PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
IT trade association CompTIA has launched an IT careers hub to help boost the number of young people taking apprenticeships and jobs in IT.
Skillsboost has been developed to provide students, parents and teachers with a single hub of localised data on everything from IT apprenticeships to training courses, salaries, educational resources and employment statistics.
It will let users know which industry sectors have the biggest current skills gaps, helping schools and colleges to identify which skills can help their students improve their employment prospects.
Schools and colleges will also be able to use free quizzes to measure students’ computing skills against industry-developed criteria. The site will also allow school pupils to trial CertMaster, which uses e-learning technology to automatically adapt complex subjects to each student’s individual ability level, confidence and memory capacity.
The site is soon to feature an online apprenticeships section that will link to thousands of new apprenticeship opportunities with ‘leading’ IT companies across the UK.
The news comes following CompTIA’s recent global survey of the technology workforce, which found that 43 per cent of UK businesses are experiencing a severe IT skills shortage, which CompTIA says is harming productivity and innovation.
Graham Hunter, VP Skills Certifications at CompTIA, said: “We created Skillsboost to give aspiring young IT professionals a chance to learn about the huge variety of vocational paths into an IT career and help school and college leavers work out how to best increase and prove their skills to find jobs in the industry.”
CompTIA already provides e-learning technology and industry certifications to UK schools and colleges, plus it has contributed content to the Cyber Security Challenge UK Schools Pack. This is the first cyber security lesson plan for secondary schools, which reached over 800 schools.
