What’s the Value of Certification?

Certification

Certification is a third-party validation of skills-based knowledge.

Microsoft recognizes this individual as having a specialist-level of skill in a given Microsoft Office application. MOS certifications are global and industry-recognized.

Microsoft Office Specialist certifications do not expire, but only apply to the suite in which the exam was taken. (e.g. Microsoft Office 2010)

• Achieve industry-recognized certification

• Learn the computing and productivity skills companies are looking for

• Boost your workforce resume, and build a college transcript

• Gain valuable experience and confidence

• Enhance your higher education prospects

• Prepare yourself for a successful future

Certification gives you tools to build a brighter future

Why Become Certified?

Teachers also earn Microsoft certifications as part of their Professional Development!

“…. The purpose of any professional certification is to provide official and public recognition of an individual's competencies and capabilities in a professional subject area….”

“….Certification programs ensure technical competence through a tangible measurement of skills and knowledge. Certification exams go beyond training by providing an objective measurement of a professional’s knowledge and skills. Certification programs establish standards in developing a qualified workforce….”

Sources: Global Certification Institute IT Certification Council

Does Microsoft Certification Make a Difference?

12,500 401,000

11,000

Beyond Office Administration

The Key to a Good Paying Job Could be Excel

• “Want a job that promises a living wage and a good shot at a middle-class life? Learn Microsoft Excel and other basic digital skills.”*

• Some 78% of these jobs, or about 6.3 million open positions, call for some fluency with technology.* • The most promising in terms of pay and job creation, including occupations in healthcare, technology, and

operations.• The most commonly required skills are spreadsheet and word-processing software such as Microsoft Word and

Excel.• Excel expertise has become critical for office and administrative positions, retail supervisors, and store managers,

among other jobs.**• Sixty-seven percent of middle-skill jobs demand proficiency with these tools.• “Effectively, entire segments of the U.S. economy are off-limits to people who don’t have basic digital skills,” the

report notes.• Positions that require basic digital skills tend to pay 13% more than jobs that require no digital skills: median pay

of $22.66 per hour versus $20.14 per hour. *Burning Glass**Plant Money

Where the Jobs Will Be in 2020• 1. Computer Occupations: 859,833• 2. Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners: 443,611• 3. Other Management Occupations: 196,199• 4. Financial Specialists: 184,312• 5. Business Operations Specialists: 183,574• 6. Sales Representatives, Services: 178,859• 7. Engineers: 177,581• 8. Information and Record Clerks: 177,194• 9. Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers: 168,646• 10. Supervisors of Sales Workers: 164,610

• All but two (information and record clerks, and supervisors of sales workers) require high levels of education. Further, high percentages of existing workers in these occupations had undergraduate or graduate college degrees.

• http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/jobs-in-2020

What will Jobs Need in 2020• “Fast forward to 2020. What job skill must you have? Coding.”• http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/jobs-in-2020

• “The European Commission has predicted a shortfall of 900,000 adequately skilled programmers and other technology professionals in Europe by 2020.”

• http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32743770

• “The key to the future is the ability to ‘mix technical knowledge with solving real world problems.’”• Https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/04/average-is-over/

• “A glimpse into your average school[s]…all over the country have been embracing ‘coding’ as a part of their school curriculum for a while now and things are only just getting started.”

• http://blog.codefuture.org/coding-matters/

• "What Minecraft managed to crack was just make it so simple and standing out of the way, with a simple world and a simple story, and putting people into it to discover new things," Klein says. "People have made computers in Minecraft, working calculators.... It's a beautiful thing."

• http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/is-computer-coding-the-legos-of-the-future/425901/

Leaders agree on one thing

Microsoft Technology Professional

• Microsoft (MCSE, MCITP, MCTS)

• Among Microsoft's most popular certifications are Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS), and the relatively entry-level Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP).

Microsoft Technology Professional• The requirements for MCSE certification are one to two years of experience

in designing, installing, configuring, and troubleshooting network systems, and a passing mark on an $875 test. Median pay for an IT manager with MCSE certification is $77,000, according to PayScale.com.

• MCITP requires two years as an IT pro, and passing marks on one to five exams, priced at $125 each. There are 12 MCITP tracks, and pay for an IT specialist or consultant ranges from $47,000 to $70,000.

• MCTS accreditation requires two years of background in troubleshooting specific technology.

Microsoft Technology Associate

Microsoft Technology Associate

Microsoft Skills Makes a Difference

• It is not enough merely to understand which occupations will be high growth and high salary; today's educators must impart the skills that will be required for those jobs, too. To determine those skills, IDC examined 14.6 million job postings between April and September 2013 from 25,000 job boards and staffing companies' corporate Web sites.• The only software package called out within the top 20 skills across all

occupations was Microsoft Office, ranking #3 in top skills.

Source: IDC, based on WANTED Analytics and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, October 2013

Certification = Employability for Students

91% of hiring managers consider employee certification as a criterion for hiring1

Sources1 MCP Program Satisfaction Study 20102 Intrepid Survey3 Certiport Research 2009

79% of hiring managers feel that certified individuals are more efficient 1

89% of supervisors say that Microsoft Office certified employees are more proficient users of Microsoft Office programs 3

81% of hiring managers feel that certified individuals perform better 1 50% of individuals believe

obtaining a certification makes them more marketable 2

“It’s truly a global marketplace, especially in the IT world. If you don’t have a certification that validates you have the needed skills, you’re at a significant disadvantage.”

Bill Doherty, @ONE Project, College System of California