Continuing Education Part 3: Technical Training
In the next chapter of our series on continuing education, we focus on something for the techies out there
Well, folks, it is definitely a technical world we live in – even if you don’t work in tech, it can be helpful to have some understanding so when your help-desk guy or gal says “if you want to get access to mail from home, you need to install the SSL-VPN client and use a good password” - you don’t look like a deer in the headlights. Plus IT is generally a fairly safe field to be in during economic hardship – enterprises realize that the systems need to keep a-runnin – even more so in bad times
So away we go…
Robert Half is a recruiting firm geared towards techies– if you signup and go through an interview you can get access to over 8,000 online trianign cources, 9,000 e-books, exam prep for certifications and industry white papers.
The site offers access to a bunch of training videos – requires free registration. Includes Cisco, Microsoft, CompTIA and a host of others. Requires Windows MediaPlayer 9.0
The Computer Technology Documentation Project
Has web based text tutorials on everything from computer basics to operating system information to more advanced topics such as security and programming.
MIT makes another appearance in this category. They provide access to dozens of Computer science classes on line including tests and assignments – they range from introductory classes to graduate level classes such as Stochastic Processes, Detection, and Estimation (uhhm, what?)
MIT is only one of dozens of universities globally that are part of the. Virtually all of the universities have at least a few classes in computing or computer science classes at various levels.
MC MCSE
Offers Free Cisco, Microsoft, CompTIA, IBM, Redhat training resources. These are more geared towards getting certifications rather than general learning and knowledge. They have tutorials, practice tests and questions as well as discussion forums for others seeking said certifications.
If security is your gig, SANS provides tons of free resources – practical guidance, Best Practices and sample policies are some of the highlights here. They also have a Reading Room filled with hundred of papers written by experts and novices alike.
TechRepublic
In exchange for providing an email and some other information you get access to 10,000+ how-to's , 50,000+ white papers, 130,000+ technical Q&A and discussions on very diverse set of tech topics.
iTunes
As with the language blog a while back (LINK) the iTunes store has tons of resources, both video and audio podcasts that run the gamut from basic ( Learn from Mr. Excel and IT Idiots) to the advanced (SQLServerPedia) to the esoteric (Xactimate and ProCurve Networking – NPI sales training). If you can think of it, it is likely available as a podcast – search is your friend.
If you take a look around you will find more, much more, but these teasers should get you started.
Good luck and good learning!
Stay tuned for the next installment - Business Productivity Tools
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Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of ResumesDoneWrite, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.
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