Certs VS Degree?

[Slaymate]

Every company is different. I'm not in the IT field, I draw Construction Plans, House Plans mostly. But with that said all I have is a High School Diploma and I've gotten jobs that require a degree.

Some people apply for jobs hoping a company will choose them whereas I choose what companies I'm willing to work for. If you know your stuff anything is possible. My last job, before I started my own business, was the Architect's Assistant with a large home builder (500+ homes a year). I did my job and made the Architect look fantastic, she was crazy about me. But I made sure I had something impressive going on whenever the owner walked by. In 6 months time I was the in-house architect and I was hiring an assistant.

 

[Brinson]

Online degrees are a scam that leave you with debt you can't repay because the degree isn't worth ****.

It will cost you like $10,000 a year in tuition to do most online colleges. A community college is $1,000 a year. They also offer classes online.

 

[ET/IT]

Per quarter, I'm paying $1,400 grand total, max. (with books even) And all of my classes are online, because that's the curriculum of the Community Colleges IT programs.

Now looking into other colleges in my area, IT programs are ALL becoming online exclusive degrees.... Just because the nature of the content, doesn't need to be done in a classroom setting.

Especially with the newer computer simulation softwares that are published with the textbooks.

And considering the fact classrooms are designed around CompTIA, ETA-I, UNIX, CISCO, Microsoft, and Sun Systems Certifications. All of which, are all online programs through the colleges (for credit towards a degree) with interactive forums specific to them, as well as simulation software that comes with the textbooks you buy.

Only additional cost (which for the college I'm at, I get a discount on) is testing fees for the actual Certifications themselves. (May well get them since I'm studying them)

 

[Lexluethar]

I've only read a few of the replies, but thought i'd give my two cents.

Apple to apples, a degree will get you much further in your career than certifications. You have to look at the big picture, a bachelors degree will not only improve your chances of getting a job in the field your bachelors is in, but it will give you a more well rounded educational background which will allow you to go into other fields if IT doesn't work out for you. An example would be if you had a bachelors in CIS (Computer information systems), you're 45 and get laid off (not uncommon in todays market) and you have a mortgage, family and retirement to think about. Having that bachelors degree will broaden your skill sets to where you could get a management job or other unrelated field because most employers just look for a degree, not so much at what the degree is in. Now pretend you're that same 45 year old without a degree and you just have certifications, heck image you had your MCSE or MCITP, companies outside of the IT industry probably aren't going to give your resume a second look. You've just pigeoned-holed yourself and made it to where you can only get IT jobs (or at least made your life much more difficult in job hunting).

With that said i realize every situation is different, if you can't afford the time or money for a bachelors certifications are definitely a viable option, but if you have the choice get a degree first, then work on your certifications.

 

[timmyjo81]

Well I already have a bachelors degree.. Graphic design. So I am looking into community colleges with online Degrees in IT havent found any yet. I work full time as a designer so I really dont want to have to go to class at night 2-3 times a week to get a degree. Even then it will take too long.

 

[new2IT]

Where you get your degree is probably the most important question to be asking. If you think a degree you get from some online website is going to be respected as one from say CalTech or MIT you're kidding yourself. Even Devry and ITT degrees aren't respected nearly as much as one from a highly reputable university. I'm guessing your like a lot of people, myself included, and just don't have the time to go to a college like that. I know a lot here probably will disagree with me but in my opinion the degrees ITT tech and Devry offer are not worth their value considering how ridiculously expensive they are. They might help you land your first tech job as I'm sure they have helped at least a few people out there....but they both come with a lot of baggage in the form of terrible reviews in terms of quality teaching and ability to obtain work after graduating. Personally, I'm not convinced these are degrees held with much esteem by potential employers so with that said I wouldn't even think of taking out a 30+k loan to go to either of those schools.

As for certifications, they really not that hard to get if you know the information. If you are going to take the time to get a degree why not take a little more time out to study for these tests? A reputable degree is going to take at least 4 years to obtain, certs can be obtained within months depending on how much you study.

I would suggest the local community college route. If you are interested in networking try to find out if they have a Cisco Network Academy and get into that. Also try to find out if a local community college offers internships. This is the route I took and halfway through my networking class I landed a networking job. Total college costs were less than $100 (would have been $500-600 if it weren't for a tuition waiver California students can get). I would like a bachelors degree, but at least I've got my foot in the door and in this economy that can be a hard enough task!

**Edit, Sorry, I didn't mean to rehash a month old thread. I didn't even realize it was 6 pages long until just now.....ugh...I think I need sleep!