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Toy Manufacturer Uses Certification to Improve Technical Employee Quality
Kai Ho Kyo Tsui, A+®, Network+™ and i-Net+™ Certified

Why would someone with a degree in computer engineering want to become certified? “To make yourself more marketable in the computer industry,” says Kai Ho Kyo Tsui, a recent graduate from the University of Hong Kong. “I wanted to improve upon the skills that I learned at the university and make myself stronger. Certification helped me do that.”

Upon searching the Internet and speaking with other industry professionals, Tsui learned about industry-recognized certification programs, including
those offered by CompTIA. Tsui chose to begin his training with Microsoft’s certifications because his employer, New Bright Industrial Corporation, a
prominent toy manufacturer, uses Microsoft operating systems and requires their employees to be certified on it.

After completing the entire Microsoft curriculum, Tsui set his sights on CompTIA’s certification suite to help round out his skills. Self-taught, he used the textbooks available to prepare for each examination instead of attending training classes. “All of my certifications were achieved by selfstudy,” Tsui says. “Those self-paced training books are my favorites and are very helpful.” He passed the A+®, Network+™ and i-Net+™ exams in November 1999 and has been enjoying career success ever since. According to Tsui, “CompTIA certifications teach a wide range of skills not biased to any one vendor. You can apply CompTIA skills to any operating system and be successful.”

CompTIA offers nine different certifications - each designed to fit a specific
niche. These internationally-recognized certifications provide IT professionals with validation of the baseline knowledge needed to enter the IT field and prepare for a long-term career. Every CompTIA certification is vendor-neutral, testing a broad range of knowledge not specific to any one manufacturer.

Tsui isn’t the only one at his firm who believes in certification. His supervisor, Hesperus Wai, is also certified (MCSE and MCDBA) and requires his employees to be certified too. “We believe in certification. It is a reliable indicator of a quality employee,” he says.

Certification has also helped New Bright Industries significantly reduce its training costs. “By hiring certified individuals, we do not need to test them beforehand which saves us money; we know they have the knowledge to do the job right.”

New Bright Industrial Corporation also encourages its employees to seek additional certifications beyond just the baseline skills. “In today’s IT environment, we need to be able to upgrade knowledge quickly and additional certifications give us an indication of the employee’s enthusiasm to learn more and excel at his job,” states Wai.

Tsui recommends CompTIA certification to others who want to gain baseline knowledge on computer hardware, networking and the Internet. “I learned so much from my CompTIA certifications— both hardware and software skills,” Tsui explains. “Network+ was especially helpful for me in terms of understanding networking technologies and practices. And because our company is getting more into the Internet, CompTIA’s i-Net+ was a natural
choice.”