CompTIA academic partners are given the opportunity to work alongside CompTIA and receive the resources and tools they need to prepare individuals for a vibrant career in tech. With the help of CompTIA, academic partners effectively recruit, train, certify and upskill IT students. The more information academic partners have about what IT occupations are trending in their region, the better they will be at growing the tech workforce.
CompTIA academic partners in the UK can use insights from the CompTIA State of the Tech Workforce UK 2023 to create a relevant IT curriculum that includes certifications that align with the top tech occupations in the UK.
The Top Tech Occupations in the UK
Academic institutions in the UK that have partnered with CompTIA to grow the tech workforce have a big job on their hands. Knowing the top tech occupations in the UK is the first step to creating a more impactful IT curriculum as these occupations can inform partners’ decisions about what CompTIA certifications their students need most at this time.
According to the CompTIA State of the Tech Workforce UK 2023, the top tech occupations in the UK currently include:
- Information technology and telecommunications directors
- IT specialist managers
- IT project and program managers
- IT business analysts, architects and systems designers
- Programmers and software development professionals
- Web design and development professionals
- Information technology and telecommunications professionals
- IT operations technicians
- IT user support technicians
- Telecommunications engineers
- IT engineers
Several CompTIA certifications cover skills needed for these occupations. By offering these certifications, CompTIA academic partners can prepare students in the UK for success in securing and thriving in in-demand job roles in tech.
1. CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+)
To get started in IT, individuals need essential knowledge and skills related to information technology. CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+) provides this, plus everything students need to determine if they want to pursue a career in IT.
This certification covers topics such as:
- IT concepts and terminology
- Software development
- Infrastructure
- Database fundamentals
- Applications and software
- Security
Because of the skills it covers, CompTIA ITF+ is a helpful certification for programmers and software development professionals as well as web design and development professionals.
These IT professionals, such as software developers, often are responsible to create and modify computer application software, analyze user needs and design computer software. Sometimes, they must analyze and design databases. They need skills related to troubleshooting, software engineering, software development and programming languages.
It’s vital that both programmers and software development professionals as well as web design and development professionals possess the skills covered by CompTIA ITF+. CompTIA ITF+ would add weight to any IT professional’s resume, but it’s especially important to those who want to get their foot in the door to these occupations.
2. CompTIA Security+
Another essential certification that programmers, software development professionals and web design and development professionals need is CompTIA Security+. These IT workers must be able to carry out software and web development tasks in as secure a manner as possible. CompTIA Security+ provides the skills they need to do this, which are related to:
- General security concepts
- Security operations
- Threats, vulnerabilities and mitigations
- Security program management and oversight
- Security architecture
Other occupations that call for the skills covered by CompTIA Security+ include IT specialist managers and IT engineers of various kinds.
IT specialists assist both external customers as well as internal employees. They are responsible for installing computer hardware and peripheral components, loading software packages, installing software and updating drivers, setting up and troubleshooting software and maintaining the performance of computer systems.
IT specialist managers must be able to do all the tasks IT specialists do plus have supervisory skills. That’s where CompTIA Security+ comes in. It gives these IT professionals the expertise they need to move into a higher-level position, from IT specialist to IT specialist manager.
There is no IT position that doesn’t require some level of data security skills, and more job roles use CompTIA Security+ for baseline cybersecurity skills than any other certification. In a perfect world, every IT worker would have CompTIA Security+.
3. CompTIA Network+
Another valuable certification for IT specialist managers is CompTIA Network+. Like CompTIA Security+, it gives these IT professionals advanced IT skills that help qualify them for a managerial role.
CompTIA Network+ is the industry standard for forging an IT career and is the preferred credential that qualifies IT professionals for technical support and IT operational roles. With CompTIA Network+, technicians can support networks on any platform. This certification covers:
- Networking fundamentals
- Network security
- Network implementations
- Network troubleshooting
- Network operations
A number of occupations on the top tech occupations list call for these skills, including:
- Information technology and telecommunications directors
- IT systems designers
- Information technology and telecommunications professionals
- Telecommunications engineers
- IT engineers
Those who work in telecommunications, IT engineering and IT systems design must have robust knowledge of networking. For example, a network engineer is responsible for creating, deploying, managing and troubleshooting networks, as well as analyzing network traffic and predicting growth. They must also understand cybersecurity. CompTIA Network+ confers all these skills.
The in-depth networking skills covered by this certification can help prepare CompTIA academic partners’ IT students for some of the top telecommunications and networking tech occupations in the UK.
4. CompTIA A+
There is virtually no IT professional who cannot benefit from earning CompTIA A+. This certification is especially helpful to those in user support technician jobs or other technical support specialist positions, as well as IT specialist manager roles.
IT user support technicians and IT specialist managers require skills related to device, network and software troubleshooting and must be able to identify, use and connect hardware devices and components. CompTIA A+ teaches these skills, as well as competencies related to:
- Networking
- Operating systems
- Security
- Operational procedures
- Mobile devices
- Virtualization and cloud computing
Because IT specialist and IT specialist manager positions share some overlap with user support technician roles, they require similar skills. IT specialist is an early-career role, but a manager will need more experience. IT operations technicians would also benefit from earning CompTIA A+ as they must provide desktop support in their job role.
CompTIA A+ identifies the go-to person in end point management and technical support roles. Even if a prospective IT professional has no prior knowledge of tech, no certifications or IT-related degree, CompTIA A+ is enough to help them land their first tech role. Usually, this is a help desk role such as user support technician.
5. CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Project+ is a certification CompTIA academic partners in the UK can offer students to prepare them for trending project-management-related occupations. It is the only certification designed to confer the entry-level skills IT professionals need to manage small-to-medium-sized projects.
CompTIA Project+ is a certification that doesn’t need renewing.
It covers topics like:
- Agile methodologies
- Change management
- Compliance
- Project basics
- Communication
- Project constraints
- Project tools and documentation
Information technology and telecommunications directors can benefit from understanding project management and earning CompTIA Project+, as can IT project and program managers.
IT project managers are responsible for creating timelines for group projects, creating budgets, coordinating project phases and schedules, choosing project team members and delegating assignments. They must also track project progress, organize project plans and prepare reports. CompTIA Project+ imparts many of the skills they need to perform their job role with confidence.
CompTIA Project+ would also benefit IT business analysts. IT business analysts are experts at helping organizations note problems, find solutions and bring about positive change. Project planning is a key aspect of their role, as is communicating with clients and management, mastering self-management and implementing persuasion skills when explaining prospective solutions.
CompTIA Project+ proves to employers that these and other IT professionals have the capability to plan, execute and document business solutions.
6. CompTIA Data+
An additional relevant certification CompTIA academic partners in the UK should include in their IT curriculum is CompTIA Data+. Like CompTIA Project+, this designation would serve IT business analysts well as these IT professionals working with data to help organizations make better, more profitable business decisions.
CompTIA Data+ is the prime certification for any IT worker or student currently in or hoping to land a job that requires developing and promoting data-driven business decision-making. This early-career data analytics certification makes IT professionals more data literate, which automatically renders them more employable for occupations like IT business analyst.
This certification covers skills related to:
- Data concepts and environments
- Visualization
- Data mining
- Data governance, quality and controls
- Data analysis
With CompTIA Data+, IT workers will avoid producing confusing results and ineffective data-driven solutions. They will prove themselves to be valuable, upwardly mobile IT team members.
Are you a current CompTIA academic partner interested in helping to grow the UK tech workforce through highly effective, relevant training and certification? If so, consider adding the aforementioned CompTIA certifications to your IT curriculum.
If you are interested in becoming a CompTIA academic partner, learn more here.
