Businesses are increasingly dealing with talent shortages and the most difficult positions to fill in recent years are in Information Technology (IT), at a time when big data analytics drive business intelligence.
According ManpowerGroup, a South African based talent management firm’s 2015 Talent Shortage survey, IT roles jumped from ninth to second place. This was the first time the sector has entered the top five hardest roles to fill. Business executives agree that certified IT staff perform at a higher level than non-certified staff; this is according to the CompTIA International Technology Adoption and Workforce Trends report, 2015.
Industry watchers say that IT certifications can and have lifted a lot of people out of the doldrums in developing nations because the basic requirements are interest, intelligence and persistence, rather than restrictive previous paper qualifications required to get into the formal university system.
Henry Beluchukwu, a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) said IT certifications have the ability to change an individual’s economic wellbeing, but that the challenge is that Nigeria has few IT driven companies, such as Microsoft for instance.
“Be that as it may, I earn over N350,000 monthly, designing, installing, and troubleshooting networks for both small and big businesses. I dropped out of school at some point for personal reasons; but had to return and complete my studies at the National Open University of Nigeria, thanks to income from IT certifications. I also have about five employees.”
STEPHEN ONYEKWELU
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