Employers look for a variety of things from students when applying for jobs, especially an assurance of a skill. Brad Vogt, Information Technology instructor is helping Northeast Community College students by offering free certifications for the basic Microsoft Office programs. Vogt says, ” Employers these days look for three things Education, Experience, and Certification.” Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Access, all have core certifications, while the programs Word and Excel also have an expert certification, said Vogt.  Students often have to pay $80 to take tests like these, and if they did not pass the test they would receive a voucher for one retake. Vogt and the IT department have a number of these vouchers that students can use to take the certification tests.

The tests are comprised of a variety of tasks with varying difficulty, all performed in a 50 minute time period. Vogt says, “these tests help students gain confidence, and make them ready to meet deadlines.” To succeed with the exams, he says students should have taken a course at Northeast Community College that includes Microsoft, because that will help to ensure students have the background to pass the certification. For more information, or to sign up to take the test contact Brad Vogt, (402) 844-7294, email him at  [email protected], or go see him in the Kenneth J Echtenkamp building, room 120 on the Northeast campus. Vogt says there is also information on the certification process at the Certiport website.