Get Ahead: Guide to Mid-Career Advancement

31free-times.com | March 28-April 3, 2012 get ahead

32 March 28-April 3, 2012 | free-times.comfree-times.com | March 28-April 3, 2012

Regional employers in the insurance and health care industries will need nearly 2,200 new and replacement IT workers over the next four years, according to Midlands Technical College, which recently received a $5 million grant from the federal Employ-ment and Training Administration to fund the college’s Growing Resources in Informa-tion Technology program. Among many IT-related occupations, MTC cites program-

In terms of promising career fields, Information Technology (IT) is one of the hottest markets around. Our increasingly connected world depends on those who know how to

network — in bits and bytes, not (necessarily) over cocktails after hours. As server administrators, database managers, network programmers or analysts, IT professionals help individuals and organizations share and store information, on the web or in the cloud. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects steady job growth with excellent prospects through 2018.

Fast-Track Careers: IT Edition

Certified Internet Web Professional

For those with a good working knowl-edge of computers, strong communication skills and a good eye for page layout and design, working as a website designer might be ideal. In just a few months, learn how to build fast, functional, aesthetic websites to promote most any product, service or business. Average wage per hour tops $35, making this an ideal full- or part-time job. MTC QuickJobs (3-4 months)

Network Management and Security Specialist

High-profile hackers, identity theft and the threat of potential viruses and data leaks make careers in cyber and network security more valuable now than ever. Start by un-derstanding how systems are vulnerable, and then learn how to protect them. Network security specialists are employed in a variety

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continues on page 34

mer analysts, computer network support specialists and data communication analysts as those in highest demand.

Fortunately for anyone interested in starting, advancing or completely changing careers, Columbia boasts several schools that offer job-ready IT degrees and certifications. If data-speak drives you, consider these fast-track careers. — Allison Caldwell

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March 28-April 3, 2012 | free-times.com 33free-times.com | March 28-April 3, 2012 get ahead

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Fast Track IT Careers, continued from page 32

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of settings. ECPI University, associate and bachelor degrees available (15 months to 2.5 years)

Database and Software Programmer

Local employers like BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, Colonial Life, Aflac and others have expressed tremendous needs for database and software program-mers. Using various programming languages and operating systems, help others identify, generate and access the information they need, from financial or health records to computer simulations. ECPI University, as-sociate and bachelor concentrations available (15 months to 2.5 years)

Server AdministratorLarge corporations, small businesses and

government organizations all need server administrators to troubleshoot and maintain their computers and network servers. Duties include designing and installing computer systems, installing and maintaining hard-ware and software, and monitoring networks to improve performance and availability. MTC QuickJobs (4-6 months)

Computer Network Technician

Market-driven and based on the needs of the business community, network techni-cians provide programming and technical support for computers, networks, and the applications that support them. Upon pro-gram completion, you’ll be qualified to test for various industry certifications includ-ing CompTIA A+ and Network+. Centura College

Information Systems Specialist

With a skill set similar to that of a network management specialist, the study of information systems prepares you for work in the areas of programming, database technology and administration, application

development, networking, security admin-istration and more. A variety of programs are available, ranging from basic under-graduate certification to a Masters degree. Strayer University (up to four years)

Mobile Device App Builder

Objective-C isn’t the name of a vitamin supplement; it’s the primary language used to develop applications for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac OS X platforms. Mastering this powerful yet simple object-oriented programming language is the foundation for developing mobile apps and related programs. Midlands Tech

Descriptions edited from course catalogs.

Regional employers in the insurance and health care

industries will need nearly 2,200 new and replacement IT workers over the next four years, according

to Midlands Technical College.

Fast-Track Career Resources

Centura Collegewww.CenturaCollege.edu(803) 754-7544

ECPI Universitywww.ECPI.edu(803) 772-2922

Fortis Collegewww.fortis.edu/columbia(803) 678-4800

Midlands Technical Collegewww.MTCTraining.com/ quickjobs(803) 732-0432

Strayer Universitywww.Strayer.edu(803) 750-2500

Webster Universitywww.webster.edu(803) 699-0900


QuickJobs! Pick up a paycheck sooner than you think� Start a new career or move up to a better one.� Fast-paced Continuing Education programs offer Career Training.� Despite the current economy, there is still a demand for skilled workers in SC.� Industry experts agree that 70% of jobs projected through 2012 will require specific or

occupational training, not a four-year degree.� QuickJobs programs have been developed for fields where job growth is expected.� Many programs can be completed in less than three months.� Some programs have annual earning potentials over $60,000.� You may be eligible for tuition assistance.

Learn to be competitiveMake yourself employable fast

Take a look at the QuickJobs training MTC offers:

Interested in something else?There are hundreds of other certificates, programs, and even online courses offered by MTC. Check them out at mtctraining.com/quickjobs.

Start now. Don’t wait.To begin, go to mtctraining.com/quickjobs or call (803) 732-0432 for more information.

Working Together for Tomorrow’s Workforce

Additional assistance for those receiving unemployment benefits or eligible for WIAThe Midlands Workforce Development Board works in partnership with Midlands Technical College to help job seekers build the skills they need for jobs that are in demand. Call your nearest Midlands Workforce Center in Columbia, Lexington or Winnsboro and ask about the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and tuition assistance for QuickJobs training as well as other training availableat MTC. In Columbia, call 737-5627. If you live closer to the Lexington One Stop, call 359-6131 or go by and ask to speak to a WIA case manager. In Winnsboro, call 635-2812 and ask about WIA.

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36 March 28-April 3, 2012 | free-times.comfree-times.com | March 28-April 3, 2012get ahead

Riley, who has a background in civil engineering and in managing operations for startup businesses, had always wanted to get one. The layoffs made the prospect of gradu-ate school easier.

“That actually gave me the chance,” Riley says. “I had not started the process. I figured that while I had the time, I would go ahead and enroll.”

As he began the application process at the University of South Carolina, though, he got another job; he now works for a project management company specializing in road and airport construction. So, before he even began working on his degree, he had new demands on his time.

But he was cool with that. His MBA program accommodates people working full-time.

That’s an important emerging trend in the U.S. Enrollment in part-time MBA

programs has grown in recent years while declining in traditional MBA tracks.

USC’s Professional MBA program combines traditional classroom experience with online learning. Riley, for instance, goes to class as much as he can. That gives him the ability to network with fellow students and professors and to participate in group exercises. But if he has to work late or leave town for a few days, he can stream the class live or watch a recorded version. He can also take tests online.

“We are meeting them where they are,” says Chris LaCola, director of graduate

When Derek Riley lost not one, but two jobs last year, he decided to go back to school and get his MBA.

Flexible MBA Program Offers Alternative to ProfessionalsBy Mary Ellen Cheatham

programs at USC’s Darla Moore School of Business. “They are absolutely on global trips. They’re on across-the-U.S. trips. They need to be able to participate in class kind of on the fly, so our ability to meet them where they are is extremely important.”

At USC, students typically take two courses during each 12-week term, with each course meeting one night per week in Columbia. These classes are also streamed online or available for viewing at distance learning sites in Charleston, Greenville, Spartanburg, Aiken, Bluffton and Char-lotte.

Then, once per month on Saturdays, students from all locations travel to Columbia for classes that typically feature speakers, team project presentations, discussion about business case studies, career advice, resume development and networking.

The program lasts 28 months, with about 150 students entering each year. Programs begin twice a year, in fall and spring. An optional short-term course of study overseas is available, usually over fall or spring break.

An MBA can lead to a promotion or other career advancement, a job change, a larger base of contacts, credibility and prestige.

Eric Seymore went back to school because, he says, an MBA is good not only for his job as a sales representative for Vul-can Materials but in his other job, as a pilot

“As you progress in the ranks, it’s just a plus and it’s a way to separate yourself from your peers.

It shows initiative and drive and obviously a desire to progress through the ranks.”

— MBA student Eric Seymore

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and captain in the South Carolina Army National Guard.

“As you progress in the ranks, it’s just a plus and it’s a way to separate yourself from your peers. It shows initiative and drive and obviously a desire to progress through the ranks,” Seymore says. “I think the military realizes just like the civilian world does that having an MBA or having any type of masters really increases your critical thinking and your view on differ-ent facets of how the world operates.”

Those different facets are important in an increasingly global workforce needing employees with diverse work skills.

“It’s nice to be able to hear from people with banking backgrounds or legal backgrounds or medical backgrounds,” Riley says. “It’s different perspectives. Engineering is pretty isolated so that’s the [only] perspectives I would hear other-wise in most cases.”

And then there’s timing. Most of the people in his class are at least five years out from their bachelor’s degrees and have several years of work experience, he says. As a result, the concepts they study are less abstract and more easily applied to one’s own professional life.

But two things can present a challenge — paying for the degree and finding the

time to study.About 40 percent of the PMBA students

have their degrees financed by their employ-ers, says Libby Shropshier, associate director of recruiting at Moore. But other students of-ten find themselves going into debt through student loans, home equity loans or other sources. The cost of the PMBA at USC ends up at around $30,000.

Prospective students, though, should look beyond the short-term cost, says Shrop-shier.

“This is an investment in themselves,” Shropshier says. “While they definitely have to be concerned about the expense, it’s definitely a long-term investment in their long-term career paths.”

Learn More

Moore School PMBA Programmooreschool.sc.edu/pmba.aspx

South University AMBA (Accelerated program)southuniversity.edu

MBAprograms.org

USC’s Darla Moore School of BusinessFile photo


Staffing agencies can help job seekers find — and employers fill — everything from professional to day labor or tem-porary positions. Read on to learn more about how three local staffing agencies — Snelling, Roper and AppleOne — match employees with employers.

“Our average client looks like the aver-age American,” says Elizabeth Trenbeath of Snelling, which has offices in Columbia and Lexington. “Think of friends and fami-

ly that have been through a job search, and that’s our candidate. We have candidates like manufacturing workers and entry-level clerical, sure, but our candidates are also clinical health care professionals, technology-based managers, engineers, finance and accounting managers, business developers.”

Staffing agencies also work with em-ployers.

Snelling works with employers on a va-

Staffing Agencies Match Employers, EmployeesAlso Offer Interview Coaching and Other Services

By Katie Alice Walker

Matchmaker, matchmaker, find me a … job? It’s one way to look at staffing services. If you’re on the job hunt, the sound of

someone taking your résumé and credentials and attempting to match your skills with a potential employer is appealing. And if you’re an employer, the idea of having someone else sift through hundreds of candidates and only forwarding the best ones to your desk has a lot of appeal, too.


riety of HR-related issues. So, Trenbeath says, “When the client needs to fill a posi-tion, the natural place to turn is a staffing agency like Snelling. Often our employers do not ever post their open positions to job boards and classifieds because they would be overwhelmed with the response and they have a business to run.”

George Roper of Roper Staffing works with temporary employees and those he calls direct-hire candidates, which are job

seekers seeking permanent positions. “Job seekers apply to us in person,

usually by appointment, or online,” says Roper. “We act as the middleman when placing direct-hire candidates with our client employers, and we are paid a fee by the employer when our candidate is actually hired.”

Roper says that employees who fill temporary-work positions are paid on Roper’s payroll, but job seekers in neither category ever pay for the staffing service.

AppleOne, a staffing agency with offices in Columbia and in Northeast Columbia, fills only professional office

positions and meets face-to-face with each candidate they represent, says Sheri Dickert with AppleOne.

“We also ask for two professional references from past jobs and test scores, if applicable,” says Dickert. “Employers are looking for professional, reliable and dependable candidates with a great work ethic that can present themselves in a professional manner to represent not only AppleOne, but the client company as well.”

What are the advantages of using a staffing agency? Well, there are obvious ones, such as doing without pounding the pavement, or in this era, scrolling through online job postings.

“We have direct contact with hiring managers instead of applying online and going in a dark cyber hole,” says Dickert.

But that doesn’t mean finding a job will be easy: Sometimes the prospective employee isn’t quite ready for the job market.

“Frequently, what a candidate really needs to learn is how to approach the job market, based on the current economy, and to develop strategies for locating jobs and career opportunities, many of which may not even exist until our person actu-ally makes a contact,” says Roper.

“If we don’t secure work, we know places to refer candidates by offering another one of our services, such as inter-view coaching,” Dickert says.

“We are truly career counselors and take extra time with candidates to help them develop their portfolio and market-ability,” says Trenbeath. “From how to dress for an interview to resume tips, we want them to leave us better than when they came to us.”

And for most job seekers, “better” means landing a job.

For more information:

AppleOnewww.appleone.com803-407-0777

Roper Staffingwww.roperstaffing.com803-798-8500

Snellingwww.snelling.com803-70--7171

“Frequently, what a candidate really needs to learn is how to approach the job market, based on the current economy, and to develop strategies for locating jobs and career opportunities, many of which may not even exist until our person actually

makes a contact.” — George Roper, Roper Staffing

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Get Ahead: Guide to Mid-Career Advancement

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