IT Skills Assessment: An Overview for the Professionals

Preparation Tips, What to Expect from IT Skills Assessment

Start a Career in Information Technology Today

If you are reading this, about to take an IT Skills Assessment exam, then you are probably one of the many who joined the rush to be an Information Technology expert. A right decision, considering that the field was able to make itself only better and more indispensable as time goes by. Indeed, with almost everything in every industry digitized, people would need your IT smartness for a very long time. You have just availed yourself of a lifelong career.

Information technology is a field of computer and information engineering, one that navigates hardware and software for communication purposes. A layperson would think that working with computers involves the only aptitude with machines, which implies that only shy and reserved people will thrive in information technology. But since IT deals with the way people and organizations relate to one another, and to their environment, you would need to be a people-person as well to survive in the field. Information technology is in essence, taking the best out of two worlds: the world of computers and people.

What to Expect from IT Skills Assessment

A whole lot...

The world of information technology is always bigger than most people assume, and even those already working in the field have trouble keeping up. Under IT, you have computer programming, systems administration, communication analysts, software analyst, hardware service and repair, software design and development, product design, security administration and much more. And under each one is a unique program and hardware to be mastered, with a new one being created on a daily basis. You have to be ahead and updated if you want to pass these kinds of exams.

How to Prepare for IT Skills Assessment?

First off, remember to review the technical concepts. No aptitude test is as reliant on actual knowledge and experience as IT skills assessment. Know basic concepts, as for sure there’ll be objective questions. What are hubs and routers? How do you navigate MS SQL servers? What are the primary commands in Visual Basic? For the more sophisticated programs, you might even have to purchase a review book or master the machine and software’s help sections found on the official website.

But aside from concepts, be prepared to apply what you know in simulations and case studies. Don’t even attempt to take the exam without any working knowledge on how everything functions. IT Skills Assessment Tests are rarely pen-and-paper tests; the proctor will sit you down with an actual computer and present you with a real problem that you have to solve. These simulations may even be time-pressured so that they can see how fast you can accomplish specific tasks. You may also be given impossible, hypothetical scenarios, to check if you’re creative enough to think outside the box.

Second, don’t hesitate to ask what will be the coverage of the exams. If you’re taking the test to apply for a job or a promotion, it won't hurt to know how you can focus your review and preparation. As mentioned, IT is such a broad field that a single test can’t efficiently cover everything you need to be examined.  Because of the technical aspect of the test, exam administrators rarely hesitate to give hints and tips in advance.

Lastly, when applicable, pitch a solution based on the latest technology, or even a futuristic one. Information Technology is a time-sensitive field in the sense that what’s new today can be obsolete tomorrow. Some IT Skill Assessment Exams are not pre-structured; some are in the form of casual, anything goes interview. (This spontaneous format fits IT more than any other field of study). Don’t be caught proposing to use application that no one is using anymore; you’ll just appear dated. The only time you can do this is if one, you have a justifiable reason to (e.g., it’s less expensive) or the proctor is testing your ingenuity by giving you limited tools.

There is a good career ahead of any IT professional. And not just as a rank-and-file employee, as communication and information systems can always do with a competent manager. So do everything you can to ace your IT Skills Assessment test. Who knows, your performance might get you promoted in no time!

ShareFacebookTwitterPinterestTumblrRedditWhatsApp