BA/MA in Liberal Arts, AA + Certs a good idea?

Town

I got my BA and MA in a liberal art, but have been wanting to get into the IT world. I started off college going down Computer Science and Computer Information Technology, so I have some classes under my belt. I'm thinking (due to financial reasons) about pursuing an Associates at a local community college and hopefully knocking out some certifications as I go.

Is this a good idea, or will not having a BS block me from the majority of jobs? Eventually getting a BS later isn't out of the question, but I'd prefer to work after an Associates for a couple years.

sysguy

I think having any bachelors puts you ahead of the competition. I would definitely push towards certs, as that will help alot in finding a job in it.

srabiee

I feel that because you have both a bachelors and a masters degree, going back and starting all over pursuing an associates degree is going to be a waste of time and money. You can leverage your degrees with certs and experience if you are determined, personable, and have good interview skills.

A bachelors program in CS or IT would be a viable option, but I recommend that you do the following instead:

1) Study and lab in your free time. This field often requires a significant amount of self-study and reading/labbing during your own free time. What path do you want to take in the IT world?
2) Work on certs pertaining to your intended path.
3) Get a job in IT and start obtaining some professional IT experience. IT Helpdesk, junior sysadmin, junior netadmin, etc. Experience is going to be crucial for you to climb the ladder and obtain higher paying positions in the future.

Your degrees being in another field isn't necessarily going to hinder you at all. Consider this...there are many people in the IT field who have NO degree (just a high school diploma) making very good money. Granted they have years of experience, but my point is, hard work is going to determine your success in this field.

majestic_pecan

I have a B.A. and M.A. in a liberal arts field and although I got some questions about it in interviews (e.g. "why do you want a job in IT instead of your degree major?") I still had lots of interviews and did end up landing a help desk job.
Just from my personal experience, though, if you are applying for entry and lower level jobs like help desk or desktop, I would avoid listing the M.A. on your resume. You could get the dreaded "overqualified" label.

Town

srabiee wrote: »

I feel that because you have both a bachelors and a masters degree, going back and starting all over pursuing an associates degree is going to be a waste of time and money. You can leverage your degrees with certs and experience if you are determined, personable, and have good interview skills.

A bachelors program in CS or IT would be a viable option, but I recommend that you do the following instead:

1) Study and lab in your free time. This field often requires a significant amount of self-study and reading/labbing during your own free time. What path do you want to take in the IT world?
2) Work on certs pertaining to your intended path.
3) Get a job in IT and start obtaining some professional IT experience. IT Helpdesk, junior sysadmin, junior netadmin, etc. Experience is going to be crucial for you to climb the ladder and obtain higher paying positions in the future.

Your degrees being in another field isn't necessarily going to hinder you at all. Consider this...there are many people in the IT field who have NO degree (just a high school diploma) making very good money. Granted they have years of experience, but my point is, hard work is going to determine your success in this field.

Thanks for your input, I think you are probably right. I was thinking about just goin for certs and using the internet/books to learn, but not having the formal classroom education worried me a bit. Just tentatively looking into jobs in IT I noticed people wanting an AA or BS in CS/IT, but I suppose impressing with certs could work.

Not totally sure which path I want to take yet. That was an advantage of doing some college coursework, since it could help narrow me down. I've noticed this forum has a lot of helpful information though, and I should probably try doing a few labs to better narrow it down.

Getting IT experience is one of my main concerns, but I'm sure if I keep at it something will eventually turn up.

Thanks again for the advice!

Town

majestic_pecan wrote: »

Just from my personal experience, though, if you are applying for entry and lower level jobs like help desk or desktop, I would avoid listing the M.A. on your resume. You could get the dreaded "overqualified" label.

Yeah, I've noticed thats a tight balance to walk. Thanks for the tip!