can’t get in college. Spend time with entrepreneurs where they gather and volunteer at their events. Get some certifications in the job you might enjoy. Because being an entrepreneur is not a job title, you still have to be good to do something in the company.