Computer Science, engineering or mathematics

So I was never considered someone who was going to go far in school. Until I got into the Cisco academy in Highschool I pretty much was told I was going to be a holding a shovel my hole life. Nothing wrong with any job as long as its honest work.

But I did better because of Cisco. I have a decent place to live, food in the fridge, and clothing on my back. That's pretty good considering where I came from. I graduated with an IT degree and am currently working on a MSIA with DSU.

But a lot of the jobs I want to move towards want programming. Or a CS degree.

I've had a lot of doors shut in my face because of this and that only makes me want in even more. It's not just about having a bigger paycheck, its about just moving forward intellectually. I can't spend my entire life bouncing switchports, editing ACLS and firewall rules. I could but....I want more. I know I need to keep going with cisco, but that's not the only thing that keeps me employed. obviously raw initiative is what really counts in life.

Would a associates degree in mathematics or computer science open those doors?

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TheFORCE

You already have a degree in IT, another degree in CS I don't think will make a huge difference considering the job posting I see have something along the lines of "X degree or equivalent", meaning that as long as you have a degree closely related to the one they are asking you should be fine. IT degrees are closely related. What jobs are you applying to? You can learn programming on your own if you wish to go the programming route, you already have the experience and already enrolled in a MSIA program.

doctorlexus

Math is a wonderful tool, but I can tell you first hand that it's not very employable by itself. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably get my degree in electrical engineering. It just opens up more possibilities. In CS, there's not really any regulation of the field, i.e. you can get a CS job with a degree in something else or perhaps no degree. But you can't get an electrical engineering job without a degree specifically in electrical engineering. This means it's far more probable an EE will be able to go out and do CS than a CS person going out and doing EE.

If you just want pure options, go for engineering. And since you already have a bachelors, you're much better off jumping into a graduate program.

DoubleNNs

Or pick up a free/cheap online Python class.

Or take the Linux+ next - you'll widen your skill set and it's impossible to learn the Linux CLI (bash shell) w/o learning at least basic scripting/programming. The 2nd half of the Linux+ asks a few scripting questions and if you stick w/ Linux you'll undoubtedly learn bash shell scripting w/o really putting in extra effort.

There are easy ways to learn scripting/programming w/o going back to school. And even tho the skill is included in a lot of job descriptions, I've found that most of my coworkers who claim to know scripting/programming (but aren't Programmers/Software Developers) kinda suck at it

??:. Even some coworkers who are Programmers by position title have a hard time translating real-world problems/requests into useful code. So just knowing some basic for loops, regex, and crude text parsing can get you extremely far, since you don't have to know much to be better than the competition.

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ -- Learn to automate basic computer tasks w/ Python

http://linuxcommand.org/ -- learn Linux commandline and Shell Scripting

https://www.edx.org/ -- MOOC website

If you're interested in more resources, I have TONS of other links and additional advice I can provide.

jdancer

You'll be better off getting certificates of completion from Coursera, Udacity, codeacademy.com, etc, instead.

Then publish your programming code on Github. Put your certificates and Github URL link on your resume.

For example, I am learning the Go programming language and I am converting a game into Go.

Another option is to volunteer your programming skills to organizations and put that on your resume as well.

evarney

I get the feeling that the BS in computer science is well, bs. I do. But at a community college the cost is dwarfed by the skills if its a good class.

I will try to look at all this programming/scripting stuff. I don't want to be the guy who gets old, and ends up at a help desk

evarney

DoubleNNs wrote: »

Or pick up a free/cheap online Python class.

Or take the Linux+ next - you'll widen your skill set and it's impossible to learn the Linux CLI (bash shell) w/o learning at least basic scripting/programming. The 2nd half of the Linux+ asks a few scripting questions and if you stick w/ Linux you'll undoubtedly learn bash shell scripting w/o really putting in extra effort.

There are easy ways to learn scripting/programming w/o going back to school. And even tho the skill is included in a lot of job descriptions, I've found that most of my coworkers who claim to know scripting/programming (but aren't Programmers/Software Developers) kinda suck at it ??:. Even some coworkers who are Programmers by position title have a hard time translating real-world problems/requests into useful code. So just knowing some basic for loops, regex, and crude text parsing can get you extremely far, since you don't have to know much to be better than the competition.

https://automatetheboringstuff.com/ -- Learn to automate basic computer tasks w/ Python

LinuxCommand.org: Learn the Linux command line. Write shell scripts. -- learn Linux commandline and Shell Scripting

https://www.edx.org/ -- MOOC website

If you're interested in more resources, I have TONS of other links and additional advice I can provide.

I am a self starter with technologies I already partially get, like going from Cisco networking to Juniper, data center Nexus stuff etc. But I really just need someone to mentor me on writing code. Growing up I fell behind in mathematics and had a remedial class because I had a crappy situation in 9th grade. Three math teachers in one year messed me up, being bullied and then my home life was challenging around that time so I fell behind.

I need to be able to grasp Trig, Calculus and it may require a redux of college algebra. I hate failing at stuff.

going back and relearning C++, and getting through the advanced programming class that I dropped because the teacher was really hard is also a goal.

ajs1976

Math resources:

https://www.aleks.com/

https://www.khanacademy.org/

sj4088

You already have one degree. I don't see a reason to get another. You'd be better off just learning how to program on your own. It will be quicker and FAR cheaper.

DoubleNNs

You don't need math to do basic automation/scripting. If you can do the math required for subnetting in your head (which I'm sure you can, seeing how you have 4 separate networking certs), you know enough math for scripting.

I strongly recommend picking up Linux. You can SSH/telnet from a Linux box to your Cisco/Juniper equipment and VNC/RDP if needed. You can start w/ small one-liners that help you grab info from your networking equipment -- SSH into 10 Cisco switches, find out how many of the ports are used/free, and output the results to a neatly formatted file. You can do that w/ basic Linux commands. Then from there you can create more complicated scripts and then even go past the stage of gathering info and begin automating the configuration of your devices.

Then you can pick up another easy to learn, yet powerful, language such as Python, Ruby, Go, JS etc and use it for scripting. And/Or begin moving away from small scripts and get into more development work of full applications.

Scripting/Programming isn't as difficult as many people make it out to be, especially if you use some of the easier to learn scripting languages that are popular today. A lot of the core Computer Science topics you learn in a more academic setting are VERY beneficial to know, but are FAR, FAR from necessary to get started. Especially w/ the wealth of modules and open source code available today, you don't need to know complex algorithms because most of the time you'd just be reinventing the wheel.

UnixGuy

I have a Computer engineering degree and can tell you that while I learned tons of math and programming at uni, you don't need the degree at this point in your career. Pick a language, say Python, and learn everything about it. I've seen guys learn it in few months and get jobs.

Just keep in mind that you're doing some sort of career change, so you will starting from the bottom...and I don't think a career in programming is more intellectually stimulating than a career in networking/infrastructure...apples and oranges...