Will I be able to get a job?

David333

I'm planning on enrolling in the second bachelors in information technology at umass and it will take me exactly 2 years to complete. I have decided to do this instead of a masters because of the time commitment a masters would take and I would rather get an MBA down the road. The problem is pretty much all the help desk, it support, and desktop support jobs require a bachelors in my area. will I have a shot at these jobs if I get some certificates and put down that I am attending a bachelors in IT?

Squished

So you already have 1 bachelors? If so, regardless of what it's in, DO NOT go get a second! Go for that Master's. I just enrolled in a Master's program at WGU for an MBA in IT Management and they seem to think I can do it in 10 or so months, maybe faster.

If your Bachelor's is not in IT, go grab a few certificates, at the minimum A+, and you should have no problem at all getting a help desk or IT support role. Especially if you're working towards a Master's.

This is just my opinion but I just don't see the value in 2 bachelor's!

jamshid666

Although going for the master's is an option, there are a couple advantages to a second bachelors. You should have met all of the general education requirements from the first bachelors, so in theory you would only be taking the classes specific to your major. Depending on the degree program, some of your business classes may even count as major electives if the IT program you are looking at includes a business management aspect to it. The other advantage is that the cost of a second bachelors degree should be cheaper than going for the masters degree.

Squished

jamshid666 wrote: »

Although going for the master's is an option, there are a couple advantages to a second bachelors. You should have met all of the general education requirements from the first bachelors, so in theory you would only be taking the classes specific to your major. Depending on the degree program, some of your business classes may even count as major electives if the IT program you are looking at includes a business management aspect to it. The other advantage is that the cost of a second bachelors degree should be cheaper than going for the masters degree.

WGU Master's is going to cost me $8,000 for two terms assuming I can finish in 2 and getting $4k in scholarships. Total cost is $4k for a Master's. Hard to beat that. After reading and understanding about competency based education, I'll never go back to traditional.

David333

jamshid666 wrote: »

Although going for the master's is an option, there are a couple advantages to a second bachelors. You should have met all of the general education requirements from the first bachelors, so in theory you would only be taking the classes specific to your major. Depending on the degree program, some of your business classes may even count as major electives if the IT program you are looking at includes a business management aspect to it. The other advantage is that the cost of a second bachelors degree should be cheaper than going for the masters degree.

Its only 30 credits, the only reason it's gonna take 2 years is I will be working. There are only really 2 masters in IT , management and cybersecurity and I am not interested in either. Maybe a MBA down the road though

Danielm7

What's your current BS in? What part of IT are you trying to get in?

denis92

Danielm7 wrote: »

What's your current BS in? What part of IT are you trying to get in?

my degree is in physics and I am trying to get into either system administration or networking.

rensational

All of the help desk and desktop support jobs in your area require a related BA or BS? I have a hard time believing that and would guess you haven't explored every channel there is for getting one of those jobs where you live. But I can only speak about where I've lived. I have a BA already in a totally unrelated field and have gotten help desk and tech support jobs, and I now do work that is more so web content management and web development. Both of those jobs involved a lot of networking-related issues, and I could have used either job to advance to a networking position had I wanted to (not interested in networking). In fact, the place where I did help desk, at least two or three of my co-workers used help desk to advance to other positions in IT at the same company. One co-worker had a History degree, and the other two were kind of old guys.

In my opinion--and, again, it may depend on where one lives, but--the majority of help desk and desktop support jobs are entry-level IT jobs that don't pay well enough to justify going back to school for a BA/BS or even for a MA/MS, even if it's something like WGU that doesn't have to cost that much money. The fact that they don't pay that well is why some of those employers will hire someone with no degree and/or little related experience. If you really feel like a BA/BS is the only way in based on where you live, then go back to school. Once you have the degree, will you 100% get a job afterwards, though? No. All of a sudden, you'll find yourself applying and not hearing anything or getting turned down because you don't have any related work experience, for example. You go around in circles with employers nowadays with ridiculous catch-22s, but there's always that one out there who will let your foot in the door--probably not going to pay you well, but you take it and use it to your advantage to move forward.