LearnKey Blog

My Certification Journey

Screenshot of LearnKey's Word 2010 Training
Yeah! I finally dove into my Word 2010 training and I am so excited because I have already learned so many great new tricks in just the first session. If you are like me sure you can function in Word, but you are not necessarily the most efficient in the program, well that is the great thing about our training because not only is it preparing you for a certification exam you also learn shortcuts and new tricks that will help you be more efficient. There is a new File tab in this version that replaces the Office Button, which is probably the biggest layout change.

I  have some tricks to share with you for Word 2010:
Continue reading “My Certification Journey”

Certification Journey: Moving along slowly

I saw that our Word 2010 course was only three sessions long, and I thought to myself, “This is going to be easy, and I will be ready to take my certification test in no time!” Well, procrastination is one thing I am very good at, so it has taken me longer to get started than I thought it would.

Finally last night after a long day at work, I made myself open up the training and get started (this was due in large part to the fact that there was nothing decent on TV).

In our training, we have this great feature: the Pretest. This kind of acts like a gauge to let you know how much knowledge you already have about the information in the course, and what areas you will need to focus on. I looked at the pretest and thought to myself, “Not a problem. I am going to ace this test in about 10 minutes and then I can back to reading my book.” My reasoning behind this thought was that I have been using Word since my high school days, and now I use Word pretty much every single day at work. Well, I had another thing coming to me. I went through the test in about 15 minutes, but as I did, the realization slowly crept in on me that I had no clue. There were a lot of terms I did not know and a lot of features I was clueless about. At the end of the pretest, when the results said I failed, I was pretty disappointed in myself and a little nervous about the challenge I was taking on.

The good thing is, I realized I have a long way to go to learn everything there is to know about Word, which worked as a motivator. So with this in mind, I started looking through the resources section of our training and looked at the glossary to find the definitions of many of the terms I had missed on the pretest. My lack of knowledge also made me think that this is something I really need to do so that I can function more efficiently in Word at work. So I am making the commitment to continue to make progress on this journey every week. I’ll keep you posted on my progress! If you are currently on your own certification journey, let us know how it is going for you, and any achievements or set backs you have faced trying to get certified.

CTP+ Replaces Convergence+

CompTIA has replaced Convergence+ with CTP+ as its convergent technologies exam. This exam focuses on knowledge and skills needed to sell and service convergent technologies some of the concepts covered are requirements analysis, voice and multimedia applications. It is recommended that candidates have attained Network+ certification and have work experience in data networking and/or telephony fields. (View more information about CTP+)

At this time we are not offering this course, but I would like to find out if people are interested in this certification. Is this the certification you have been waiting for? Do you have previous certifications and are looking to add to your resume with this certification? If you are interested would you be getting it for you current position and if so what are some of your job roles?

JavaScript Fundamentals Course Available!

mlassoff-java2

If you read the recent post about Dice.com’s jump in ITIL requests, you should definitely finish reading this. JavaScript skills requests jumped by 98% to nearly 7,919 postings. In a recent article on Dice they talked about how there were 1,100 positions availble for people with JavaScript experience in the Silicon Valley alone.

If you are looking for a new career path to follow, with so many positions available, this may be the one! LearnKey has just released our newest JavaScript Fundamentals Course – for more information visit the product page at www.learnkey.com/js_fundamentals.

Is ITIL Your Next Career Move?

itil

Dice.com recently came out with the January 2011 Dice Report, which documents the demand for various IT jobs, and it shows that requests for Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) have increased by 89% year to year with 1,619 job postings. That is more than twice the market rate!

Not only is there a need, there is money there as well. According to a recent survey of IT Certification holders the average salary for ITIL v3 Foundation Certification holders was $101,185 in 2010. Not bad in a down economy!

If you are looking to take the next step in your career and need help getting certified check out LearnKey’s ITIL Foundation Course – ITIL v3 Foundation at www.learnkey.com/itil_foundation.

New Year, New You – Certification Maps for 2011

If you are like me, you profess every New Year that you are going to make changes… Well it is almost February, and I haven’t even started to make any changes yet. If this sounds like you and certification is on your list this year, we have something to help you get started.

certification_tracks

If you are like me, you profess every New Year that you are going to make changes… Well it is almost February, and I haven’t even started to make any changes yet. When you decide to make these changes you usually do not take into consideration that figuring out what steps to take next can be so overwhelming, you quit before you start. For example, every year somewhere on my list is to be healthier (I am sure like many of you), but more often than not, sifting through all of the diets and exercise programs out there overwhelms me, and I just continue with my same routine.

If this sounds like you and certification is on your list this year, we have something to help you get started. Continue reading “New Year, New You – Certification Maps for 2011”

70-680

The numbers above may seem cryptic to some, but those familiar with Microsoft’s Certification Exams will likely recognize the format.  This particular combination of numbers refers to the most recent Windows 7 exam. : TS Windows 7 Configuring.  This is the nuts and bolts.  How to install, deploy, and upgrade to Windows 7; how to use existing hardware to connect, maintain, recover and functionally use Windows 7 in a network environment, and how to check for compatibility in place upgraded hardware is required.  Useful information for anyone from a home network enthusiast, to a network admin, the certification itself and skills neccessary to use Windows 7 effectively are geared specifically towards IT professionals.

Continue reading “70-680”