* The IT apprentice
CompTIA is bringing the age-old tradition of apprenticeships to the IT world. Under a program being rolled out called the National IT Apprenticeship System, students are assigned a skills validation consultant or mentor for hands-on learning of different aspects of IT, as well as receive classroom training by training institutes. The program is a partnership between the U.S. Department of Labor and CompTIA.
CompTIA has divided IT roles into several tracks, including security, networking and Web design. The program has been in beta test for the past 18 months and so far, three tracks have been finalized: security, IT generalist and project management. The organization is currently developing the networking, applications, help desk and Web design tracks. CompTIA executives expect to have “a robust selection of tracks to give to the market,” by June or July.
Neill Hopkins, CompTIA vice president of skills development says the difference between NITAS and regular classroom-only training is that students get to implement their skills in a true work environment as part of their training process. Each track contains specific skills competencies and mentors are required to validate that their students have applied that competency in a work situation before the apprentice can go back to the classroom to learn the next competency.
Students can monitor their progress at the NITAS Web site, where they can also look for prospective employers and mentors. Students can become apprentices in a number of ways. Employers could sponsor an employee to become an apprentice and assign them to a coworker who has been validated by CompTIA as a mentor. Students could attend classroom training at participating commercial training organizations or community colleges. Unemployed students could seek potential mentors/employers through participating community colleges, explains Hopkins.
The program also credits past training and certifications, which could speed the apprenticeship process. For instance, it would take a newbie 140-hours of classroom training and 2,000-hours of on-the-job training to become an IT generalist. But for holders of certifications such as CompTIA’s A+, it could take them 3 weeks to finish a track, Hopkins explains.
At the moment, the program counts 100 sponsoring employers, 450 apprentices and 48 individual and training institute consultants.
Check out the NITAS Web site for more information: http://www.nitas.us
For details about how to become an apprentice, click here: https://www.nitas.cc/web/apprentice.html
For details about how to become a mentor, click here: https://www.nitas.cc/web/consultant.html
This is an interesting program that’s sure to grow as more and more people hear about it and begin to participate. If you’re already an apprentice or a mentor, and have a story to share, please let me know.
