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Cisco NetAcad Talent Connect Event 22

From challenging internships to rewarding jobs

On 27 October 2022, BiASC and Cisco organised a Talent Connect Event (TCE) for college students in IT infrastructure, networking, and security. The goal is to informally connect students with channel partners offering internships and jobs. Most of the students attending are bachelor's degree students. An equal number are pursuing associate degrees in systems and network administration. There were also a number of master's students and adult education students.

Interesting and challenging internships in IT infrastructure, networks and security are hard to come by for IT students in their last year before graduation. Yet all IT students are able to sign an employment contract for a rewarding job before they graduate.

Wouldn't it be a great idea to create a natural flow from internship to employment? This is the main goal of the Talent Connect event organised by Cisco BeLux, Cisco CXC and Cisco Networking Academy at Cisco headquarters in Machelen/Diegem near Brussels.

About 90 students registered for the Talent Connect event. Most of the participants are interested in an internship before the end of their studies. Fifteen participants are specifically interested in a thesis project.

Cisco TCE 22 - Overview of the Day

Late registration is still possible here
Overview of the Day in PDF format here

Cisco NetAcad Talent Connection Event - 27 Oct 2022

 

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Academic Degree vs Industrial Skills Certification

There are many interesting discussions about the difference between an academic degree and an industrial skills certification.

An academic qualification is a record of the level of formal education you have achieved.

If you want to know more about this, there are educational frameworks (such as the EQF) that make clear the difference between formal education levels (4, 5, 6, 7 and 8). The main difference between EQF levels is the degree of independence and the degree of complexity of the problems you can solve.

You get an academic qualification for the rest of your life and it does not mean that you are familiar with the latest technological trends.

Industry skills certification expresses your ability to work with the latest technologies. Therefore, they are limited in time.

The well-known Cisco certifications CCNA, CCNP or CCIE are proof that you understand the latest trends at a certain level of complexity. Obtaining more complex certifications will help you climb the career ladder.

More: Skills based hiring is on the rise