IT Prep Courses Lead to a Career Start for Skyline Grad

Skyline High School graduate Bradley Cute completed Laurel Ridge Workforce Solutions’ CompTIA A+ Prep and Certification course and started his career with a federal contractor in Luray, Virginia.

He took advantage of Laurel Ridge Community College Workforce Solutions IT courses to start his career with Syntelligent Analytic Solutions LLC. Based in Falls Church, Syntelligent opened its Luray office in 2012. The CompTIA A+ course was a natural fit for Cute.

“It’s a subject I enjoy – I have always been around computers and I like fixing them,” he says. “I’m hoping one day to get into large-scale networking and security for video games. This job will provide me with great IT experience.”

Cute started off working part-time on the IT help desk, troubleshooting clients’ computer issues and developing customer service skills while he obtains his security clearance, says John Rutt, director of IT and security programs at Syntelligent.

“Our overall strategic position as a company is to bring more IT jobs into the Page County area,” Rutt says. “Currently, we have a contract in support of the U.S. Army requiring CompTIA certification. We hope to maintain a steady line of certified candidates for work that we hope to bring into the area.”

“We think Laurel Ridge Workforce Solutions’ CompTIA programs are great, and we really think by Laurel Ridge offering this kind of program, it will really stimulate the growth of IT candidates in the Shenandoah Valley,” Rutt says.

The CompTIA A+ Certification course is $2,895, but with FastForward grant funding, the student would only have to pay $965. Some students may also qualify for additional financial assistance.

During the course, students will learn about PC hardware and peripherals, mobile device hardware, troubleshooting hardware and network connectivity issues, and installing and configuring operating systems, such as Windows, iOS, Android, Apple OS X and Linux. Additionally, they will learn and apply methods from cybersecurity and cloud computing.

There are 200 job openings for computer user support specialists each year within a 25-mile radius of Laurel Ridge’s Middletown Campus. The median income for the industry is $52,856, with new workers starting around $32,215, and highly-experienced employees earning up to $82,207. (Source – Laurel Ridge Emsi Online Career Coach ).

To find out more, call (540) 868-7021, or visit laurelridgeworkforce.com/comptia