Troy Greder Business Technology Instructor Certifications Offered Microsoft Office Specialist Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook   Testing Center Denison Job Corps Center Location Denison, Iowa

In his own words: "I definitely push it. I tell [my students] that if all things are equal between two job candidates, they’ll probably get hired if they are certified and the other candidate isn’t. Certification proves you know."

Job Corps Participants Achieve High Education and Employment after Earning Microsoft Office Specialist Certifications
Certification enhances resum�s and college applications to give young people opportunities for success in Iowa

Young people enrolled in the Denison Job Corps Center in Denison, Iowa, are learning marketable skills; obtaining meaningful employment; and living more stable, independent lives thanks to courses that include Microsoft ® Office Specialist certification, which proves they have a working knowledge of Microsoft business productivity programs .

BACKGROUND
Job Corps is an educational and vocational training program that has been administered by the United States Department of Labor and funded by the United States Congress since 1964. The no-cost program helps young people ages 16 to 24 succeed in educational opportunities, learn marketable skills, and obtain employment to lead more independent and stable lives. The Denison Job Corps Center in Denison, Iowa, provides training in the following vocational areas: Business Clerical, Security Guard, Culinary Arts, Nurses Aide, Licensed Practical Nurse , Bricklayer, Carpenter, Painter, Welder, Building and Apartment Maintenance, and Automotive.

Job Corps students must be legal residents of the United States and are expected to actively participate in the program, often living in Job Corps Centers around the country. This safe, drug-free environment offers them the best opportunity to use the resources available to graduate with employable skills or work toward higher academic pursuits.

Troy Greder, a business technology instructor at the Denison Job Corps Center, teaches courses focused on the W indows® operating system and the Microsoft Office system. The young people who participate in his classes often lack a high-school diploma and are seeking vocational training and a General Equivalency Diploma. Upon graduation from the program, participants in Greder’s courses are frequently placed in secretarial and other office positions, banks, and customer service jobs.

In an effort to increase his students’ abilities to obtain employment, Greder built the Office Specialist program into his course. “I will do anything to help them be productive, tax-paying citizens,” Greder said. “We figure every $1 we put into these students yields $2 back in tax money. It’s worth it.”

PROCESS
To begin preparing his students for certification, Greder uses Certiport self-assessments. After evaluating the areas in which students need training, he provides worksheets for each Microsoft Office program—Word, Excel, PowerPoint®, Access, and Outlook®—to help students focus on learning what he calls “the basics.”

Greder’s course is self-paced by each student and provides individual focus and instruction to help students know the Office Specialist exam objectives. He supplements his lessons with Microsoft Office Business Simulation BASICS by Course Technology, a Microsoft Office Specialist Vendor of Approved Courseware.

Greder follows his instruction and worksheets with Self Test Software from Kaplan IT, Inc. These tests allow students to practice their skills and enable Greder to set both a number of questions and a time limit, similar to Office Specialist exams. “The software is very similar to the Office Specialist exams but also provides help to users,” he said. Participants in Greder’s course often take these practice tests three or four times before proceeding to certification exams. “It gets students used to the timeframe,” he said. “When they achieve a 90-percent score on the practice test, we administer the Office Specialist exam.”

“The tests are really good,” Greder said. “They have a wide range of questions and include some basic things you do all the time and other things you don’t necessarily do on a daily basis. You have to know a lot. They are diverse, especially the Expert-level exams.”

Although his students are not required to take Office Specialist exams upon completion of the course, Greder hopes they do. “I definitely push it,“ he said. “I tell them that if all things are equal between two job candidates, they’ll probably get hired if they are certified and the other candidate isn’t. Certification proves you know.”

“For me to push it with my students, I thought I should be certified,” Greder said. He followed one of his students through the training and certification process and used software lessons to prepare. “Teaching it every day helps a lot, too,” he said. Greder also used Certiport self-assessments and practice tests and took a college course on Microsoft Office XP to cap his preparation for his own exams.

The Denison Job Corps Center pays for student exams and has also paid for Greder’s certifications.

CERTIFICATION
In the two years Office Specialist has been available at the Denison Job Corps Center, 53 individuals have certified. Most participants have certified in Microsoft Word and Excel, although several have pursued other core certifications and one individual has earned the Microsoft Office Specialist Master credential.

As he supports his students’ certification pursuits, Greder is also earning Office Specialist certifications. He has successfully completed the exam requirements to become an Office Specialist Master and is in the process of applying to be a Microsoft Office Specialist Master Instructor. The master instructor certification is for individuals who are, or aspire to be, Microsoft Office teachers or trainers. They are recognized for their skills and hands-on abilities to use Microsoft Office programs, and are required to earn Expert-level certifications in Microsoft Word and Excel, in addition to Specialist-level certifications in PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. In addition, master instructors must satisfy an instructional experience requirement, which includes having a teaching or training degree or certified experience in providing Mi crosoft Office desktop program or other software training.

RESULT
“Most of the students who have earned certification are employed,” Greder said. “We help them put it on their resumés and show them how to log onto the Certiport website to get their transcripts.”

In addition, some of Greder’s students are advancing to post-secondary education. “The young man who earned his Master credential was also able to receive college credits for his work,” Greder said. “The credits allowed him to skip four classes and saved him a lot of money.” Individuals with Office Specialist certification may apply for college credit through the American Council on Education.

Greder’s Office Specialist Master Instructor credential will make the Denison Job Corps Center one of the only vocational schools in Iowa with a master instructor on staff. In addition to the personal satisfaction Greder has experienced from passing his exams, he hopes the certification will help him get his Vocational Instructor Certificate. “It feels good to pass those tests,” he said. “It also gives me more credibility with students and other staff.” Greder said members of the Denison Job Corps Center’s staff of 140 know they can phone him for help with advanced Microsoft Office tasks like mail merges and setting up spreadsheets.

"I have a much better appreciation of Microsoft Office," Greder said. "The more I use it, the more I like it. It's a great program. The whole suite is really good, and the programs integrate well. Because I studied and passed these exams, I know more about Microsoft Office. I am better able to help my students. I can help them see their mistakes and help them learn."

Greder plans to continue to offer and emphasize certification to his students. “It builds confidence,” he said, “and helps you help others.”