This content was published: October 16, 1998. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
PCC First in Region to Offer Microsoft Training
Photos and Story by Mark Evertz
Portland Community College has become the first local site to offer authorized training and testing in the new Microsoft User Specialist program. The program is designed to make someone proficient in all the applications of the popular but complicated office suite application.
Certification is a plus both for employees and for hiring managers, according to Rick Aman, director of Open Campus Computer Education.
"Employers can experience problems with new employees who claim to know a software application like Microsoft Word or Excel when in fact they don’t," he said. "This training gives an edge to the job seeker by assuring the hiring manager the applicant can really begin working right away."
Microsoft is the first software company with the marketing savvy and resources necessary to launch a consumer-focused certification program, Aman said. "Many companies (notably Novell) have created certificates for high-end esoteric applications, but this is the first program focused on the very bottom of the software market," he said.
The training began fall term with Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. The college offers two days of training in each program, topped by the certification test at the PCC Southeast computer center, 2850 SE 82nd Ave, in Portland. For details, call 788-6200, or see http://www.computers.pcc.edu.