|
|
|
|
||
|
GOING HIGH-TECH GUIDE Ready for the vo-tech approach? Don't discount the vocational route without checking out the starting salaries. Once disparaged as a path for those who weren't suitable college material, vocational training is emerging as the most popular entry into the high-tech industry. If you're still in school or need to make a quick career change, you should check out the vocational programs. Computer Learning Centers (CLC), the D.C. region's oldest computer-training school, boasts a 90 percent placement rate in a technical occupation within six months of graduation. According to Kiem, the average starting salary for CLC graduates is around $36,000 annually. "All of our programs are designed to take people who are computer novices and train them for careers in high-tech," Kiem says. CLC, which now boasts 2,500 students in the Washington area, offers four tracks for potential techies. For example, students can opt for traditional computer programming, which stresses client/server technologies such as C++, Visual Basic, and SQL. "It's very rigorous, with a lot of hands-on work," Kiem says. "Each student develops a graphical user interface (GUI) front end to an Oracle database," before completing the course. Students at CLC can also select the network engineering and management track, where, says Kiem, they find salaries that range from a low of $20,000 to a high of $40,000 upon graduation. Once they've completed the course, notes Kiem, "students will be prepared for a CNE, as well as the Microsoft certification in Windows NT." Two other tracks prepare students for jobs as help-desk workers or computer repair technicians. Kiem calls help-desk work "a very hot area," with starting salaries around $30,000 per year. Help-desk and computer repair students are "a little bit younger" than those in other programs, he notes, because these fields offer "great entry-level jobs." Customer service is important in help-desk work, Kiem stresses. Workers must know how to diffuse stress and deal with irate callers. Emil Kobylecki, executive director for the Colorado Springs, Col., Help Desk Institute (HDI), believes that help-desk work is "an excellent way" to obtain an entry-level high-tech job. According to an HDI study, the average 1997 salary for a call screening and dispatch operator, the lowest-level worker in help-desk operations, was $25,870 (with 2 1/2 years of experience). Senior help-desk managers with seven years of experience averaged almost $80,000 in 1997, the study found. So, start practicing the words "Insert CD-ROM label-side up" now! "There are many people with [college degrees] who come into help-desk work to get a foot in the door," Kobylecki says. Teachers, tech writers, librarians, and nurses have jump-started their high-tech careers by learning help-desk skills. "It offers a good career path," Kobylecki observes. "Most people only work [in a help-desk position] for a few years, and then move up." HDI, the largest help-desk worker's association, hosts 59 chapters in the United States and Canada.
Kobylecki points out that the most successful help-desk workers are, "intelligent, inquisitive people, with strong interpersonal and communications skills." He recommends that those applying for a help-desk job have an associate's degree that includes some computer classes because an HDI study found that the majority of help-desk service requests result from new technology upgrades, conversions, and installations.
Entry-level salaries for such workers range between $18,000 and $23,000 annually, says Esther Kraft, CompTIA's special projects manager. She characterizes the A+ certificate as a good credential for people who need to make a quick career change or can't afford a four-year college degree. In addition, many use A+ certification as a stepping stone to other certificate programs, such as the CNA or CNE, Kraft observes.
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
||
 |
||
