Most companies are feeling the effects of a nationwide shortage of IT professionals. Cisco Systems Inc (San Jose, CA) is trying to bridge the gap with the Cisco Networking Academy, which provides a comprehensive educational foundation in IT networking.
Gene Longo, the academy's senior manager in the United States and Canada, says there is a wide misperception that IT jobs have disappeared in North America. "The reality is that we have requests every day for competent professionals," he says. "There are lots of career opportunities!"
Enrollment in the intensive academy sessions is up this year now that the job market is improving, Longo says. "Employers want people not only with basic skills, but also advanced abilities to meet increasing technology needs. In the past anyone with an industry certification was marketable. Now employers want post-secondary education," he says.
A decade of growth
The academy model was launched in October 1997 with sixty pilot schools in seven states. Today it boasts some 400,000 graduates in the United States alone, and is offered by 10,000 educational institutions in all fifty states and more than 160 countries.
Most academy courses are taught at high schools and community colleges. Students who pursue advanced-level classes can often transfer the credits to four-year degree programs. After they complete the academy's 280 hours of instruction, students take an entry-level networking exam to qualify for a Cisco certified network associate designation.
The new network associates can find many job opportunities with Cisco's partners: companies that handle system integration and the design and implementation of networks. Graduates can also register in a Cisco database to get job postings and employer matches. About 60,000 have registered so far.
Opportunities for students with disabilities
Cisco is dedicated to providing accessible learning opportunities to disabled students. Erik Barthel, who was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at the age of three, hopes to someday own and operate a website design business using the skills he's developed through academy courses at Yuba College (Clearlake, CA). Barring that, he'd like to seek out opportunities that would allow him to work from home. He's most enjoyed learning "how networks operate and how routers do their thing.
"The Cisco program provides a good start for figuring out the careers you want to pursue in technology," Barthel says.
Barthel has been in a wheelchair since he was eleven. He notes that, "Mentally I'm as strong as anyone else." He can use his hands, but has limited use of his arms. He has an assistant who helps him handle some aspects of his work with routers, but he can easily use a track ball mouse, and can type with a mouse and an on-screen keyboard. He also uses voice recognition software. "I'm able to do more than I thought I'd be able to," he says.
He has been enrolled in the academy since his senior year of high school. He has received a networking certificate and earned his networking associate designation. He's considering a BS in computer science at a state university.
Training for all
Longo says that the academy is good for disabled students to consider, because it offers training in a wide range of jobs, and can provide adaptive devices to help them.
He says he'd like to see more young women sign up for the academy. "IT is heavily skewed towards males. One thing we know, however, is that we can get young girls more interested in IT when we show them how technology can make a difference in someone's life," Longo says.
Cisco hosts events through its Women's Action Network, a company employee network, to show high-school girls how IT helps people in their everyday lives. "We also do a lot of outreach and a lot of work in urban settings," he says.
Longo hopes that more people will consider IT as a career, and use the academy to achieve their goals. "The majority of four-year universities have seen a decline in enrollment in computer science and engineering. If we're going to have a trained technical workforce, we have to get kids interested in math and technology early on," he remarks.
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