Career Choice Question.

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SThompson86

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Hello everyone I have question about a possible career/college choice in my possible future.

info on me* I am 23 years, and I currently work as a Intern/co-op at the national corporation Ergon as a IT/hardware tech. I am also going to school for Computer Service Technology(2 year associates program) , in which I like 2 more semesters. After I graduate I will be faced with 2 choices.

The Choices* One choice will be the option to go full time at Ergon as a full time hardware tech, in which I will earn 34K a year. The other choice will be to continue on to a 4 year school in which I will go after a bachelor degree in Computer Information Systems.

My Worries* Going with option one and working full time, I am afraid I would be stuck making 34K for a long time, and that is not what I want to happen, and I also do not want to stay a end user/hardware techie. I want to eventually move into a network administrative role.
The second choice is of course continuing on for another 2 years at school to get a bachelor in CIS. The Bachelor will of course open more doors, and leave me ready to move up into more advanced job openings. The downside to doing the bachelor is that I would have to continue to work on for another 2 years making low pay as an intern..

The ultimate scenario would be great if I could go to night class for a Bachelor in either computer science or CIS; but unfortunately none of the colleges in my area offer night classes for computer degrees as of now.

I do not like having to bother you all with this, but honestly speaking this is my last resort. My professor tells me to go ahead and take the job and states that " I can always get a Bachelor, don't ever turn a job down. My boss at work wants me to go full time because he knows I can knock the doors down when it comes to being an End User Tech. I have no one else that I personally know that can advise me on this other than the above stated people.

Personally I would love to take the full time role, but I also want to be able to move up in life.

I am very stuck in the middle on this issue to say the least. I know a bachelor is always the best rout, but them im left thinking " I can always get a bachelor"


Thanks in advance everyone
 
As always, I'd go with the Bachelors degree. In the end you'll end up making more, and it's definitely worth it :) I mean, two years of your life is nothing compared to the fifty or so years you have ahead of you, especially if you could be making a good amount more by waiting two years and going through school. There's always financial aid for the schooling, too.
 
I'm taking online and night classes for my bachelors after earning my 2-year. I'm not going to school for computers but I landed a very good job working with them. $34k isn't too bad, is online education an option at all for you and will your full time employer reimburse you at all?
 
Its a possible option that I just have not looked into due to the fact I have always been iffy about online courses. How do they teach on online courses?
 
I would get your bachelors. It will open more doors and give you the training that is needed to move up in the IT word with servers, networking, etc.

Hardware techs don't make much, and if you were to stay in that type of job you are going to cap out around 40 to 50. While you can still move up with just experience, it is a little harder w/ just an associates.

IMO i would got for the 4 year degree and do more interning for experience.
 
You should get your 4-year regardless but if you want it badly enough you can do both at the same time, it's what I'm doing anyways.

For online courses most colleges use D2L, sort of a hybrid forum type of system, although some IT courses might use a different format.
 
You should get your 4-year regardless but if you want it badly enough you can do both at the same time, it's what I'm doing anyways.

For online courses most colleges use D2L, sort of a hybrid forum type of system, although some IT courses might use a different format.

Gotcha, Yea I would like to do online courses if I could, but if not I will carry on to the 4 year school, and continue to work as the intern. I am getting a raise soon so that will help me alot.
 
I have a bit of differnt opinion on the degree, but most folks would indeed be better off getting there four year degree. I will give you a quick run down of my career in a nutshell just to share a real life I.T. experience if you will.

I am currently 27 years old and have been with the same company for 10 years now. I started building/repairing/diagnosing computer hardware/software in 7th grade..so had a decent background being built..then got into black hat hacking and learned an entire other world dealing with networks and such. I landed a job in the Information Technology department of a news paper where I live part time making $8.00/hr as a weekend AS400 Operator. AS400 is a type of main frame from IBM used for business type applications/data.

I started hanging out with the network folks quite a bit..learning lots about corporate based networks and all the programs that were in use in the building...I was also helping them in areas they were struggling in and in a matter of a year moved up to full time status as a "level one operator" making like $10.50/hr. About three years went by and my knowledge had grown by huge margins so was promoted to a "Systems Analyst". I had started applying for other jobs and was offered a NICE job as a Network Administrator with the city making money I thought I would never see unless I had a degree...I put my two weeks notice in only to be matched in pay and promised a raise in 6 months with my current company...needless to say I stayed loyal to my company.

Hands on experience vs schooling has worked GREAT for me...I have gained so much knowledge that I feel I would have never recieved in any degree/cert program. Like every other company there have been layoffs and our I.T. dept has been cut from 10 bodies to just three and I have managed to survive each round luckily. I cant report on how much I make so I will just say between $50,000-$70,000 to play it safe :p

I personally would try to get as much experience as possible and hopefully be able to work out school since you are half way there. I had six years of experience under my belt when I was offered the job by the city and the other few candidates I competed with all had info sys degrees..so that felt kind of nice.hah. I do plan to pickup a few certs though incase this economy gets worse...I say get a job when you can get it now days. My next goal is a Senior Systems Analyst. Good luck in your quest whichever path you decide to take and decide weather you want to be management or analyst..I will never ever want to be a manger so my path is set in analyst/admin work.
 
i live in seattle.

dont go the route of anything hardware (with the exception of design). you will never cap 40k

network admins will get you more, but plan on 60 to 70 hour work weeks, and being on call.

right now, i see computing programing as a high demand job out here. but once again be prepared for 60 to 70 hour weeks and remember that;s salary.

right now i do tech support for a backup software. I am at the enterprise level, and have government clearance. I wont say how much i make, but its double of what a typical techsupport person makes (60 to 80k)

what you have to find is a niche market.

im going for digital forensics.

if you get government clearance, you will see many doors open up
 
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