Recently released, the CompTIA study Employer Perception of IT Training and Certification reports employers are inclined to rely more heavily on professional certifications when hiring information technology (IT) workers, but are challenged by credential evaluation and validation issues.
Professional certifications are already viewed by hiring managers as a high-value validation of IT skills. The CompTIA study suggests certifications will grow in importance as organizations seek to fill tech jobs. Eight in ten human resources (HR) professionals surveyed believe IT certifications will grow in usefulness and importance over the next two years. But employers also expressed concerns about some aspects of using IT certifications in the hiring process. There is a perception among some hiring IT managers that the HR department does not have a solid understanding of IT certifications. Some firms also said verifying a job candidate’s credentials can be a challenge due to the time involved and effort required.
Experience, track record and accomplishments rank as the most important factors when evaluating job candidates, according to the study. But education and credentials such as certifications also rank high. For example, 86 percent of hiring managers indicate IT certifications are a high or medium priority during the candidate evaluation process.
The study suggests that certifications will become even more important as employers struggle to find individuals to fill job openings. Despite a virtual buyer’s market for hiring, roughly eight in ten HR executives in the United States said it’s challenging to find the right candidate with the right skill set to fill their openings. Many IT managers in the study share a similar view. Tim Herbert, vice president, research, CompTIA notes, “In an environment of needing to do more with less, organizations cannot afford the time and cost of bringing on a new employee who cannot contribute immediately.”
The CompTIA study Employer Perception of IT Training and Certification is the result of two separate online surveys: to 1,385 business and IT executives that made a recent IT hiring decision in the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa; and to 300 HR professionals in the U.S.
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