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Welcome! The Toolkit activities help you navigate and investigate careers. Plan your path to a digital career.

Plan Your Path

1
Get Oriented to Digital Careers
2
Understand the Business
3
Navigate Training Pathways
4
How Certifications Fit In
5
Weigh Your ROI
6
Make a Plan

Not every digitally-enabled job requires a certification.  And certifications don’t substitute for a range of skills you need in the workplace. But certifications are an attestation of skill, achievement and knowledge that demonstrates proficiency to a potential employer.

There is an ecosystem of industry- recognized certifications that provide pathways to digital jobs.  Think of industry certifications like other credentials, for example a driver's license, or a license to teach or practice medicine..

Essential things to ask about industry-recognized certifications:

  • Who is awarding the certificate?  Is it a recognized provider?
    Certificates may be awarded by an industry association, such as the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) or the Project Management Institute (PMI)  OR by a corporate employer such as AWS, IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Google
  • How do you demonstrate your skills?
    Certifications may be exam based or competency based.  Exam based certifications are multiple choice and scenario based timed tests.  Competency based certifications require the learner to work through an online course and complete exercises.
  • How much does it cost?
    Most certifications require you to pay a fee,  whether you pass or not.  Some certifications can cost hundreds of dollars.  Training boot camps often include the cost of certification.

Certifications are useful to:

  • Open the Door - a certificate on a resume indicates to a potential employer the level of knowledge and skill that is an expectation for the role
  • Climb the Ladder - industry certifications are stackable, and there are paths to follow within a field or to hop across fields.  For example, this set of certifications within the Project Management field shows that there is a clear beginner level and advanced level of certifications.  In the field of IT there is an established roadmap of certifications within and across the fields of IT Support, Cybersecurity & Cloud Technologies.
  • Build a Career - earning certifications are typically tied to increased responsibilities and increased salaries.  Certifications also translate to transferable credits at a college or university.  For example, the Google certs - IT Support, UX Design, Data Analyst - are awarded 12 credits at most colleges, equivalent to a semester.
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Certifications that are door openers for the careers in this Toolkit
Cybersecurity
CompTIA CySA+
CompTIA PenTest+
Cisco Cyber Ops
Project Management
Google Project Management
CompTIA Project +
Project Management Professional (PMP)
Data Analytics
Google Data Analyst
Tableau Data Analyst
Microsoft Data Analyst
UX Design
Google UX Design
Adobe Certified Expert (ACE)
ETL Developer
SQL - Microsoft, Oracle, etc.
Talend
Cloud Practitioner
AWS Cloud Essentials
Google Cloud Training
To learn more about certifications:

Watch the first 5 minutes of this video about AWS certifications