Get the In-Demand Tech Certifications and Skills Businesses Look For While You’re Still In Highschool

Pearson Futures

The Partnership

Certiport is a global leader in entry level training and certification courses geared towards in-demand tech skills that businesses are looking for. Since 1997 Certiport has developed both a wide array of curriculum as well as industry-recognized certifications and now administers millions of exams each year in countries around the world.

Their courses include training in software like the Microsoft Office suite, Adobe, and Apple’s Swift programming language. With Certiport, high school students gain sought-after skills in project management, accounting, IT, business, and more that will help them connect to whatever opportunities they’d like to pursue.

In addition to training, Certiport hosts global competitions that offer a unique, gamified approach to career learning. In these competitions students can win scholarships and prizes, and gain incredible proficiency in Microsoft and Adobe. 

Why it matters

Our partnership with Certiport marks another significant step in bringing career-focused training to high school students and their families. As businesses face an ever-increasing labor shortage, the demand for well-skilled early talent will only grow. By connecting students to organizations like Certiport, our goal is to meet that need and open the next generation’s eyes to a host of career possibilities. 

And Certiport doesn’t stop there. Students often wonder how they are going to use specific skills in the real-world. Certiport answers those questions by laying out the skills employers need, training students in those skills, and acknowledging their accomplishment through industry-recognized certifications—certifications backed by leaders like Cisco, Meta, Intuit, and Apple. 

Craig Bushman, the GM of Certiport, believes that certification programs like the ones he helped develop are a clear win-win for both students and companies; students gain confidence and become more productive, and companies get the talent they need without having to devote resources to training.

Get Involved

Certiport has over a dozen certification courses, all available remotely, and all accessible to high school students. Check out their offerings, as well credentials geared towards even younger students: it’s an incredible resource and might very well be the first step towards a lifelong career.

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    Who are high school students turning to for guidance?

    We can all remember that time in high school when the future felt blurry and like an ever-moving target. And what was true for previous generations is now even more true for Gen Z, given the incredible amount of technological, cultural, social, and economic upheaval they’ve experienced since 2020. Further, in a world where the internet plays such a substantial role, the vast sea of information can often make decisions tougher. ‘Who do I ask for help?’ is now a question with a million answers. 

    To better understand how today’s students feel about their post high school life, we surveyed Connections Academy students. Perhaps most interestingly, Gen Z, the generation with the greatest exposure to the greatest wealth of technology the world has ever seen, is still completely reliant on their parents for guidance about the future. And for all the current popularity of AI, it plays virtually no role in how students are making decisions. 

    For instance, when it comes to making choices about college, 85% of the students we asked said that they rely primarily on mom and dad. The next closest answer percentage-wise was ‘other family members’ at 46%. Only 25% said that they would turn to social media. 

    Of course, the internet still plays a role: 42% of students said they use online sources and other forms of online education for help making college choices. But familial relationships had the clear priority, and digital or more remote sources were only a secondary source.

  • Addressing Early Talent’s Confidence-Gap
    By Pearson Futures

    You don’t need a crystal ball to know that high school students entering the workforce over the next few years are facing an uphill battle. They’re living through constant upheaval and change—change driven by technology, by generational turnover, and by a heaving sea of economic, political, and cultural forces that can feel, even to seasoned adults, like a perfect storm. Add to that mix the internet, and everything is amplified by ten—the good, the bad, and the confusing. Students are now faced with more choices than ever, along with a million competing voices. It’s enough to give anyone decision fatigue. Or downright paralysis.