1. What’s the Value of
Certification?

2. Certification
Certification is a third-party validation of skills-based knowledge.
Microsoft recognizes this individual as having a specialist-level of skill in a given
Microsoft Office application. MOS certifications are global and industry-recognized.
Microsoft Office Specialist certifications do not expire, but only apply to the suite in
which the exam was taken. (e.g. Microsoft Office 2010)

3. • Achieve industry-recognized certification
• Learn the computing and productivity skills companies are
looking for
• Boost your workforce resume, and build a college transcript
• Gain valuable experience and confidence
• Enhance your higher education prospects
• Prepare yourself for a successful future
Certification gives you tools to build a
brighter future
Why Become Certified?
Teachers also earn Microsoft
certifications as part of their
Professional Development!

4. “…. The purpose of any professional
certification is to provide official and public
recognition of an individual's competencies
and capabilities in a professional subject
area….”
“….Certification programs ensure technical
competence through a tangible measurement
of skills and knowledge. Certification exams go
beyond training by providing an objective
measurement of a professional’s knowledge
and skills. Certification programs establish
standards in developing a qualified
workforce….”
Sources: Global Certification Institute IT Certification Council

5. Does Microsoft Certification Make a Difference?

6. Beyond Office Administration

7. The Key to a Good Paying Job Could be Excel
• “Want a job that promises a living wage and a good shot at a middle-class life? Learn
Microsoft Excel and other basic digital skills.”*
• Some 78% of these jobs, or about 6.3 million open positions, call for some fluency with technology.*
• The most promising in terms of pay and job creation, including occupations in healthcare, technology, and
operations.
• The most commonly required skills are spreadsheet and word-processing software such as Microsoft Word and
Excel.
• Excel expertise has become critical for office and administrative positions, retail supervisors, and store managers,
among other jobs.**
• Sixty-seven percent of middle-skill jobs demand proficiency with these tools.
• “Effectively, entire segments of the U.S. economy are off-limits to people who don’t have basic digital skills,” the
report notes.
• Positions that require basic digital skills tend to pay 13% more than jobs that require no digital skills: median pay
of $22.66 per hour versus $20.14 per hour. *Burning Glass
**Plant Money

8. Where the Jobs Will Be in 2020
• 1. Computer Occupations: 859,833
• 2. Health Diagnosing and Treating Practitioners: 443,611
• 3. Other Management Occupations: 196,199
• 4. Financial Specialists: 184,312
• 5. Business Operations Specialists: 183,574
• 6. Sales Representatives, Services: 178,859
• 7. Engineers: 177,581
• 8. Information and Record Clerks: 177,194
• 9. Advertising, Marketing, Promotions, Public Relations, and Sales Managers: 168,646
• 10. Supervisors of Sales Workers: 164,610
• All but two (information and record clerks, and supervisors of sales workers) require high levels of education. Further,
high percentages of existing workers in these occupations had undergraduate or graduate college degrees.
• http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/jobs-in-2020

9. What will Jobs Need in 2020
• “Fast forward to 2020. What job skill must you have? Coding.”
• http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/jobs-in-2020
• “The European Commission has predicted a shortfall of 900,000 adequately skilled programmers and other technology
professionals in Europe by 2020.”
• http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32743770
• “The key to the future is the ability to ‘mix technical knowledge with solving real world problems.’”
• Https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2014/04/average-is-over/
• “A glimpse into your average school[s]…all over the country have been embracing ‘coding’ as a part of their school curriculum for
a while now and things are only just getting started.”
• http://blog.codefuture.org/coding-matters/
• "What Minecraft managed to crack was just make it so simple and standing out of the way, with a simple world and a simple
story, and putting people into it to discover new things," Klein says. "People have made computers in Minecraft, working
calculators.... It's a beautiful thing."
• http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/is-computer-coding-the-legos-of-the-future/425901/

10. Leaders agree on one thing

11. Microsoft Technology Professional
• Microsoft (MCSE, MCITP, MCTS)
• Among Microsoft's most popular certifications are Microsoft Certified
Systems Engineer (MCSE), Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist
(MCTS), and the relatively entry-level Microsoft Certified IT
Professional (MCITP).

12. Microsoft Technology Professional
• The requirements for MCSE certification are one to two years of experience
in designing, installing, configuring, and troubleshooting network systems,
and a passing mark on an $875 test. Median pay for an IT manager with
MCSE certification is $77,000, according to PayScale.com.
• MCITP requires two years as an IT pro, and passing marks on one to five
exams, priced at $125 each. There are 12 MCITP tracks, and pay for an IT
specialist or consultant ranges from $47,000 to $70,000.
• MCTS accreditation requires two years of background in troubleshooting
specific technology.

13. Microsoft Technology Associate

14. Microsoft Technology Associate

15. Microsoft Skills Makes a Difference
• It is not enough merely to understand which occupations will be high
growth and high salary; today's educators must impart the skills that will
be required for those jobs, too. To determine those skills, IDC examined
14.6 million job postings between April and September 2013 from 25,000
job boards and staffing companies' corporate Web sites.
• The only software package called out within the top 20 skills across all
occupations was Microsoft Office, ranking #3 in top skills.
Source: IDC, based on WANTED Analytics and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, October 2013

16. Certification = Employability for Students
91%of hiring
managers consider
employee
certification as a
criterion for hiring1
Sources
1 MCP Program Satisfaction Study 2010
2 Intrepid Survey
3 Certiport Research 2009
79%of hiring managers feel
that certified individuals are more
efficient 1
89%of supervisors say
that Microsoft Office certified
employees are more
proficient users of Microsoft
Office programs 3
81% of hiring managers
feel that certified individuals
perform better 1
50%of individuals believe
obtaining a certification makes
them more marketable 2
“It’s truly a global marketplace,
especially in the IT world. If you don’t
have a certification that validates you
have the needed skills, you’re at a
significant disadvantage.”
Bill Doherty, @ONE Project,
College System of California