Southeastern Illinois College has been selected to begin offering the Google IT Support Professional Certificate starting in January. SIC is the only college south of Champaign to provide students with this credential.
The Google IT class is online and can be taken alone with the intention of an entry level position in information technology or in addition to the regular IT programs currently offered by the college. The added credential is widely known, which can help with landing that first job.
According to Google, there are over 215,000 open IT support roles currently in the U.S. alone. Google started this training program due to a lack of qualified candidates to join their own IT support team.
“This certificate program introduces you to troubleshooting and customer service, networking, operating systems, system administration, and security — all the fundamentals of IT support that are critical for success in the workplace. And, throughout the program, you’ll hear directly from Googlers whose own foundation in IT support served as a jumping off point for their careers,” according to the Google website.
The program begins Jan. 13 at SIC and ends with finals in early May. Upon completion, students can opt to share their information directly with top employers hiring for IT support jobs, including many employers such as Bank of America, PNC, Sprint, Best Buy, Google, Hulu, Walmart, Home Depot and many others.
The certificate also recently secured a credit recommendation from the American Council on Education’s ACE Credit ®.
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, IT Support is projected to grow 10 percent between 2018 and 2028 and the median salary nationally is $53,470.
Current students can register for the online class (IT 157) at www.sic.edu/mySIC. New students can call (618) 252-5400, ext. 4130 to learn more and register. Anyone age16 and up is welcome to take the class.
