Career training

How to ensure your local Search Engine Marketing campaign is working for your business

Posted on October 16, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog
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For local businesses, having a strong presence in local search results is fundamental to those all-important conversions

Just to be clear, a “local business” refers to any business that has either a physical location that offers face-to-face contact with the customer, such as a showroom or shop, or one that offers a face-to-face service within a certain area.

When it comes to local search, it’s simple: if searchers can’t find you on the web, then frankly, you are web invisible. It’s the way of the modern world.

It’s all very well dominating the SERPs for your more general target keywords, but if you fail to rank highly for location-specific terms then you are missing a great opportunity.

When users are searching for a local term, they are far more likely to be looking for a service or product. Hence why the conversions on local search tend to be higher, and why you need to ensure that your local search engine marketing is on target for your business.

Of course all the usual SEO 101 knowledge applies. Offer an unrivaled user experience, nail your on-site optimization, provide exceptional content and build quality links.

Those fundamentals will set you up for ranking well for local search terms, but there are extra steps you must take to differentiate yourself from the competition and really bolster your local SEM strategy.

Local business listings

The first place to start is with local business listings. Ensure that your business is included in all the major directories (Yell, which is the UK’s local directory, Yelp, Thomson Local, etc.), as well as any industry specific ones. Some listings may already exist, and it may just be a case of claiming your business so that you can take ownership of the listing.

We recommend keeping track of all your business listings in one comprehensive spreadsheet to save you repeating or forgetting any entries. It also enables you to be consistent (more on this in the next point) in your information across all listings.

Remove all duplicated entries, as multiple listings for one business or location can become confusing, both to potential customers but also to Google. And we certainly don’t want to be confusing the Big G.

Be thorough but don’t be reckless. Avoid spammy directories as these could have a detrimental effect on your SEO. Deploy a spot of common sense to identify the spammy directories but if you are really unsure then it’s worth checking the spam score via Moz’s Open Site Explorer or via other similar tools.

Google My Business

So this technically falls under business listings, but it’s so important we’ve given Google My Business its own subheading. Arguably the most important business listing because, well, it’s Google. Remember to implement the following:
◾Claim your business via a verification process
◾Include accurate information: contact details, location and opening hours
◾Carefully select a small number of highly relevant categories to represent your business
◾Ensure up-to-date branding, such as in any images of logos or premises
◾Use high quality images to represent the business

Be comprehensive and accurate in the information you provide in order to strengthen your Google My Business profile and improve your chances of being featured in Google’s three-pack.

For further information, have a read of Google’s guidelines on representing your business. Don’t forget to also cover off the equivalent for Bing and Yahoo with Bing Places and Yahoo! Local.

NAP consistency

NAP consistency sounds a like a fancy term but the concept is very simple. NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number, although it is sometimes expanded to NAP+W to include website address too. As mentioned above, it is crucial that your business information appears consistently across the web.

This is particularly important to consider if your business has changed address, contact details or even rebranded. Any mentions of your business will need to be checked and updated to ensure accuracy.

Simply google your business name (do the same with your previous business name if you have undergone a name change) and work your way through the listings. Maintain a spreadsheet of your progress so you can keep track.

Reviews

Reviews can bring both utter joy and absolute misery to any business owner. Unfortunately you cannot simply ignore them, as reviews are indeed used as ranking signals in the eyes of the search engine. This is especially true for your Google My Business reviews.

Not only are reviews important in terms of local rankings, they are also key in terms of click-through rates. According to a recent study by BrightLocal, 74 per cent of consumers say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.

Apart from providing the most incredible customer service you can muster, how else can you seize some control over your reviews? No, this isn’t about getting your mum, brother and great-nan to write a review for your business. It’s about a bit of gentle encouragement and managing a bad customer experience before it reaches the review stage.

It is also important to check the rules and regulations of each review platform, as they all have very different policies on asking customers for reviews and responding to them.

We’ve had several students who have received a negative one-off, anonymous review for their business or website that is either quite clearly spam, or in some cases, a bitter competitor or personal enemy. These situations can get a bit sticky, but sadly there isn’t an awful lot you can do.

Generally people won’t be deterred by one bad review, and the best course of action is to encourage other happy customers to get reviewing. This will push the bad review down and push the average star rating back up.

Many review platforms allow you to reply to reviews. This can be a good opportunity to set the record straight but you have to be careful about it. For this reason, sometimes it is best to get someone who is not as emotionally invested in the business to either write the response or edit it before it gets published. Be professional, remain calm, and kill them with kindness.

Location pages

If you don’t already have location pages on your website, then you could be missing a valuable opportunity to target all the relevant locations. For each key location that your business operates within, create a page dedicated to that location on your website. This is easier if you have a unique physical address in each location, as it is important to include as much location-specific information as possible.

Where there is a physical location, be sure to include an interactive map and images to further enhance the page. If you do not have separate physical addresses, try including testimonials and case studies relevant to each location.

This will help you to avoid duplicating content across your location pages; it’s a fine art to differentiate the copy, but do it right and it can have seriously good effects on your local SEM strategy.

Schema markup

Once you have your location pages set up, the cherry on the cake is schema markup. The whole concept of structured data can sound very daunting to markup newbies, but it’s easier than it sounds. Schema markup simply helps search engines to understand what your website is about.

This is particularly important for local information, as it will help those spiders crawl your location pages and you’ll benefit as a result.

According to a study by Searchmetrics, pages with schema markup rank an average of four positions higher in search results. Now that’s a pretty good incentive. Get your head around schema markup and you’ll have that crucial advantage over your competitors in the local search results.

Ensuring your local search marketing strategy is up to speed shouldn’t be difficult or convoluted. Follow the above steps and obey the usual SEO rules. With some hard work and perseverance, you’ll start dominating those coveted top spots and see your conversions skyrocket in no time.

ABCO Technology teaches a comprehensive program for web design, which includes search engine marketing and social media strategy. Call our campus to receive information about this program or other classes. Call us between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday at: (310) 216-3067.

Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu

Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for funding.

 

ABCO Technology is located at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.
Build highly successful websites today!

Four Top tips for guest blogging

Posted on October 14, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog
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Many people still rely on guest blogging as an ongoing part of their link-building strategy.

If you analyze this for a moment, getting links through guest blogging is much easier than getting links through some other channel.

So it’s no wonder that a lot of bloggers and SEO experts still favor this method. The main question is, are these guest post links still safe and viable?

The answer is yes.

It is very possible to build our link portfolio by contributing on authoritative websites. However, there are certain rules that we need to follow in order to avoid any issues with Google.

Guest blogging 101

One of the beautiful things about guest blogging is that it gives us the opportunity to score some great links from high-tier websites.

To be honest, we probably couldn’t have gotten those links with any other method. This is why guest blogging is always worth bearing in mind as a link-building strategy.

But, we need to be very careful when choosing the websites we guest post for.

Although guest blogging can be carried out on a large scale, you should probably avoid it. This method is optimal in small dosages while cooperating with the biggest domains.

Google trusts authoritative domains. If they notice that your links are coming only from reputable sources, they will not impose a penalty. However…

1) Be Careful not to overdo it!

The biggest problem with guest blogging is that people tend to overdo it.

Your articles should be coming from various sources, with different anchors. If your only source of inbound links is from guest articles, Google will notice this pattern and you will soon get into trouble.

Instead, you should choose your battles carefully. You need to diversify your link profile.

If you already decide to do some guest posting, make sure it counts. Otherwise you’ll waste all that time you spent building up relationships and writing your posts – with only a Google penalty to show for it.

2) Focus on quality

This is where most people go wrong.

Google assesses the articles from which you are getting links. If the article is of high quality, your link will also be regarded as a quality one.

This makes sense, right? After all, why would anyone bother creating a great piece only to place crappy links throughout?

So when you put together a guest post, make sure it’s a good one.

After creating their own article, people try to promote it by writing guest posts. These guest posts will usually be of much lower quality and they will have the same regurgitated content which you published on your own blog.

By doing this, not only are you getting a devalued link, but you are also endangering your original piece. Google will flag up the regurgitated versions of your article as possible duplicate content. And because there are any number of similar, low-quality pieces out there online, it may conclude that your article is low-quality as well.

Everything you create has to be unique and to provide value to the reader. When you write a guest post, ask yourself: would I link to this piece?

If the answer is yes, you are in the clear.

3) Add images, links and formatting

As I mentioned, each guest post you make needs to be distinctive. Even if you are employing this strategy on a larger scale, at least make sure that everything you create is a separate entity.

One of the best ways to differentiate articles is by using varied formatting.

Blogs always have use different fonts and that is something you have no control over. But you have the ability to break up paragraphs and add things like bullet points, subheadings, block quotes and more. These increase the readability of your piece, and also make it easier for search engines to crawl it and interpret the content.

Another way to improve the look and layout of your text is to add images and other media.

Do not be shy and don’t wait for the website editor to insert them for you. Instead, be proactive and use your own images. Add a couple of them if necessary. If they make sense and the text looks better because of it, the editor will be more inclined to ask you for additional guest posts.

You can even go the extra mile and write titles and alt text to optimize the images for SEO – the editor will thank you, as it will save them the effort, and it will improve the overall SEO value of your piece.

Lastly, we come to links.

Now, editors usually allow one link in your bio, or one link within the article. Most of them do not like it when an author writes a piece with numerous links pointing to different websites.

However, if the editor allows it, make sure to add some highly relevant links that will make the article even more authoritative.

4) Vary your anchor text

You are trying to rank for a certain keyword. In an attempt to rank, you try to spam the same anchor text over and over.

This strategy is pretty much obsolete. Instead, just as with everything else that we’ve mentioned so far, make sure to diversify things.

Anchor text should vary.

When people place links with purely editorial value, without trying to cynically rank for a specific keyword, they will rarely link with the exact same phrase every time. This is highly unnatural behavior and can get you in trouble.

Instead, make sure to use different phrases. Place links in different sentences, with different anchors. Focus on writing naturally and place your link accordingly.

Conclusion

Guest blogging is NOT dead. As far as we know, there is no Google system or algorithm that will penalize the creation of such articles.

Nevertheless, it is better to be conservative. Like always, it comes down to whether your link profile looks natural. There should be no indication that you are purposely trying to push a keyword (even if you are).

People usually think about guest blogging in terms of links. However, you should observe it from a different perspective. By using this strategy, not only should you get links, you should also get some good exposure.

Your articles should promote your skills as well as your blog.

By placing emphasis on this, you will be able to accomplish much more with guest posts and as a result, links will start coming from various sources without you forcing them.

ABCO Technology teaches a comprehensive course for web development, guest blogging and search engine marketing. Call our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach us at: (310) 216-3067.
Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu

 

Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for the federal funding.
ABCO Technology is located at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304
Start building successful websites today!

Cyber security, what CMOs need to know

Posted on October 11, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog
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What do CMOs need to know about cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is a fundamental consideration for all organizations operating in today’s connected and data-driven world. While all who work across your business – from the IT department, to the PR team and beyond – need to understand the fundamentals of cybersecurity, CMOs have a special responsibility as leaders to ensure they are mitigating risk and are prepared in the event of a possible breach. Here are five things CMOs need to know.

1. Vulnerabilities

In business, CMOs are perhaps some of the best placed when it comes to understanding the global reach of an organization. This is of particular importance when it comes to cybersecurity, as the growing popularity of globally-connected technologies – such as cloud storage and mobile sharing – bring with them increased points of potential vulnerability.

This is a key concern for the CMO, as they are custodians of potentially massive amounts of customer data. Recent security breaches at companies like Yahoo, Deloitte and Equifax have massively damaging implications – both in terms of revenue and brand trust.

CMOs need to be aware of the proliferation of connected technologies across the organization in order to fully understand where possible breaches might happen.

2. Threats

Understanding potential vulnerabilities is one step; acknowledging actual threats is another.

Businesses need to be prepared for increasingly sophisticated and globally organized attackers. Vulnerabilities can give hackers access to confidential business information, as well as lead to theft of personal information of staff and customers.

It is the last threat which is perhaps the most important to be prepared for. The breakdown of trust between organization and customer is the most damaging to business and brand image going forward.

CMOs also need to acknowledge theft of information in the digital realm is not the only threat. Connected IoT devices can also allow hackers to potentially gain access in the physical space such as buildings and vehicles.

3. Prevention

CMOs need to be clear as to how such cybersecurity breaches can be prevented.

They need to collaborate with those across other business departments in ensuring there are clear organization-wide guidelines for security best practice – including keeping apps and software up-to-date, changing passwords regularly and educating team members about phishing scams.

It is essential that CMOs champion these activities within their team, and ensure policies, training and enforcement are up-to-date. Working closely with the local governments is a good way to standardize practices to match those in the wider business community – and to ensure compliance.

For businesses with European connections, GDPR provides a good opportunity to review data best practices.

4. Action

A keen understanding of the above and the most stringent prevention techniques will never make an organization completely immune from cybersecurity breaches.

CMOs can use data and speculation tools to plan action in post-breach scenarios. Again, preparedness for action is key – and collaboration between CMOs and all other business teams are the best way to ensure the correct action takes place if cybersecurity is undermined.

5. Communication

All staff need to understand the importance of cybersecurity – but CMOs can help ensure that knowledge is shared. Collaborations tools help streamline this process by providing channels for any team to communicate.

If a cybersecurity breach has already happened, synergy among C-suite, security, IT and public relations teams is critical. CMOs must have answers to the questions like: What are your best practice communications strategies with customers? Is information about the breach easy to find for worried consumers?

In the event of a cybersecurity breach, businesses need to be clear in their external communications – clarifying exactly what data was exposed and making users aware of worst-case scenarios.

Takeaways

When it comes to cybersecurity, no organization can be 100% protected from breaches. All staff members need to clear on the above five areas, and CMOs have a unique position in being able to lead planning and education within the business to ensure all teams can work quickly and efficiently if the worst happens.

It is the responsibility of the CMO to ensure customers are protected and that they are first to know should such a breach occur. Collaboration and communication is key during such situations – to ensure trust is maintained, information is accessible and order is restored as soon as possible.

 

ABCO Technology teaches a comprehensive program for cyber security. Call our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday at: (310) 216-3067.
Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for funding.
ABCO Technology is located at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.
Get trained and certified for cyber security today!

Why should you become an Oracle Certified Associate

Posted on October 6, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog, News
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As an Oracle Certified Associate, you will cultivate industry-supported skills and credentials that you will be able to transfer to future employment opportunities. With your OCA certification, you will be able to demonstrate and promote the fact that you have the necessary skills to do your job effectively and you are certified by Oracle Corporation the world’s leader in Database Management Systems.

What are the Prerequisites & for OCA

Prior to enrolling for OCA courses the applicants have to know how to use the Microsoft Windows operating system. General knowledge of computer programming and databases will be helpful but not necessarily required.

OCA® Topic Requirements:

SQL Fundamentals I

Program with PL/SQL

SQL Fundamentals I
Oracle routinely publishes new versions of exams, and the passing score across versions may differ.

Oracle Developer/Administrator Certified Associate (OCA)

SQL Fundamental I
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of SQL using Oracle Database 12C database technology, which revolves around the cloud. In this course students learn the concepts of relational databases and the powerful SQL programming language. This course provides the essential SQL skills that allow developers to write queries against single and multiple tables, manipulate data in tables, and create database objects.

The students also learn to use single row functions to customize output, use conversion functions and conditional expressions and use group functions to report aggregated data. Demonstrations and hands-on practice reinforce the fundamental concepts.

In this course, students use Oracle SQL Developer and SQL *Plus as the tool.

Course Objectives:

• Retrieve row and column data from tables with the SELECT statement

• Create reports of sorted and restricted data

• Employ SQL functions to generate and retrieve customized data

• Display data from multiple tables using the ANSI SQL 99 JOIN syntax

• Create reports of aggregated data

•Use the SET operators to create subsets of data

•Run data manipulation statements (DML) to update data in the Oracle Database 12C

•Run data definition language (DDL) statements to create and manage schema objects

• Identify the major structural components of the Oracle Database 12C

Course Topics:

Introduction
•Listing the features of Oracle Database 12C
•Discussing the basic design, theoretical and physical aspects of a relational database
•Describing the development environments for SQL
•Describing Oracle SQL Developer, Describing the data set used by the course

Retrieving Data Using the SQL SELECT Statement

• Listing the capabilities of SQL SELECT statements.

• Generating a report of data from the output of a basic SELECT statement

• Using arithmetic expressions and NULL values in the SELECT statement

• Using Column aliases

• Using concatenation operator, literal character strings, alternative quote operator, and the DISTINCT keyword

• Displaying the table structure using the DESCRIBE command

Restricting and Sorting Data
•Writing queries with a WHERE clause to limit the output retrieved Using the comparison operators and logical operators
•Describing the rules of precedence for comparison and logical operators
•Using character string literals in the WHERE clause
• Writing queries with an ORDER BY clause to sort the output
•Sorting output in descending and ascending order
•Using the Substitution Variables

Using Single-Row Functions to Customize Output
•Differentiating between single row and multiple row functions
•Manipulating strings using character functions
•Manipulating numbers with the ROUND, TRUNC and MOD functions
•Performing arithmetic with date data
•Manipulating dates with the date functions

Using Conversion Functions and Conditional Expressions
•Describing implicit and explicit data type conversion
•Using the TO_CHAR, TO_NUMBER, and TO_DATE conversion functions
•Nesting multiple functions
•Applying the NVL, NULLIF, and COALESCE functions to data
•Using conditional IF THEN ELSE logic in a SELECT statement

Reporting Aggregated Data Using the Group Functions
•Using the aggregation functions in SELECT statements to produce meaningful reports
•Using AVG, SUM, MIN, and MAX function
•Handling Null Values in a group function
•Creating queries that divide the data in groups by using the GROUP BY clause
•Creating queries that exclude groups of date by using the HAVING clause

Displaying Data from Multiple Tables
•Writing SELECT statements to access data from more than one table
•Joining Tables Using SQL:1999 Syntax
•Viewing data that does not meet a join condition by using outer joins
•Joining a table by using a self join
•Creating Cross Joins

Using Sub-queries to Solve Queries
•Using a Subquery to Solve a Problem
•Executing Single-Row Sub-queries
•Using Group Functions in a Sub-query
•Using Multiple-Row Subqueries
•Using the ANY and ALL Operator in Multiple-Row Sub-queries

Using the SET Operators
•Describing the SET operators
•Using a SET operator to combine multiple queries into a single query
•Using UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and MINUS Operator
•Using the ORDER BY Clause in Set Operations

Manipulating Data
•Adding New Rows to a Table Using the INSERT statement
•Changing Data in a Table Using the UPDATE Statement
•Using DELETE and TRUNCATE Statements
•Saving and discarding changes with the COMMIT and ROLLBACK statements
•Implementing Read Consistency
•Using the FOR UPDATE Clause

Using DDL Statements to Create and Manage Tables
•Categorizing Database Objects
•Creating Tables using the CREATE TABLE Statement Describing the data types
•Describing Constraints
•Creating a table using a subquery
•Altering and Dropping a table

Creating Other Schema Objects
•Creating, modifying, and retrieving data from a view
•Performing Data manipulation language (DML) operations on a view
•Dropping a view
•Creating, using, and modifying a sequence
•Creating and dropping indexes
•Creating and dropping synonyms

ABCO Technology offers a comprehensive program for OCA version 12C. Call our campus today between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach us at: (310) 216-3067.
Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for funding.

 

ABCO Technology is located at 11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.
Get certified for Oracle database OCA 12C today!

Equifax Cyber Security breach hearing October 3

Posted on October 5, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog
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Washington DC. The former CEO of Equifax, Richard Smith is testifying before congress today sitting on the hot seat. Members of the congress and senate from both parties are grilling Mr. Smith with respect to the Equifax cyber-attack.

Senator ELIZABETH Warren spent time forcing Mr. Smith to explain why the company hadn’t updated its security software. The senator also wanted to know why the company failed to act after suspicious activity was discovered in consumer sections of their site six months before the cyber breach occurred? Congress was extremely upset about the fact several officers of Equifax sold shares of their stock ahead of the public when facts about the Equifax cyber breach became known to officials of the company six weeks before that news was revealed.

The officers who sold stock in advance of the public release made a nice profit on their sale of securities.
It was just revealed that Richard Smith, Equifax’s former CEO delayed informing the company’s board of directors about the cyber-attack for at least three weeks after he learned of the cyber penetration. Several members of congress emphasize that both the technology and personnel exist to prevent such a cyberattack from occurring.

The technology and personnel exist in the field of cyber security. Intrusion prevention and detection devices are available and ready for installation. Many network professionals are not trained in the proper use of these devices. Cyber security is a field of information technology, which fixes this problem.

Courses including the CompTIA Security +, Cisco CCNA, Cisco Security, Certified Ethical hacker, Certified Information Systems Securities Professional, Linux Fundamentals and a thorough understanding of network servers will go a long way towards training network professionals in the use of cyber security protection devices. Job recruiters are on the lookout for network administrators who possess cyber security skills and certifications.
The work environment is focusing on security because of the events, which have occurred over the past five years.

ABCO Technology offers a powerful Cyber Security program, which will prepare you to compete successfully in the cyber security field. Call our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach us by phone at: (310) 216-3067.
Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for the federal funding.

 

Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
ABCO Technology is located at 11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE #588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304
Join a field of information technology professionals who are in demand today!

Computer Repair jobs, the Excellent Network entry-level position

Posted on October 4, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog
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We constantly receive this question from new students. They all want to know the best entry-level position in the information technology industry with respect to networking?

The answer or job is in the occupation of computer repair. Let’s look at this concept for a moment.

Computers always break down in some form. Most breakdowns are in the form of computer hardware, software or the operating system in general. Viruses, incompatible software or improper connections are usually the major problems most users will encounter. The key question is whose around to fix these things when stuff goes wrong? The answer is the person who knows how to repair computers and handle operating systems. This magic individual is usually certified as a computer repair technician by a vender neutral certifier known as CompTIA.
CompTIA has a certification known as the CompTIA A+, which will teach students how to repair computers, install printers, configure plus install operating systems, a bit of cyber security and how to configure small networks. The CompTIA A+ is the best certification for any individual who wants to enter the information technology field in the fields of networking or cyber security.

Organizations both large and small will hire a new employee and assign tasks of computer repair. Entering a company as a computer repair specialist often provides opportunities for promotion. Many of our students have been hired as computer repair or desktop support specialists. After several months on the job the new employee is promoted to a higher position within the company.

The average course for CompTIA A+ is usually completed in less than five weeks. Students completing the A+ course will be required to pass two CompTIA certification exams, which consists of hardware and operating systems. Once certified, the door is opened for many employment opportunities.

ABCO Technology offers a complete program for networking, cyber security and information technology. Call our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach our campus at: (310) 216-3067.

Email all questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for funding.

 

ABCO Technology is located at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.
Join the information technology field today!

Cyber Security Success Story

Posted on September 6, 2016 - Posted in: Blog, IT Career Training
Tagged: , , , ,
cyber security success
Sometimes the right certification can make the difference between unemployment and career success.

In April 2015, a woman with a master’s degree in computer science walked into ABCO Technology. She told me she’d been on the job market for nine months and sent out 750 resumes. But at that point, she’d received no solid job offers. How, then, was she going to turn her academic training into a cyber security success story?

Industry Certifications make a Big Difference

After a long discussion, we determined that she wanted to work in the field of network administration with cyber security. Like many students who had worked very hard to obtain an advanced degree, she was reluctant to place her trust in the certification process. She had trouble with the fact she spent all of that time and money attending school, only for a very disappointing outcome. It took a lot of documentation and a bit of hand holding, but she enrolled at ABCO and started in the networking and cyber security program.

The student began her courses, and within 11 months she completed a solid list of certifications, including

and finally the Certified Information Systems Securities Professional/CISSP.

Our student then applied to the US Department of Defense for a DOD 8140 cyber security clearance. Within 4 weeks she received the DOD 8140 cyber security clearance.

Candidate Finds Cyber Security Success in the US Military

Candidates who receive this clearance have their contact information placed on a special directory maintained by Sans Institute. Before long, an Air Force Recruiter in Las Vegas gave our student a call. The recruiter told her about an opportunity to work in Cyber Security at Creech Air Force base in Nevada. The job offer had several excellent benefits, and our student was excited to accept the offer.

As of August 2016, she is very happy in her new role as a cyber security professional. I don’t know the specifics of her job or the nature of the security work she is doing.  But I can tell you that this was one case where becoming certified in a list of information technology areas was a definite life-changing event.

ABCO Technology – Equipping Students with IT Skills since 2000

Since its founding in 2000, ABCO Technology has witnessed countless situations where students changed their lives by achieving certification in a field of information technology.

The manner whereby candidates receive jobs has completely changed over the past 15 years. It used to be that the 1980s and even into the mid-90s, employers were willing to train a college graduate from square one to work on their products. However, changing business conditions combined with the fact that the average person no longer remains on a particular job for their whole career has caused the training landscape to change dramatically. Today, employers want their candidates to have a set of predetermined skills and qualifications before applying for a particular job. This condition is particularly true for information technology. In summary, the certified candidate gets the job.

Acquire the necessary skills and get certified for that great information technology job you’ve always dreamed about.

If you would like in a solid career in information technology, pick up your cell phone and call ABCO Technology. You can reach our campus from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday. Alternately, you can email us at: info@abcotechnology.edu

Get certified and change your life today.

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