Skills and training are always hot topics in the IBM i community throughout in-person conferences, user group meetups, and various online forums. Year in and year out, the annual IBM i Marketplace Survey from Fortra lists “IBM i skills” as a top concern among survey respondents, this year ranking third just behind “cybersecurity” at number one and “modernizing applications” at number two. Companies who trust their businesses on IBM i are looking to both hire new professionals to be productive on the platform quickly and train existing staff on new and innovative technologies to maintain a competitive edge in their market. They also need a way to identify this talent, both early career professionals and seasoned veterans alike, that can come into their organization and contribute to the team quickly.
Why did we create this badge? Just like with the technical strategy and future roadmap for IBM i, we listened to the community and the feedback they were giving us on their hiring needs and ways to identify professionals with IBM i knowledge and skills. This badge is especially targeted at early career professionals who understand IBM i and its use cases, features, and capabilities, and who are ready to be hired into an organization and continue their learning journey on the platform. We created this badge for those early career professionals, and veterans alike, to be able to show that they are ready (hence the name “IBM i Ready”) to get to work building the next generation of applications on IBM i and IBM® Power®.
To earn your IBM i Ready badge, a passing score on the quiz is required, and once this is achieved you will be sent your badge right away. Display it on your LinkedIn profile, email signature, or wherever else you deem best to showcase your knowledge and skills to the community and prospective employers. Prospects for the badge can get the training and education needed to pass the quiz from a variety of resources. Make sure to check out the IBM i landing page and IBM i Strategy Paper for a basic understanding of the platform and future roadmap and strategy for the operating system. COMMON has everything you need for technical content, from an IBM i newbie level all the way through the veteran RPG programmer.
We are excited to see community members already earning the badge and proudly displaying it on their LinkedIn and IBM TechXchange profiles. If you are an employer and looking to hire early career professionals to come into your organization and become productive quickly on the platform, look for candidates who have earned this badge, and ask them about it. Chances are that these candidates will have the basic understanding of IBM i capabilities and technologies that you trust to run your business and operations. Continue to train and develop them and encourage them to get involved in their local user group to continue learning and honing their skills. To learn more about the IBM i Ready Badge and earn yours, start here.