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01/12/2015

Preparing today's students for tomorrow's networking careers

As a student at ELIS ICT Academy in Rome, Maria Jose Vallo earned her Cisco CCNA certification and developed the skills that employers seek in the connected economy.

In Europe, the gap between the number of available jobs and the number of people qualified to fill them is expected to grow by 3 percent each year. This is especially true in Italy, where more than 3,000 technology jobs went unfilled in 2013 and another 4,000 vacancies will exist by the end of 2015. It is estimated that by 2020, more than 50 billion digital devices will exist; employers recognise the need for more motivated, goal-oriented, and hard-working individuals with the skills to help them manage the devices and the data created by the billions of new connections.

At ELIS ICT Academy, Italy’s oldest Cisco Networking Academy partner, students can build the skills that employers are looking for. In 2010, ELIS opened its Vocational Master’s Training programme, which revolutionises the transition from school to the workplace through a unique relationship with company partners.

Marco Stomeo, the centre’s Networking Academy programme manager, says, “Companies ask us to give the students different skills, like teamwork and building relationships. Combined with Cisco CCNA training, we give them the soft skills they’ll need when they go to work.”

As part of the Vocational Master’s Training programme, ELIS’s partners sponsor individual loans to more than 25 students each year. Luca Lepore, a Cisco Networking Academy manager, says the relationships benefit both the companies and the students.

“We are in direct sponsorship with our partners,” says Luca. “They loan money to students to train at ELIS, then ask the students to return the cost after 2 to 3 years of working.”

Over 12 months, students take Networking Academy courses and have a chance to earn their Cisco CCNA certification. They attend classes both online and in person, where they learn how to do things like prepare for a job interview, configure a wireless router, and speak in public.

Since 2010, the programme has given more than 120 young men and women the chance to start training immediately and find internships or jobs with the sponsoring companies. For companies, it guarantees the students they hire will have the skills they seek, from a Cisco CCNA certification to the ability to communicate clearly with customers.

Maria is one of the people who after the completion of the programme was hired at Clink, a help desk provider in Italy. Amongst her strong IT skills are the ability to troubleshoot a computer and to install an operating system. Besides that, Maria believes that her most valuable skill is her creativity. “Computing allows me to make anything I imagine possible,” she says. “As a woman, I can communicate efficiently and have the imagination and creativity to complete any project.”

At ELIS ICT Academy, young women like Maria are taking advantage of their newly acquired skills and filling hundreds of job vacancies in Italy. The ICT skills gap may not be filled in a day, but ELIS, Cisco Networking Academy, and countless partner companies are combining their efforts to train dozens of students and make a positive impact each year.