Costa Rican university equips students with IT service management skills through PeopleCert ITIL 4 certification 

A Costa Rican university that specialises in training professionals in computing and IT has introduced PeopleCert service management best practice courses as part of its curriculum.  

Universidad CENFOTEC’s (UCENFOTEC) School of Software Engineering and School of Information Systems, based in San José, is now providing PeopleCert’s ITIL 4 Foundation certification alongside its academic programmes to support students’ education and employment prospects in both software engineering and the wider IT field. 

Álvaro Cordero, director at the School of Software Engineering, explains: “Many of our students start work while they’re still studying, and employers generally require relevant IT knowledge or certifications. ITIL 4 is one of the most in-demand certifications in Costa Rica and we considered it important to add to the curriculum as part of our students’ professional DNA and to help them into management roles.” 

By enabling students to certify as part of their academic programme, UCENFOTEC believes it offers them a competitive advantage. According to Cordero: “Upon graduation, our students can be confident of being well versed in the main concepts behind their chosen field and  also in the best practices. This means that, unlike students from other universities, UCENFOTEC graduates will have a shorter professional path, allowing them to focus more on their job.” 

UCENFOTEC’s approach also represents cost benefits to employers. “Usually, when someone graduates from university and finds a job their new employer will pay for, or at least contribute to, a professional certification. In the case of our students, this isn’t necessary,” Cordero said. 

Ultimately, the key to offering ITIL 4 certification as part of the curriculum is to ensure UCENFOTEC’s students are better prepared for their post-graduate career and able to differentiate themselves from their peers.  

“In today’s labour market, everyone is competing for the same jobs so having a point of difference is essential to gaining employment. We believe that offering ITIL 4 certification offers our students that point of difference,” Cordero explained. 

ITIL 4 is the first in a series of PeopleCert certifications and best practices that UCENFOTEC plans to add to its curriculum, with DevOps and PRINCE2 courses due to follow in the near future.