A.A degree + certs tech college enough?

Ok hers my situation.. a little info on me first.

im 18, going to a local tech college. The program is for 15 months, 10 mods of 6 weeks each. They dont require you to take the certification tests but suggest it allllot.. for obvious reasons. They dont offer cisco, just comptia and microsoft. If you work your ass off for 15 months you should finish with a+, security+, net+, mcp (70-270), either mcsa or very close to it, and an associates of applied science in network information systems. I live in maryland, which is a very expensive place to live.. expecially around baltimore and DC... but on the other hand there are alot of IT jobs.

Lets say I get all of the certs and the A.A degree with very good grades.. good attendance and all that. I was hoping to get a job around 40-50k a year with opportunity for promotions/raises. After reading a bit in this job forum it seems like the market is flooded with "IT professionals".. with the education/certs/A.A degree i plan to get here.. will it be enough or am I going to have to start at a university for a bachelors or even masters?? I hope not, because i realllly need to move out lol. Even 35k a year would be decent for me. Think its possible with just those certs and a basic degree?

any help/suggestions would be great.

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Comments

supertechCETma

Your stated objectives coupled with a good amount of initiative, determination and motivation should make you quite employable. Just realize that nobody is going to hand you a job. Work closely with your school's career counselors and inquire about any intern or coop programs while you are still in school. I cannot overstate the importance that good grades will play in your success. Best of luck.

NinjaBoy

What supertechCETma said,

supertechCETma wrote:

Your stated objectives coupled with a good amount of initiative, determination and motivation should make you quite employable. Just realize that nobody is going to hand you a job. Work closely with your school's career counselors and inquire about any intern or coop programs while you are still in school. I cannot overstate the importance that good grades will play in your success. Best of luck.

One thing that I would like to add is that normally the first job that anyone gets in IT will be a low paid job (for example my first IT job was £12,000 per year, approx $24,000), but after you get 6 months to a years experience combine that with the certs and degree your studying, your salary with shoot up

-ken

kenny504

In this industry you are handed 2 tokens....Experience and cash..The nievety of most persons tend to influence the cash part.....but if you look at how the industry is going....Experience is the most important. Good or bad experience..as long as you work with people and learn from all of ure experiences. See you can have masters degree with 12 certs but if you cant work with people you wont be credible to any company..you might get a nice salary for a few months or so..but you have to know how to work with people. That comes with experience..thats y college is also good sometimes in i.t because you have opportune time to work with your peers.

As for you....well you remind me of me when i was first starting out....I'm 18 now but i feel in love with the industry from 15...got A+ and Net+ at 17 and CCNA at 18....I'm going to hv sec+ by the end of this hear and also my C |EH .Because you are young and you have a plan it is so much easier for us. However when you get your A.A dont have your hand out for 40-50k because thats called a progressive income point and you dnt get that straight out of college even with certs. Find yourself in an arena where you can learn and experience i.t because i.t is way more than cables, networks, and pc's. Alot of social and communication skills are very important and college can help you with that but real-world clients can make you an expert.

Good luck in all you endeavors buddy.

blargoe

You probably aren't going to land that kind of money with your first job. If you make your "first job" a part time/internship/contract/volunteer/apprenticeship gig WHILE YOU ARE STILL IN SCHOOL and have some real world experience when you get out of school you will be in much, much, much, much better shape.

DeJay

If you don't get your bachelors now you will regret it later. An 18 year old doesn't understand this, but a 30 year old does.

JDMurray

The sooner you get your bachelors degree the sooner you will be qualified for jobs that require you to have one. You can wait until you are interested in moving into management before getting your Masters.

manny355

You should get the Bachelors degree but wait for the masters degree until you are firmly in the industry. Reason being is that a Masters degree is generally for those looking at management positions...right out of college you can't expect to go right into management supervisor experienced technicians....it may happen but highly unlikely.

Also, when choosing your Masters degree, think about Business instead of IT...especially if your Bachelors is in IT. Think about being well rounded. The only advanced IT training you need after a Bachelors involve certifications, use your MBA to make the jump from working stiff to corporate exec. jmho

drakhan2002

Good luck on getting 40K in your first job. Most people who graduate college with Bachelors are lucky to make that. And most entry-level job seekers are delusional, thinking they are going to make all of this money right out of school.

I started my first job making $13/hour – that's $26,000 per year. I had a Bachelors to boot. Granted, I've worked my way up the ladder a bit and make nearly 3 and half times that, I also have 15 years of experience under my belt.

I recently spoke with a younger guy who has been working for 2 years out of college with a Bachelors. He is making 40K now (started at 35K). He couldn't understand why people who were 10 years older than him were making two and half times as much. I told him it is about experience.

The good news for you, however, is that the job market is growing in the IT space. You should be able to get a decent job with a decent wage (30-40K) right out of school. But don't expect much more...get a few years under your belt and you'll be make a healthy living.

You should check Monster.com and see what businesses are offering for entry-level positions in IT in your area. Maybe call a local unemployment office...they might have some data for you as well.

mengo17

manny355 wrote:

You should get the Bachelors degree but wait for the masters degree until you are firmly in the industry. Reason being is that a Masters degree is generally for those looking at management positions...right out of college you can't expect to go right into management supervisor experienced technicians....it may happen but highly unlikely.

Also, when choosing your Masters degree, think about Business instead of IT...especially if your Bachelors is in IT. Think about being well rounded. The only advanced IT training you need after a Bachelors involve certifications, use your MBA to make the jump from working stiff to corporate exec. jmho

I did BS in Management Info Systems with concentration in Info Security.
I am thinking about doing a MS in Info Sec. I don't like the idea of going to school and study Business. I think both degrees are good to have.
I believe I can move to executive status by having a MBA or having an MS in InfoSec.
There is not better choice, is about doing what you like and trying to achieve your goals. An InfoSec guy trying to move to upper mngmnt, what would be better ? MS in InfoSec or MBA ? Why ? Please give me facts !!!

BTW, I do respect your opinion.

royal

I agree with pretty much what everyone stated here. Get a bachelor's now and make sure you do ithe part time/internship/contract/volunteer/apprenticeship gig as Blargoe stated. You'll be able to land a decent/good job when you graduate. From there, you can begin to get some certifications under your belt. Eventually, after some good experience and certifications, you can do your master's degree or whatever you want. It's exactly what I plan on doing. I eventually want to go for my master's degree to move up the corporate ladder. Maybe in 5-10 years or so I am thinking.

famosbrown

Don't be discouraged about how much you MIGHT make after getting your degree. There are PLENTY of graduates who will and did come out of college making more than 50K, and I am an example. It all depends on your degree. My degree taught me a lot of programming and there aren't many certifications for programming, so my first gig salary was pretty good coming out of college. Waht you make will depend on what the company is willing to pay you. Search through the forums and you will see many who have shared their stories about getting a nice high paying job without the experience some say that you need to make money. The degree and certs will get you the interview, then it is up to you to get the job. There are many who learn so much while going through school or studying for certs without experience, but they can do the job. I'm repeating myself again on this forum...apply, apply, apply. The only thing they can say is yes or no. Some companies will even bring you in just because you are a good person, good with people, great communication, etc., and will train you up on the techincal stuff that you may be missing. There is NOONE that will start a NEW job and be able to do EVERYTHING. There will be certain applications you will have to learn, different techniques, etc. You might be used Dell PowerEdge servers, but your new job uses HP Proliants, or you might be used to Group Policy, but your new job uses Desktop Authority, different remote applications, custom apps, etc. Don't be afraid to apply for those jobs asking for the "PERFECT" candidate with all of the experience. If you feel that you can do the job, or learn some of the things quickly, apply. Your education will get you the interview, but it is up to you to get the job offer.

Myself and others who have posted are examples. Everyone has to start somewhere, and sometimes starting isn't necessarily low paying. When I was a Supervisor, my Help Desk staff hourly rate started at 20 bucks an hour...some of them only had a couple of certs, some clueless but good personality, some no experience, etc. The jobs are out there and don't believe that they are just for the experienced. Good luck!!

EDIT: By the way, a degree and certs will land you an interview for the jobs offering the amount of money you want, but what you learn thorugh attaining those educational achievements will get you the job. Anyone can **** their way through, but when it comes time for the interview when you are asked technical questions or asked to perform a task, you will have the chance to back up what you have and land you that job amongst the others. I only say this because we recently had job interviews for a Network Administrator, and a guy had his MCSE 2000, CCNA, Net+, A+, and 6 years of experience, but couldn't tell us what Raid 0,1, and 5 were. Nor could he tell us what OSPF stood for. Those are only a couple of examples, but stuff like this weeds out those who have the certs but don't know much, and those with certs who has learned and retained a lot. Of course this guy hasn't looked at the stuff in a long time since he has been doing Help Desk for the last couple of years, but when you present your certification, there are certain things employers will expect you to know.

eltoro

cymerman wrote:

manny355 wrote:

You should get the Bachelors degree but wait for the masters degree until you are firmly in the industry. Reason being is that a Masters degree is generally for those looking at management positions...right out of college you can't expect to go right into management supervisor experienced technicians....it may happen but highly unlikely.

Also, when choosing your Masters degree, think about Business instead of IT...especially if your Bachelors is in IT. Think about being well rounded. The only advanced IT training you need after a Bachelors involve certifications, use your MBA to make the jump from working stiff to corporate exec. jmho

I did BS in Management Info Systems with concentration in Info Security.
I am thinking about doing a MS in Info Sec. I don't like the idea of going to school and study Business. I think both degrees are good to have.
I believe I can move to executive status by having a MBA or having an MS in InfoSec.
There is not better choice, is about doing what you like and trying to achieve your goals. An InfoSec guy trying to move to upper mngmnt, what would be better ? MS in InfoSec or MBA ? Why ? Please give me facts !!!

BTW, I do respect your opinion.

Here are the facts from US department of labor " MIS programs usually are part of the business school or college and differ considerably from computer science programs, emphasizing business and management-oriented coursework and business computing courses. Employers increasingly seek individuals with a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), with a concentration in information systems, as more firms move their business to the Internet. For some network systems and data communication analysts, such as webmasters, an associate degree or certificate is sufficient, although more advanced positions might require a computer-related bachelor’s degree." for more info...http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos042.htm

famosbrown

eltoro wrote:

cymerman wrote:

manny355 wrote:

You should get the Bachelors degree but wait for the masters degree until you are firmly in the industry. Reason being is that a Masters degree is generally for those looking at management positions...right out of college you can't expect to go right into management supervisor experienced technicians....it may happen but highly unlikely.

Also, when choosing your Masters degree, think about Business instead of IT...especially if your Bachelors is in IT. Think about being well rounded. The only advanced IT training you need after a Bachelors involve certifications, use your MBA to make the jump from working stiff to corporate exec. jmho

I did BS in Management Info Systems with concentration in Info Security.
I am thinking about doing a MS in Info Sec. I don't like the idea of going to school and study Business. I think both degrees are good to have.
I believe I can move to executive status by having a MBA or having an MS in InfoSec.
There is not better choice, is about doing what you like and trying to achieve your goals. An InfoSec guy trying to move to upper mngmnt, what would be better ? MS in InfoSec or MBA ? Why ? Please give me facts !!!

BTW, I do respect your opinion.

Here are the facts from US department of labor " MIS programs usually are part of the business school or college and differ considerably from computer science programs, emphasizing business and management-oriented coursework and business computing courses. Employers increasingly seek individuals with a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), with a concentration in information systems, as more firms move their business to the Internet. For some network systems and data communication analysts, such as webmasters, an associate degree or certificate is sufficient, although more advanced positions might require a computer-related bachelor’s degree." for more info...http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos042.htm

That's what I would do if I would pursue my Masters...MBA with concentration in I.T. I received enough CS in my MIS degree. I took the same exact curriculum as the CS majors, but while they were taking a bunch of advanced math courses, science courses, and a few engineering courses, I was off taking all of the Business core classes reqired for all school of business majors (Marketing, Finance, Management, e-Commerce, etc.) I think my MIS curriculum would help me out with all of the advanced business courses (graduate level) since the foundation was laid at the undergraduate level. Most of those courses begin with the assumption that you have the knowledge of the material from undergraduate. Depends on what school you go to...that is why the school you attend for a Master's degree and higher is VERY important in the Real-World.