A group of students from Leyden High School District 212 visited CompTIA headquarters to learn about tech careers.
CompTIA hosted students from Leyden High School District 212 this week, giving them guided access to the association’s headquarters in Downers Grove, IL. The students met with Nancy Hammervik, CompTIA senior vice president of industry relations, and Cherie Pecoraro, senior specialist. They also had lunch with CompTIA President and CEO Todd Thibodeaux.
The students heard presentations from Seth Robinson, director of technology analysis and market research; Randy Gross, CIO; and Colleen Atwell, director of development and operations for the Creating IT Futures Foundation. They presented on the shape of technology, information services and careers in IT, respectively.
In his remarks, Gross zeroed in on what IT professionals actually do, using the association itself as an example. He explained that CompTIA has roughly 150 employees spread throughout the globe, which requires dedicated servers in multiple locations and a whole host of different tech options to support this staff. This becomes more challenging when one factors in cross-compatibility issues in supporting Microsoft- and Apple-based operating systems and less predictable variables like power outages.
Marcin Chmielewski and Seth Moser are both juniors at East Leyden High School in Franklin Park, IL, who attended the open house. The two said the presentations impressed upon them the ubiquitous, continually expanding nature of technology. “Tech is becoming more a part of our lives every day,” Chmielewski said.
Moser agreed. “There’s so much more technology now than there was in the past,” he said. “It just keeps growing.”
Chmielewski said he wants to work in a tech field because his uncle is a programmer and he enjoys taking apart computers to learn how they work.
Moser, meanwhile, just feels it’s the most practical course for him. “It’s where most of the job market is,” he said, adding that visiting CompTIA impressed upon him the value of a strong work ethic. “To get anywhere, you need to work for it,” he said. “You can’t think that it will come easy.”
