CAREERS
Why Getting Tech Savvy Doesn’t Have to be Hard (StatePoint) More than 12 million people are currently employed in techrelated occupations in the U.S., either as information technology (IT) professionals or employees of technology companies. Yet employer demand for tech workers is still strong in many markets and industries, including technology, financial services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare, government and education. Unfortunately, misperceptions about tech occupations persist. People assume that in such jobs, you’re relegated to working alone writing software code or that you need to be a math genius or
have an advanced academic degree to even get your foot in the door. These misperceptions can discourage qualified candidates from exploring career options in the IT field. “Today’s IT professional plays a leading role in virtually every business and industry, identifying innovation and technologies that can determine the future of an organization,” says John McGlinchey, executive vice president for global certification with CompTIA, a nonprofit association for the IT indus-
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try. “Companies are eager to hire people who communicate effectively, are comfortable working as part of a team and are creative in identifying how to use technology to make a business more efficient and profitable.” In fact, 62% of executives surveyed for CompTIA’s “Workforce and Learning Trends 2020” report ranked soft skills such as relationship building, persuasion, integrity and confidence with equal importance to hard techni-
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