G.e.d

Hey guys,

I'm just wondering if all these certifications I am trying to get would be in vain if I only have a G.E.D instead of a High school Diploma / College Degree. Has anyone had any experience with this? I've considered going to colleague for an associates degree, just so I can get rid of the GED on my Resume. But at the same time, that feels like a huge waste of time and money if I can focus on Certifications instead.

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networker050184

You should definitely further your education if you can. The more things going for you the better.

That being said you can be successful with a GED. That's all I have. I don't list any education on my resume. I've been asked about education maybe once or twice my entire career.

Trucido

I've always thought the Education part of your Resume was required. I'll keep that in mind. At this time I don't have the money to go to college, but if I got a decent job after I get CCNA / CCNP then I would definitely go.

DatabaseHead

No it's not in vain. GED is fine to be honest. Go ahead with your certification journey, down the road IF you want go for your associate/bachelors.

Some advice...... Don't go to college TO GET RID of your GED, go because you want to learn a skill. I'd rather get a quality associate degree than some trash from a 4 year.

markulous

I wouldn't really see the difference between a GED and a high school diploma for this career field. Having it won't take away from your certs.

I'd still recommend getting a BS though. A lot of places will have requirements to have it and it gives you a little leverage when negotiating your salary also.

Trucido

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Some advice...... Don't go to college TO GET RID of your GED, go because you want to learn a skill. I'd rather get a quality associate degree than some trash from a 4 year.

Yeah, down the road I would get something in the Computer Science / Information Security, maybe programming classes too.

markulous wrote: »

I wouldn't really see the difference between a GED and a high school diploma for this career field. Having it won't take away from your certs.

I'd still recommend getting a BS though. A lot of places will have requirements to have it and it gives you a little leverage when negotiating your salary also.

Thank you for the advice!

4_lom

I recommend attending college. Several college's provide degree programs that have certifications as part of the curriculum. With that being said, you should look into the bachelor's degree programs at WGU. I highly recommend this school.

Earn Your Online IT Degree at WGU | Online IT Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

4_lom

Also, where do you want to go with your career? What are your interests? i.e. systems, security, networking, cloud, etc

I should also mention that my salary increased by 30% once I finished by Bachelors. Just a selling point for you

Cisco Inferno

Work on your education. You will struggle without that nor certifications.

I recently kept getting denied without an A.A (I have my GED).
Once I got my A.A, everyone started caring all of a sudden.
Its not good enough. I am working on my BS because I've also been turned down plenty of times for JUST having an associate's.

At least enroll part time. Having this filling a few lines on your resume is better than no section at all. Just list expected grad date. Also, your school may have classes involving certs such as the A+, N+, S+ and CCNA. There are also fast track A.S degrees that will be more tech focused. So look into that. You also have the opportunity to work for the school for easy experience. You will also be able to get placed into entry jobs.

I rather hire someone who is pushing through school than someone who just stopped and wanted to get certs. Schooling, even a 2 year degree, shows that you are able to handle deadlines and some level of responsibility; that you are able to learn and interact with superiors and peers alike.
Learning is a skill to be learned itself. School is great for this especially with in state tuition costs, state and pell grants. Community College is incredibly cheap compared to other means.

Lastly, I recommend going to "college" and not "colleague".
Feel free to ask us any questions you have. If you need any "advice", we will try our best to "advise" you.

Trucido

4_lom

Thank you for that information and advice!

I'm interested in Network engineering / System admin. CCNP/CCIE are my overall goals.

powerfool

I started off in IT with only a GED. It was a rough go for a while which motivated me to get certifications (because I could do that more quickly) and then further my education. For people in this situation, I think the feeling of urgency is rather common, so I was taking a full-time course load in the evenings after work. I ended up getting a couple of contract jobs at the beginning and one led to a good full-time job that had tuition reimbursement; the pay wasn't great but it was good for where I was. I stayed there until halfway through my BS and things opened up significantly at that point in terms of pay and opportunities.

My advice is manage your education expenses the best you can. Also, give yourself a break by finding the path of least resistance. I took a semester and a half (summer session) at a community college until I figured out where I wanted to go. Look for credit for examination options (CLEP, DANTES, etc.), and don't overload yourself. For instance, I always only did between 6-8 credit hours during the summer that had split sessions where classes met twice as long per week for half as many weeks... those were for my math and science classes so I focused only on the one class at a time there. During the regular semester, I took as many accelerated courses as possible (the school I went to had a business-related program that was accelerated and the classes mirrored up with the school of business programs, like information systems); I took between 6-9 credit hours a semester of those and then a 3-4 credit hour traditional course.

There are a lot of options, even for those not going the online route. Just make sure you look before you leap.

EDIT: For what its worth, there is light at the end of the tunnel. I was in a similar situation and I now have many significant industry recognized certifications, a BS, and an MS. You can do it.

Trucido

Thank you Powerfool, i'll keep that in mind in my journey!

stryder144

Just a thought...if you can't afford college look into WGU (as 4_lom mentioned). You will probably qualify for the full Pell Grant, which covers all but a few hundred dollars a year of WGU's tuition (I believe the full Pell Grant is roughly $5700/per year and WGU's tuition is roughly $6000/per year). So you should still be able to move toward a degree, if you are interested in following that path. Just remember, you have to be in IT or have at least one or two IT certifications to get accepted. Once accepted, you will get certifications included with the tuition (they are essentially the final exams for several classes).

Another source of inexpensive college credits is available at Saylor.

Trucido

Hey thanks Cisco Inferno for the advice!!!

Did I spell colleague? Ugh, my bad. I write 'colleague' all day for my current job

@Stryder114

Thank you, i'll look into that!

Cisco Inferno

What city do you live in Trucido?

marcellis

I highly recommend getting a college degree. It brings a lot of versatility to the table in terms of both short term and long term promotions. The only case I've seen where college can be substituted (not all situations) is if you have enough years of military experience in the Information Technology field. Even then, expect to hit a wall without a degree at some point in your career.

Trucido

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

What city do you live in Trucido?

Columbus, OH

Trucido

marcellis wrote: »

I highly recommend getting a college degree. It brings a lot of versatility to the table in terms of both short term and long term promotions.

Thank you for the input! I'm leaning towards getting a degree along the way.

As everyone's saying it seems a degree will only help. Just a matter of paying for a degree now :P

Thank you everyone.

Remedymp

I also have my GED. But, I can only speak of my city that has GED programs connected with the colleges. If you take the GED program at a community or state college, then they enroll you into the college as well and I believe you receive a credit for it. If you can get into a Year Up program, do it.

Year Up - Closing the Opportunity Divide

powerfool

As far a paying for school, there are many employers out there that offer tuition assistance programs, even for part-time folks. Starbucks offers their program with Arizona State University Online, Anthem and many others participate with a program linked to Southern New Hampshire University.

Community college would likely be less than Pell Grant benefit for you... and many community colleges have scholarships for folks that graduate and move on to bachelor programs.

There are so many options out there today... for folks starting school today, there is a way to leave college without debt.

If you have out of pocket expenses, consider "washing" them through a 529 program (Ohio has one) so that you can use that money tax free... beyond what ever tax credits you can get. This is just a matter of seeing you have $X expense, put the money in the 529, then withdraw it to pay... you get the extra write off.

EDIT: Also, you might consider looking for a job at a school. They generally give you some kind of education benefit and can generally offer some flexibility if you are taking classes.

josephandre

www.straighterline.com is your friend. cheap, quick transferrable college courses and the catalog is ever-expanding.

Good luck

Trucido

You guys are all amazing, thank you so much for your input!!

AwesomeGarrett

Trucido wrote: »

Columbus, OH

Have you lived here long?

Trucido

AwesomeGarrett wrote: »

Have you lived here long?

My whole life. Why?

Dojiscalper

Hey another Buckeye! I moved from there to the south a couple years back. FYI in +20yrs I've never been questioned about HS, GED, college, etc just certs and experience.

abey1st

Does anyone know if credit acquired from saylor.org is acceptable by WGU? and if yes do we have anyone in this forum who has done it before? please give details

thomas_

Someone else mentioned taking CLEP tests, which I also highly recommend. What tests get accepted varies from college to college, but it's a good way to knock out some of your lower-level classes. I was able to use 5 of them towards my degree which shaved off a semester for my degree. A lot of teachers just teach from the text book and the publisher's slides, so you're not missing much by just studying and taking the exam.

abey1st

Thanks Thomas_. When you said I was able to use 5 of them" are you talking about using credit acquired from saylor.org at WGU? If yes which courses?

stryder144

WGU considers ACE recommendations for college credit, as per this site and they are a partner with Saylor. Here is WGU's Saylor credit transfer page. So, as long as the course matches up with a course offered by WGU, they should give you credit for it. WGU makes the final determination, so I would contact them directly in order to find out which courses that Saylor offers are acceptable for credit.

volfkhat

Trucido wrote: »

I'm just wondering if all these certifications I am trying to get would be in vain if I only have a G.E.D instead of a High school Diploma / College Degree. Has anyone had any experience with this? I've considered going to colleague for an associates degree, just so I can get rid of the GED on my Resume. But at the same time, that feels like a huge waste of time and money if I can focus on Certifications instead.

my 2 cents:
College ain't for everyone.
(Sorry... but it's not)

And many parts of I.T. could be better taught from a Trade/Vocational school, imo.
(blasphemy, i'm sure)

How old are you?
It sounds like you are just starting your journey.
Do you have any pc experience already?
Do you have a passion/interest for it?

If you are trying to break into IT from the bottom... go get a parttime-job somewhere, and work towards those certs you listed.
Depending on your situation (wife, family, rent, or living with mom/pop) you might also consider enrolling in Community College.
Work towards your 2-year Associates degree.

But ONLY go that way if your are COMMITED to following through. (be honest with yourself)

Trucido

@volfkhat

How old are you? --- 27
It sounds like you are just starting your journey. --- Certification wise, yes.
Do you have any pc experience already? Yes ive been working Technical Support/Help desk since 2011
Do you have a passion/interest for it? I love I.T. I've never had network engineer/sys admin experience, but I feel like its where I want to be career wise.

At this point I feel like I am not going directly for a degree, because entry level network engineer/ect should accept a G.E.D. Later in my career it would be harder to get promoted or senior level jobs with only a GED. So i've got some time to weigh my options with college.