CyberWatch West Invitation

CyberWatch West would like to invite all MPICT member institutions to join our center. 

CyberWatch West is a regional center for Cybersecurity education covering 14 states in the western US. We are heavily involved in many of the same initiatives as MPICT, including advocating for an ICT transfer model curriculum and continuing support for the ICT winter conference in CA.

Member benefits include travel sponsorships and training and there is no cost to join. For more information, please go to http://cyberwatchwest.org.

To see our member map and to apply for membership, go here: http://cyberwatchwest.org/index.php/about-us/member-map.

For additional information, please contact Corrinne Sande (PI for CyberWatch West) at csande@whatcom.ctc.edu.

Can Cybercompetitions Help Grow Local Security Talent?

Hiring cybersecurity staff is difficult, but federal, state and local governments are working with nonprofits to encourage the development of cybersecurity skills through individual and team competitions.

BY DAN LOHRMANN / JULY 15, 20150

Wherever I travel, the top concern on the minds of CIOs and chief information security officers is the same — everyone needs more cybersecurity talent. The problem has become especially acute in government, where it’s compounded by an improving economy, growing enterprise cyberneeds and a retiring public workforce. The bottom line:Hiring cybersecurity staff is hard for state and local governments.

What can possibly be done? If the most experienced cyberexperts are becoming too expensive, how can the public sector attract the skilled security professionals it needs?

One answer growing in popularity is to “get in the game” — literally. Across the world, various forms of cybercompetitions are growing in participation. Federal, state and local governments are working with nonprofits to encourage the development of cybersecurity skills through individual and team competitions.

Or, to use a sports analogy, if you can’t compete in the free agency market for top talent, refresh your “farm team” and grow your own talent starting at an early age.

All across the U.S., young people love to compete and not just in sports. There are many academic competitions, from university debate teams to the National Spelling Bee to high school quiz bowls.

But how do cybercompetitions fit in?

According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s website oncybercareers and studies: “DHS believes hands-on cybercompetitions are a valuable learning method for all students, regardless of level. Cybercompetitions are interactive, scenario-based events or exercises that help students develop and increase cybersecurity skills outside the traditional academic environment.”

Typically teams of students work together to attack and defend against the opponent’s networks and computer systems. For example, in a cyber “capture the flag” game, players race to answer security challenges by seeking digital “flags” hidden on servers, in encrypted text or in applications. When a player or team submits a flag, they receive points for solving the challenge. The team with the highest cumulative score wins.

There are plenty of cybercompetitions geared toward different skill and age levels. A few options:

1. The Air Force Association CyberPatriot program has three main programs: the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition, AFA CyberCamps and the Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative.

2. The annual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, which began in 2004, is like the March Madness of cybercompetitions. Colleges compete in state events, leading to regional and national competitions.

3. The U.S. Cyber Challenge consists of competitions, cybercamps and a virtual community to help the public and private sectors, as well as high schools and universities.

4. SANS Cyber Aces offers state competitions as well as national opportunities for individuals to compete and learn. NetWars, also from the SANS Institute, is a cybergame based on the idea that the best way to learn is via hands-on experience with real-world scenarios.

5. The National Cyber League provides ongoing virtual training for faculty and students to develop and validate cybersecurity skills using content aligned with individual and team games. This approach is used across diverse industry certifications, curricula, job roles and verticals.

6. The Michigan Cyber Range offers many chances for public- and private-sector organizations to test team skills in Alphaville, a virtual small town. They can attack and defend the city hall, utilities, library and more in various scenarios.

Cybercompetitions have become the new normal for learning and improving ethical hacking techniques and cyberdefense in a safe, fun, challenging environment. Whether you’re a middle school student just starting to learn cybersecurity concepts, an unemployed millennial who wants to switch careers, a midlevel security expert with a computer science degree or a government supervisor trying to attract the right employees, it may be time for you to join a cybercompetition.

My advice? Get in the game.
Dan Lohrmann | Contributing Writer

Daniel J. Lohrmann is an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist and author. During his distinguished career, Dan has served global organizations in the public and private sectors in a variety of executive leadership capacities, including enterprise-wide Chief Security Officer (CSO), Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) roles in Michigan.

Dan Lohrmann joined Security Mentor, Inc. in August 2014, and he currently serves as the CSO and Chief Strategist for this award-winning training company. Lohrmann is leading the development and implementation of Security Mentor’s industry-leading cyber training, consulting and workshops for end users, managers and executives in the public and private sectors. Read Dan's full bio.

San Francisco votes to expand computer science education across all grades

Donations from Salesforce charity will fund the new program from pre-school onward.

Ars Technica by Cyrus Farivar - Jun 10, 2015 4:25pm PDT

This is the view from George Washington High School, in San Francisco.

Sandra Cohen-Rose and Colin Rose

FURTHER READING

WASHINGTON LAWMAKERS WANT COMPUTER SCIENCE TO COUNT AS FOREIGN LANGUAGE

If bill passes, two years of comp sci would count toward university admission.

Within a few years, every single student in the San Francisco Unified School District will be studying computer science, at all grade levels.

The city’s Board of Education unanimously approved the measure during its weekly meeting on Tuesday evening.

"Information technology is now the fastest growing job sector in San Francisco, but too few students currently have access to learn the Computer Science skills that are crucial for such careers," Board President Emily Murase said in a statementon Wednesday. "We are proud to be at the forefront of creating a curriculum that will build on the knowledge and skills students will need starting as early as preschool."

According to the district, computer science classes are relatively rare across the United States.

"Currently, no national, state, or local standards exist for Computer Science and the academic research in Computer Science education is quite limited," the board wrote. "As such, a cohesive progression of Computer Science knowledge and skills does not yet exist."

The effort is going to be largely funded by the Salesforce Foundation, a charitable wing of the company.

At present, only a "few hundred" San Francisco public school students took the Advanced Placement Computer Science exam in Spring 2014. Of those, just 22 percent were women, and three percent were African American, Latino or Native American.

How exactly will San Francisco’s preschool set get in on the action? SFUSD says they "will most likely be using blocks to build robots, to introduce the concepts of procedural thinking, cause and effect, decomposition of complex tasks, pattern recognition as well as the ability to notice similarities or common differences, abstraction and algorithm design and the ability to develop a step-by-step strategy for solving a problem."

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "employment of computer and information research scientists is projected to grow 15 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations."

The median salary nationwide in the industry is just over $102,000—likely higher in the competitive and increasingly-expensive San Francisco Bay Area.

CompTIA Webinar: Why employers look for IT certifications

The demand for IT workers continues to grow, and employers are turning to certifications to help identify qualified candidates. In this upcoming CompTIA webinar, we'll dive into reasons why employers look for IT certifications, based on CompTIA's "HR Perceptions of IT Training and Certification" report. The webinar will feature industry IT professionals who will help participants learn what qualifications are needed to get an IT job, how to make a resume stand out and what gets candidates noticed. Join us Tuesday, June 23, at 11 a.m. CDT for this important session. Register today.

Boost your LinkedIn profile by highlighting your CompTIA certifications

CompTIA has teamed up with LinkedIn to make it even easier for certification holders to highlight their skills. Whether it's A+, Security+ or one of CompTIA's numerous other vendor-neutral credentials, with just a few simple steps, anyone with an active CompTIA certification can show his or her credentials on LinkedIn. Add more power to your profile! See how to add CompTIA certifications on LinkedIn today.

Community colleges sending too many into remedial math

By Eloy Ortiz Oakley and Pamela Burdman

May 29, 2015





California’s 112 community colleges are designed to provide high school graduates who don’t go to four-year universities a second chance at higher education. But when it comes to math proficiency requirements, too many community college students are getting a raw deal, beginning with the way colleges test incoming students’ math skills and send the vast majority of students to remedial math courses.

In California, about 85 percent of students at community colleges must take remedial math courses. The typical reaction to this troubling scenario is to fault students’ high school preparation. By design, community colleges are open to all comers, so it’s not surprising that some students aren’t proficient in math.

But placing the blame on students and high schools ignores colleges’ part of the equation: The diagnostic tools most community colleges use have been found to be inaccurate, “under-placing” a large number of students in remedial courses that they don’t need for college success. And according to national research, community colleges set a higher bar than even four-year universities: Community college students are about 20 percent more likely to require remedial courses than similarly qualified students at four-year schools.

Research study after research study has shown that students’ high school records more accurately predict how they will do in college, but most community colleges continue to rely solely or primarily on placement tests to decide whether students can enroll in college-level math courses. These practices, in effect, levy a penalty on community college students and undermine the vision the colleges were created to fulfill.

California led the nation in making higher education open to all by growing a system of two-year colleges, and the state’s Master Plan for Higher Education became a national model.

Completion of high school Algebra 2 classes is the typical standard for college readiness in math. As college math requirements shift, there has been experimentation with alternatives that emphasize different math content, such as statistics, which is more relevant for many fields. But even measured against the existing standard, too many students are being treated unfairly.

Each year, nearly 50,000 students who have passed Algebra 2 in high school with a C or better are required to repeat the equivalent course — and some times several remedial math courses — when they enroll at community colleges, according to estimates prepared by the Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges.

If those same students were admitted to a UC campus, they could walk into most college-level math courses without being tested. But at community colleges, they are assigned to remedial sequences. Though intended to prepare students for college-level math, the sequences have been shown to hinder more students from completing college than they help.

Fortunately, the misuse of test scores has begun to change, and California is once again in the lead, as highlighted in a new series of reports by Oakland-based Learning Works and Stanford-based Policy Analysis for California Education.

Long Beach City College is at the forefront of this work. Heeding the research evidence, LBCC pioneered a new formula that applies greater weight to students’ high school course-taking. The result? LBCC quadrupled the proportion of entering students allowed to take college-level math courses. And those students did just as well in math as prior groups of students who were screened based on test scores alone.

Imagine the change if every college in California used such a formula: The proportion of students required to take remedial math courses would be markedly reduced, those assigned to remedial courses would need fewer of them, and more students would have a fair shake at earning a college degree.

The community college system is putting its weight behind this approach. First of all, next year, it will roll out a new test for all colleges to use. Even more importantly, a team of researchers with the RP Group and Cal-PASS Plus, a statewide data system, are developing a formula similar to LBCC’s for use by all 112 colleges. Because our colleges are locally governed, though, use of the approach will be voluntary.

It would be a mistake for any college not to join the effort to give students credit for their high school course-taking. All California community colleges should follow Long Beach’s lead and use a formula that more accurately reflects students’ abilities and potential. State education agencies and high schools also need to do their part to make high school transcripts available to colleges.

There’s more we can do to open up opportunities for all students in California to succeed, but this simple change will bring California one step closer to achieving its vision of true access to a college education.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley is the superintendent-president of Long Beach City College and a UC regent. Pamela Burdman of Berkeley is author of “Degrees of Freedom: Probing Placement Policies at California Colleges and Universities.” 

San Francisco Gets Almost $6m California Career Pathways Trust Grant for ICT and Biotech

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts

City College of San Francisco

Larry Kamer

415-290-7240

lkamer@kamergroup.com

San Francisco Unified School District

Gentle Blythe

415-241-6565

blytheg@sfusd.edu

Collaboration Scores $6 Million Grant for Comprehensive Career Technical Education Program

CCSF, SFUSD, OEWD and BayBio Institute Coordinate

(SAN FRANCISCO, Thursday, May 28, 2015) - A collaborative consortium of City College of San Francisco (CCSF), San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and BayBio Institute scored a nearly 6 million dollar California Career Pathways Trust (CCPT) grant yesterday.

The Consortium will receive $5,999,342 to strengthen education pathways in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Biotechnology by partnering with local companies to address specific needs of critical communities on San Francisco while feeding the growing need for skilled workers.

The program focuses on enrolling and educating underrepresented and low-income populations with unprecedented access to hands-on classes, enabling high school students to enroll in work-based credit courses that build real technical skills.

Grant money will focus on providing cutting edge curriculum and opportunities through partnering companies. With industry-based internships and mentors for students in their trades, expert speakers from industry, some externships for teachers, and dedicated staff to work on a career pathways, the program is as comprehensive in approach as it is innovative.

“San Francisco is the Innovation Capital of the World and we are making sure our residents are ready for the jobs of the 21st Century economy and can share in the prosperity of our great City. I am thrilled that we are collaborating with our School District and City College to ensure our students and residents obtain the knowledge, training, and skills they will need to be successful,” said Mayor Ed Lee.

The almost six million dollar grant comes on the heels of dual three million dollar awards from the Department of Finance for CCSF and SFUSD’s Bridge to Success program, as well as SF State and CCSF’s Metro College Success program. The combined grant and award money, almost $12 million collectively, represent a notable level of recognition from State agencies for San Francisco’s collaborative approach.

“We are preparing our students to thrive in careers in the growing high tech industry. In the near future, businesses working in Information and Communication Technologies and Biotechnologies will not have to look further than local residents to find a qualified workforce,” said SFUSD Superintendent Richard A. Carranza.  

Companies that have partnered with the Consortium include: CBS Interactive, First Person, Jawbone, KQED, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Safeway, Salesforce, and Zynga. Biotech companies include: Amgen, AvidBiotics, Bayer, Bell Biosystems, Boehringer Ingelheim, Cel Analytical, CymaBay, Gladstone Institutes, Omniox, Oncomed, Prosetta, SutroBiopharma, and Target Discovery.

“Once again City College of San Francisco and San Francisco Unified School District are proving that they lead the way in empowering San Francisco’s communities through affordable and accessible education,” said CCSF Chancellor Art Tyler.

Summer EDTech Training – Orange County

by GARYPAGE on 06/01/2015  EDTech

The Orange County Department of Education has announced it is providing training related to subjects found in the Information and Communication Technologies sector this summer. This training is open to all interested administrators and teachers.

EDTech Scratch Coding and Science This one day course will be a tutorial of MIT’s Scratch coding language, and interfacing to the Makesense sensors to illustrate scientific phenomena.

• Date: Jul 22, 2015
• Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
• Price: $100.00 per individual

EdTech Build Math Concepts with Scratch The focus of this course is integrating MIT’s Scratch with math concepts. The basics of coding help nurture creativity and problem solving skills. Students can use computational thinking to help them build critical thinking. Learning to code will empower your students and can increase their understanding of math concepts. A short tutorial on Scratch is included. No previous coding knowledge required. This content is designed for 4th Gr-9th teaching staff.

• Date: Jul 01, 2015
• Time 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Audience K-12 Teachers, Administrators
• Price $100.00 per individual

EdTech Arduino Coding and Robot Construction PD This two day course will take teachers through the process of programming an Arduino microcontroller and then build an Arduino controlled robot. You will assemble, debug, write Arduino code and integrate this project into your classroom. There is an additional need to purchase a $50 robot kit from an outside provider. Here is adescription of the kit you should bring.

• Date(s) Aug 12, 2015 – Aug 13, 2015
• Time 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
• Audience: K-12 teachers, administrators
• Price: $100.00 per individual

Register by selecting the hyperlink associated with the course title. For additional information about these courses contact   Randy Kolset, Coordinator, Online Learning and Professional Development by email at: rkolset@ocde.us or by phone: 714-966-4337

Learn a New Skill: Udemy Online Courses Just $10

BY GRANT BRUNNER
MAY 27, 2015 02:10PM EST PC Magazine

Whether you want to learn a new language or program in one, there's something here for you.




For a limited time, Udemy is offering thousands of online courses for just $10 each. Simply enter coupon code "SUMMER1001" during checkout, and you'll be well on your way to learning a new skill this summer. Whether you want to learn a new language or program in one, there's something here for you.

Get this deal

Want to make your very own video game? Take the course "Learn to Code by Making Games" by Ben Tristem and Brice Fernandes. With 42 hours of instructional video, you'll learn the skills needed to develop games using the popular Unity engine. The best part? This course usually costs $197, but you can save 94 percent off that price with today's deal.

Maybe you're more interested in developing your own iOS app. If so, you should definitely invest in "The Complete iOS8 and Swift Course" by Rob Percival. Normally priced at $199, the course will teach you everything you need to know to get started for just 10 bucks.

Need to brush up on your calculous skills? There's a $10 course for that. Want to improve the way your podcasts sound? Take an audio production course. There's even a course designed to help you improve your memory. The options available are incredibly vast, and this sale means you can easily take multiple courses if the mood strikes. Just don't wait too long, though. This sale ends on May 30 at 11:59PT.

For more great deals, check out TechBargains.com.

Our commerce group sources the best deals and products for the PCMag Deals posts. We operate independently of Editorial and Advertising and may earn a percentage of the sale, if you buy something via a link on the post. If you are interested in promoting your deals, please contact us at commerce@ziffdavis.com.

Code.org targets high school computer science

Jessica Guynn, USATODAY8:05 p.m. EDT May 14, 2015  USA Today


(Photo: Nicholas Kamm, AFP/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO — Code.org is teaming up with College Board to push for more computer science courses in U.S. high schools and to increase the number of female and minority students taking those courses.

The new partnership will encourage high schools in 35 of the nation's largest districts, including New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, to offer Code.org's computer science course this fall.

Code.org will provide curriculum, tools, training and funding to school districts that qualify, said Code.org CEO and co-founder Hadi Partovi.

College Board — the organization that administers the standardized tests that help determine college entrances as well as advanced placement courses — will help fund the work if the school district agrees to use the PSAT, a test for college readiness for eighth- and ninth-graders, to identify students who have potential in computer science, Partovi said.

One of the principal goals of the partnership is to reach more female and minority students, Partovi told USA TODAY in an interview.

"Our work is to broaden participation in all underrepresented groups," he said.

Takers of College Board's advanced placement computer science course are 82% white and Asian. Last year just 20% of the students were female.

Code.org and College Board are targeting that gap between the female and minority students who demonstrate potential for computer science and those who end up studying it, Partovi says.

Code.org says it wants to build on the track record of its Code Studio, which offers online tutorials in the basics of coding. One out of 10 elementary and middle school students in the USA have created accounts with Code Studio, said Partovi. Of those students, 43% are female, 22% are Hispanic and 15% are African American, he said.

Non-profit Code.org is backed by technology leaders, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Its mission is to get every U.S. school to add computer science to its curriculum, part of a growing effort to address the shortage of computer scientists in the USA and the systemic lack of diversity in the technology industry, Partovi said.

That gender and racial gap has its roots in unequal access to computer science education, the very education students need to put them "in the pipeline toward a good job at a place like Google or Facebook," said Level Playing Field Institute founderFreada Kapor Klein.

A recent report from the Level Playing Field Institute examined access to computer science education for low-income and underrepresented students of color in California public high schools and found significant disparities.

Schools with the highest percentage of underrepresented students of color offer computer science courses at a rate nearly half that of schools with the lowest percentage of underrepresented students of color, the study found.

Nearly 75% of schools with the highest percentage of underrepresented students of color offer no computer science courses. Just 2% of schools with the highest percentage of underrepresented students of color offer Advanced Placement Computer Science.

African-American and Latino students make up 59% of California public school students but were just 11% of AP Computer Science test takers in 2014, according to the study.

The statistics are even more sobering in the Bay Area, backyard of technology giants such as Google, Apple and Facebook. In San Francisco and Oakland, poor and minority high school students enroll in computer science classes at a rate of less than 2%.

"This is not a question of interest," Klein says. "It is a problem of access."

Access is crucial because jobs in computing related fields are growing at four times the national average, Partovi said. Computing jobs in the USA pay on average 85% more than the national median wage, he added.

Still, fewer than 2.4% of college students graduate with computer science degrees, and the number of women and underrepresented minorities in the field does not reflect the population it serves.

"As a nation, we must do more to cultivate an interest in computer science among students of all backgrounds and ensure that they have the preparation to pursue the computing jobs that will help power future economic growth," David Coleman, College Board's president and CEO, said in a statement.

Helping Students With Informational Interviews

California Career Briefs

“…think about the last days as much as you think about the first days. Work to create memorable experiences that will stay with the students and fuel their continued learning.”

- Margaret Walsh, PhD

Take it on the Road …

Did you know?

A good end of the semester activity will leave a lasting impression on students and keep them motivated to continue their education.  An informational interview is a particularly good culminating assignment because these interviews help students connect their classroom learning to a career that interests them. When students participate in an informational interview they have an opportunity to meet professionals, ask questions and gather valuable information. An informational interview is a brilliant, conversational, networking tool that gives students a nugget of mentoring in the process. Empower your students to collaborate and communicate as they take their classroom learning on the road.

Here’s how…

• Ask them.
  What is an information interview?
  Why would you do an informational interview?
  How could an informational interview help you?
• View video explaining the what, why and how of an informational interview.
• Select and view a Roadtrip Nation interview related to your interests.
• Distribute Student Activity (now in fillable pdf form), review directions and complete.
• Discuss the next step they need to take to make their interviews a reality.

Above and Beyond!

Encourage students to check out CACareerCafe.Com  and try theEXPERIENCE Lesson – Conversations. To help them make career connections, have them EXPLORE – Pathways in an industry sector related to your course.

CCC Digital Media Educators Conference, June 11-12, 2015

Dear ICT, Digital Media, and Business Colleagues:

It’s only six weeks to the annual Digital Media Educators Conference! Have you registered yet? If not do it now HERE.

This year’s conference is shaping up to be another exciting event. Tracks are filling up with experts from around the industry and from within our own Community Colleges. Exciting new technologies will be presented along with unique perspectives on how digital media is intrinsically woven into every aspect of the modern workplace. There will be raffles, networking opportunities, great food and many learning opportunities. You do not want to miss this conference!

While we have run out of travel and hotel stipends, 50 seats are still available so REGISTER today to reserve your spot.

Visit our site for more information. (http://ict-dm.net/dmec)



We will be accepting track presentation proposals until Wednesday, May 6th at 12pm. If you want to participate as a presenter submit your application HERE before it is too late. 

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s DMEC conference.

Sincerely,

Paula Hodge

On behalf of the ICT-DM Sector Team
Deputy Sector Navigator
Information and Communication Technologies - Digital Media,
South Central Coast Regional Director
Conference Information Contact: Maria Sanchez (Maria.Sanchez@canyons.edu)

California Community College IT Model Curriculum Alignment Workshop, June 4-5, 2015 in Sacramento

 

Come as an individual or department team with your documented CCC IT program curriculum and credentials, roll up your sleeves with dedicated facilitators, and figure out how to align your curriculum to the new California Community College IT Model Curriculum, which will create better transfer and articulation opportunities between community colleges - and with high schools - and increase program and credential value.  

Travel support is available.

June 4-5, 2015

Delta King Riverboat Hotel, Sacramento, CA

• Event Description
• Event Background
• Registration

Ed Synergy: Management and Technical Associate Degree Scholarships Available

Ed Synergy

Management and Technical Associate Degree Scholarships Available

Posted: 23 Apr 2015 12:52 PM PDT

Public high school students and recent high school graduates can apply today for a full two-year scholarship from the University of Management & Technology

The scholarship program, valued at $23,400, enables a student to receive an associate’s degree in one of the following programs:

§ Associate of Business Administration (ABA)

§ Associate of Science in Computer Science (ASCS)

§ Associate of Science in Engineering Management (ASEM)

§ Associate of Science in Information Technology (ASIT)

Scholarship award preference to be given to public high school graduates who have completed coursework in a Career and Technical Education Program.

For additional information about this opportunity visit the Project Management Institute Educational Foundation website.

The post Management and Technical Associate Degree Scholarships Available appeared first on EdSynergy.

RHT: How the QA Engineer Job has Changed Over 20 Years

by Robert Half Technology
April 23, 2015



The QA engineer has become a critical component of the software development process.

Large manufacturing companies and the military — groups at the forefront of the computer revolution — pioneered quality engineering.

So, it is no surprise that software development and quality engineering are closely linked. The software quality assurance engineer (QA engineer) has become a critical component of the software development process.

But how has the role evolved?

From CMMI to Agile

In the last 20 years, the manufacturing world has been moving toward “lean” methodologies (such as those pioneered at Toyota) that help to streamline product development processes. QA engineers previously worked with software developers who used Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and other “waterfall” development techniques, but in the past 15 years many have replaced them with “Agile” methods. Agile techniques and tools have taken the software development industry — and the role of the QA engineer — by storm since the writing of the Agile Manifesto in 2001.

Instead of having a big chunk of the development process labeled “testing,” where developers throw code over the fence and into the QA process, QA engineers now work closely with programmers to produce high-quality code quickly while incorporating feedback from customers along the way. The end result is that development teams and the rest of the IT organization have been gelling into “DevOps,” with the QA engineer a key part of that transformation.

From single to multiple platforms

Originally, applications were developed for only one or two platforms. But today’s applications will often have a server component with an application program interface (API) which is, in turn, used by mobile, web and desktop applications. Each of those client applications will likely span multiple platforms such as iOS and Android for mobile, or Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox for web applications. This means even a simple application can have five or more different platforms to be tested, requiring the QA engineer to bring specialized knowledge on all fronts. Is it any wonder that there is strong demand for quality assurance engineers in the current job market?

From manual to automated testing

When the Web first hit the scene it was hard to imagine that the non-interactive pages of the first version of HTML would evolve to become full-fledged word processors, spreadsheets or photo editors within two decades. Not only are these applications sophisticated, but they also have a lot of code written in languages like JavaScript, Python and Ruby. This creates added testing requirements for the QA engineer because there is no compilation step to check syntactical correctness.

To keep up, the QA engineer of today uses a wide range of automated tools such as LoadRunner and Selenium to put applications through their paces. Because some of these tools have unique purposes such as unit testing, load testing or regression testing, today’s QA engineers need specialized knowledge to use each of these tools, including the ability to write scripts.

Today’s skills requirements and salary expectations

In the past, QA engineers performed most or all of their work manually, which was doable since there were a limited number of devices actually needing to be tested. Modern QA engineers spend much of their time working with automated tools to cover the wide variety of devices that can be used. While mobile and web applications have provided end users with benefits such as the ability to use applications on the go or without complex configuration, they have significantly increased both the need for and the difficulty of the work that the QA engineer must do.

Skills:

QA engineer (manual): Manual QA engineers define the scope and objectives of various levels of QA testing. They also write and maintain test automation, publish test results, develop quality assurance standards, and define and track quality assurance metrics. Manual quality assurance engineers should be highly knowledgeable in quality assurance principles and procedures and able to define, write and maintain test automation. He or she must have effective communication skills to translate technical processes and analytic techniques to solve problems, and be familiar with the materials used to build a product.

QA engineer (automated): Automated quality assurance engineers develop and execute automated testing suites. They also lead quality assurance efforts within a software development group and work closely with development teams and stakeholders performing QA activities. These professionals lead QA efforts through defining, developing, executing and documenting automated test plans and cases. Employers look for extensive knowledge in at least one automated testing framework.

Salary:

A newly hired QA engineer (manual) in 2015 can expect to receive a starting salary in the range of $70,000-$92,500, depending on factors such as experience, industry, local market demand, specialized skills and company reputation. This represents a 4.7 percent increase from 2014.
A newly hired QA engineer (automated) in 2015 can expect to receive a starting salary in the range of $75,500-$99,750, depending on factors such as experience, industry, local market demand, specialized skills and company reputation. This represents a 5.4 percent increase from 2014.

Check out the Robert Half Technology 2015 Salary Guide for more details on salaries and other IT trends.

— Robert Half Technology

With more than 100 locations worldwide, Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of technology professionals for initiatives ranging from web development and multiplatform systems integration to network security and technical support. Visit our website at www.rht.com.

“LinkedIn is the world’s largest audience of affluent, influential professionals.”

- Wall Street Journal

Get LinkedIn

Did you know?

While students may be well established on Facebook, Twitter and now Instagram, Snapchat and Vine, LinkedIn can help them make valuable professional connections as they seek to find their way in the world of work.LinkedIn gives college students an opportunity to build a strong, professional, online identity, develop and grow their professional network, and show off their accomplishments to potential employers. Experts claim that up to 85% of hiring managers are checking out job applicant’s LinkedIn profiles, making LinkedIn an essential career tool for your students. It can help them connect to specific careers and Professional Associations, too.

Try this…

• Ask them about their LinkedIn experience…

How long have you been a member?
How do you use the site?
How have you benefitted from your LinkedIn membership?

• View video.
• Distribute the Student Activity, (now in fillable pdf form) review the directions and complete.
• Show students how to use the LinkedIn “Groups Directory” tab to connect with professionals in careers that interest them.
• Identify and discuss LinkedIn groups relevant to your discipline.

Add an Experience!

This PREPARE LESSON at CaCareerCafe.com will help students build a solid LinkedIn profile. And, LinkedIn’s own Student site has additional tips to help them build connections.

CA Career Cafe