Starting tomorrow, hundreds of Cisco Networking Academy instructors from the United States and Canada will travel to San Jose, California for the 2013 Academy Conference.

Networking Academy instructors prepare people to design, build, maintain, and secure computer networks. Demand for these skills is growing as more and more industries -from healthcare to entertainment to education -are relying on computer networks to do business.

In the United States, jobs in computer systems design and related services are projected to grow 45 percent between 2008 and 2018. And Canada will need 106,000 new information and communications technology (ICT) workers over the next 5 years, according to the Information and Communications Technology Council, which began partnering with Cisco to deliver the Networking Academy curricula in Canada in 1998.

Nearly 4200 instructors teach the Cisco Networking Academy curricula at 2120 high schools, community colleges, universities, military bases, and other community-based organizations in the United States and Canada. They help open doors for people like Kelly Gheesling, who says being part of the Cisco Networking Academy and getting her Cisco CCNA certification was "probably he single best thing I did for my professional career."

"Even though I didn't really have any experience at all professionally in the field, I had the accreditation that I went through the Cisco Networking Academy, so they said come down, we'd like to interview you face to face," Kelly said of her interview for a contract position at Ford Motor Company. "Next thing you know I was packing up my stuff and moving down to Columbus [Ohio] for my first job as a network engineer."

The annual Academy Conference is a chance for instructors to meet one another, learn about updates to the NetAcad curriculum, discover new teaching technologies, tour Cisco demo labs, and more.

Cisco Networking Academy was founded in 1997 and today teaches 1 million students worldwide each year, including 174,000 in the United States and Canada. Networking Academy courses prepare students for entry-level career opportunities, continuing education, and globally recognized Cisco certifications.

Want to teach and inspire with your passion for technology? Learn how you can become a Networking Academy instructor.