CompTIA A+® Certification Reaches New Milestone: One Million Certified

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Oct 27, 2014, 09:15 ET

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Oct. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- CompTIA, the IT industry association and the largest provider of vendor neutral skills certifications for the world's IT workforce, said today its flagship certification, CompTIA A+®, has reached a historic milestone.

This month CompTIA A+ surpassed the one million-threshold for the number of individuals who have earned the credential since it was introduced in 1998.

"Each certification is accompanied by a unique story," said Todd Thibodeaux, president and chief executive officer, CompTIA. "It's a high school student who found her career calling after passing the A+ exam. It's a military veteran who parlayed the credential into a private sector job. It's someone who started out as a help desk technician and today runs his own company."

Brian Blum earned his CompTIA A+ certification in 1999. The credential helped him land a job as a technical trainer. Today he's the owner of Maverick Solutions IT, Inc., a provider of IT consulting and support services for schools, non-profits and small office/home office customers in the New York metropolitan area.

"The IT industry is constantly moving and evolving, so it's important for industry professionals to keep their skills and certifications up to date," said Blum. "If I could offer career advice to people looking to break into IT jobs today, I'd tell them to distinguish themselves from the herd by credentialing what they already know, and then by embarking on a lifelong iterative process of always learning more."

"Through years of innovations in technology and changes in the workplace, CompTIA A+ continues to hold its standing as the cutting-edge, must-have credential for people taking their first steps into the IT workforce," said Thibodeaux.

CompTIA and many of its authorized partners are celebrating the one million-milestone by awarding more than 45 prizes to IT professionals around the world.

The grand prize winner is Logan Murphy of Fort Collins, Colo., who works for Long View Systems, a leading IT solutions and services company in North America.

"CompTIA A+ is the most effective way to demonstrate competency as a Tier One IT professional," said Murphy. "It was a challenge to broaden my knowledge, especially on the basics of the technology we touch daily. I know I won't be on a service desk forever, but the knowledge from the A+ exam will serve me well through every opportunity in IT."

As the grand prize winner, Murphy will receive lodging and admission to the tech industry trade show of his choice. He'll also receive a free three-day trip to Houston to meet certification author and guru Mike Meyers; star in a new training video; and receive the newest CompTIA Network+ learning bundle, all complements of CompTIA partner Total Seminars.

The complete list of partners who participated in the CompTIA A+ One Million promotion is available at http://offers.comptia.org/onemillioncertified/partners.html

Visit CompTIA online and on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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SOURCE CompTIA