If you are an experienced IT professional and are looking to expand your opportunities, Citrix Education would like to hear from you. As noted on their blog, there currently is a shortage of Citrix Certified Instructors (CCIs) in the Americas and Citrix is looking to find new talent to increase the pool of CCIs.
Citrix instructors are typically employed in two different ways. Many CCIs are employed by Citrix Authorized Learning Centers (CALCs) and teach their classes exclusively as well as perform other duties such as consulting services. Others are independent instructors (like me) that work for different CALCs as an independent contractor.
Being an independent contract CCI works great for me, but the lifestyle is not for everyone. You are essentially operating as a small business where you book your own travel, create and track your own invoices, and manage your own expenses. I use Quicken to manage my business, but others use different systems.
As noted in Citrix’s blog, the compensation can be good, especially if you hustle and keep your schedule full. There is plenty of work if you look for it.There is a shortage of CCIs after all. I’m currently booked into 2013 and I get requests for availability all the time that I cannot fill.
The requirements to become a CCI are significant, but not extreme for any IT professional with experience. There are two instructor tracks. One track leads to the CCI for Virtualization certification and the other leads to the CCI for Networking certification. The virtualization track includes Citrix products such as XenApp and XenDesktop, where the networking track includes Netscaler. The 2012 requirements to become a CCI are detailed here.
Once you finish the basic requirements listed in the CCI Requirements document, you will need to attend a CCI Train-the-Trainer class sponsored by Citrix. Currently, I’m scheduled to teach a T3 for Virtualization class during the week of July 9th and a T3 for Networking class during the week of July 30th. Both of these classes will be held at Citrix’s HQ in Ft Lauderdale, Florida. Other T3 class dates are added from time to time, so if these dates do not work for you check in with the Citrix Education folks at 800-4-CITRIX ext: 22370. There is a cost associated with the T3 class, but Citrix discounts it for qualified CCI candidates. Contact Citrix Education at the number above for details on pricing.
Hopefully I’ll see you in one of my T3 classes soon!