University

I'm thinking of going to get a degree in some area of IT. Any recommendations or anyone with a degree that has helped them?

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TonyDuffy

I'm doing my CCNA in networking at university mate , 30k plus a year after that sounds pretty good ,

nel

TonyDuffy wrote:

I'm doing my CCNA in networking at university mate , 30k plus a year after that sounds pretty good ,

Ha! dont do it for the wage figures which get banded around. NOthing is guranteed. Infact i know a few people in networking which have not broke the £30K mark. Its definately possible but not guaranteed.

Do something you enjoy and want a career in! many degree's give you a broad range in the early years to see what you like but if you know go straight for it.

Im doing a network computing degree and i dont do much networking believe it or not! haha...thats academics for you!

m.j.boylin

Na... I would'nt go to University. It's expensive and will cost you in the long run. Just work your way up through your job. Easily could be earning £30k after a few years WITH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS YOU HAVE.

MonkeyBolt

Ha! dont do it for the wage figures which get banded around

Say if i was doing it to get a potential higher wage would you recommend going to uni or just going through the ranks learning with experience and gaining more qualifications here and there?

nel

MonkeyBolt wrote:

Ha! dont do it for the wage figures which get banded around

Say if i was doing it to get a potential higher wage would you recommend going to uni or just going through the ranks learning with experience and gaining more qualifications here and there?

Hi mate,

University many years ago was only for certain people who had money or could luckily get in using grants etc. Now univeristy (in many countries) is the defacto - meaning pretty much everyone has one.

In the UK its the norm to get an honours degree minimum and many large companies wont entertain you without one. this doesnt mean you cant get anywhere but a degree is a very useful thing to have - its not EVERYTHING but its a good starting point and you can build upon it. some big companies like RBS or google wont hire you unless you have a certain level of degree. I know RBS is a 2:1 honours degree.

There has been many discussions here about degree's vs certs and theres no def answer. i would (and will) get both.

i started work at 16 in IT, done an apprenticeship, left my original place, moved into a big company and worked my way up. I started as a trainee and now i am network specialist for our division (only recently but im still proud to get there). I am also doing my degree PT whilst i am working FT in my job. I would have more certs but my degree's took precedence. but im getting both experiance and qualifications - it takes more time to do the degree PT but its better than not having one.

That is an example of both working my way up and doing a degree - it goes hand in hand.

Do your degree now whilst your young!

shednik

m.j.boylin wrote:

Na... I would'nt go to University. It's expensive and will cost you in the long run. Just work your way up through your job. Easily could be earning £30k after a few years WITH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS YOU HAVE.

Thats some of the worst advice i've ever heard...sorry to be harsh but you have to realize today that education experience and certs is the best way to have all angles covered. All degree will help round out your experience and certifications. Then he'll be worth a lot more in the long run and it won't cost you as you say other than the price of tuition.

gorebrush

To get any kind of serious position now, a degree is the minimum.

The position I applied for, they didnt look at candidates without degree's.

Get it while your young, it'll help you in the long term.

MonkeyBolt

This has definately swayed my mind towards getting a degree. I will look into it some more and see what type of degrees are available and would suit me. You all seem to have network degrees is this the best thing to be looking at?

dynamik

I think a degree will help you go your furthest. You can definitely get a good IT job without a degree, but you'll find advancement to be more and more difficult the further you go. Also, make sure you get into a good program. Many "networking" degrees I see simply walk you through some certs. This knowledge will be obsolete in the near future, and you can get through those cheaper on your own. Look at business, management, computer science, or anything else that gives you a good foundation.

1MeanAdmin

shednik wrote:

Thats some of the worst advice i've ever heard...sorry to be harsh but you have to realize today that education experience and certs is the best way to have all angles covered. All degree will help round out your experience and certifications. Then he'll be worth a lot more in the long run and it won't cost you as you say other than the price of tuition.

+1

Degree is definately worth to have, but don't expect to feel the difference once you graduate. Personally, I only thanked myself for going to university 5 years after the graduation. Also, if I could go back in time, I would get the things in the following order:
1) Certs
2) Experience
3) Degree

Instead, I did the opposite:
1) Degree
2) Experience
3) Certs

MonkeyBolt

shednik wrote:

m.j.boylin wrote:

Na... I would'nt go to University. It's expensive and will cost you in the long run. Just work your way up through your job. Easily could be earning £30k after a few years WITH THOSE QUALIFICATIONS YOU HAVE.

Thats some of the worst advice i've ever heard...sorry to be harsh but you have to realize today that education experience and certs is the best way to have all angles covered. All degree will help round out your experience and certifications. Then he'll be worth a lot more in the long run and it won't cost you as you say other than the price of tuition.

Yh i can't see how a degree would ever not benefit you :S

m.j.boylin

1MeanAdmin wrote:

shednik wrote:

Thats some of the worst advice i've ever heard...sorry to be harsh but you have to realize today that education experience and certs is the best way to have all angles covered. All degree will help round out your experience and certifications. Then he'll be worth a lot more in the long run and it won't cost you as you say other than the price of tuition.

+1

Degree is definitely worth to have, but don't expect to feel the difference once you graduate. Personally, I only thanked myself for going to university 5 years after the graduation. Also, if I could go back in time, I would get the things in the following order:
1) Certs
2) Experience
3) Degree

Instead, I did the opposite:
1) Degree
2) Experience
3) Certs

Well when a company looks at your CV, they look for qualifications and experience. Qualifications and say 4 years experience will easily overcome a degree in IT. They want someone who knows what it is like to work in a workplace.

If you go to your local university and graduate, then apply for a job at al IT business... the chances are the business will have delt with that university and could have a negative thought towards that university. Therefore they would possible turn down your CV.

A degree will only help you after around 10 years of experience and even then will not be a dramatical change.

^^^ imo

wat08

If you can afford it, you have no reason not to enroll.

MonkeyBolt

m.j.boylin wrote:

1MeanAdmin wrote:

shednik wrote:

Thats some of the worst advice i've ever heard...sorry to be harsh but you have to realize today that education experience and certs is the best way to have all angles covered. All degree will help round out your experience and certifications. Then he'll be worth a lot more in the long run and it won't cost you as you say other than the price of tuition.

+1

Degree is definitely worth to have, but don't expect to feel the difference once you graduate. Personally, I only thanked myself for going to university 5 years after the graduation. Also, if I could go back in time, I would get the things in the following order:
1) Certs
2) Experience
3) Degree

Instead, I did the opposite:
1) Degree
2) Experience
3) Certs

Well when a company looks at your CV, they look for qualifications and experience. Qualifications and say 4 years experience will easily overcome a degree in IT. They want someone who knows what it is like to work in a workplace.

If you go to your local university and graduate, then apply for a job at al IT business... the chances are the business will have delt with that university and could have a negative thought towards that university. Therefore they would possible turn down your CV.

A degree will only help you after around 10 years of experience and even then will not be a dramatical change.

^^^ imo

You're getting it completely wrong Boylin

m.j.boylin

wat08 wrote:

If you can afford it, you have no reason not to enroll.

Most students can't afford it and will have to take out a student loan. I dont plan on going to university, if Mark Bolton (MonkeyBolt) went to university and i didnt (we both have the same qualifications atm) i would be earning around £12 -15K per annum whereas mark would owe money and would not be earning until after uni (4 years)

Therefore after 4 years i would have earned about 48K and mark would have earned £0 and would be in debt.

Just the way i see it.

MonkeyBolt

Boylin if you don't think going to uni is worthit surely you should do it.. isn't that ur motto?

bashtie

yeah, but whats after the 4 years, and after another 4 years, and after another 4 years, maybe hes your boss

donno

i would say the best is ... get certs, work, and study at the same time

MonkeyBolt

bashtie wrote:

yeah, but whats after the 4 years, and after another 4 years, and after another 4 years, maybe hes your boss

donno

i would say the best is ... get certs, work, and study at the same time

But after my 4 years of study to get my degree, if we both went to the same job and i had a degree and those certs and he had the same certs with 4 years experience surely they would go for the degree? It shows a lot more character and effort to get a degree in my opinion

m.j.boylin

what would actually happen, what would be picked?

1. Four years work experience in the ICT industry

or

2. Four years at Uni?

dynamik

As others have stated, a degree will benefit you much more in the long term than it will right out of the gate. I don't know why this guy chose to use such a horrible picture of himself, but the information is here is good: http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_increased_earnings_income_bachelors_masters_doctorate.htm

Scroll down to "Masters, Doctorate and Professional earn millions more"

shednik

m.j.boylin wrote:

what would actually happen, what would be picked?

1. Four years work experience in the ICT industry

or

2. Four years at Uni?

If you apply yourself at the university and then come out with a good foundation of IT knowledge plus you have been working during that time whether it be full time or internships you will be looked up much higher. By no means am I saying a degree is necessary to be successful but never discourage someone who wants to further their education because you feel its a waste of money. I work for a multi billion dollar/euro global company where the higher education you have the higher you can climb in job levels with less experience or you could have no degree and twice the experience to reach the same level. I worked the last 2 years of my degree part time then full time, when i graduated I was offered an amazing position because of my degree and previous experience which wasn't all that much. If I hadn't gotten my degree I'd still be barley making 32k USD. Thats my story I wouldn't change my path a bit and I know I'm far better off the people I left behind at my last job who stopped going to school and settled.

malcybood

m.j.boylin wrote:

what would actually happen, what would be picked?

1. Four years work experience in the ICT industry

or

2. Four years at Uni?

This would not normally happen.

If you are competing with a graduate for the same entry level job after gaining 4 years experience in the industry I would imagine you'd be over qualified or not progressed very much in 4 years, neither of which would be favourable to me if I was the hiring manager.

Just my 2 cents worth.

famosbrown

Many organizations are now recruiting college graduates for entry-level or management level training right out of college. Many companies/organizations are taking these graduates and mentoring them to become future leaders/engineers for their company. Many of these organizations show up at career fairs for big universities.

Get the degree if you have the time...there is money out there for it and I believe it is worth it. Another thing that I've picked up on more strongly recently is languages...try to become fluent in at least one more language other than English...that's going a long way too...even in the Federal Government.

supertechCETma

Average Annual Earnings
Professional Degree $109,600
Doctoral Degree $89,400
Master's Degree $62,300
Bachelor's Degree $52,200
Associate's Degree $38,200
Some College $36,800
High School Graduate $30,400
Some High School $23,400
Average Annual Earnings—Different Levels of Education.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999, and 2000.

New information from the U.S. Census Bureau reinforces the value of a college education: workers 18 and over with a bachelor’s degree earn an average of $51,206 a year, while those with a high school diploma earn $27,915. Workers with an advanced degree make an average of $74,602, and those without a high school diploma average $18,734.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau RELEASED: 12:01 A.M. EST, MARCH 28, 2005

Statistics support the contention that, though the cost of higher education is significant, given the earnings disparity that exists between those who earn a bachelor's degree and those who do not, the individual rate of return on investment in higher education is sufficiently high to warrant the cost.

m.j.boylin

go for it mate... you need as many qualifications/degrees as you can get theese days. The more the better - obviously

nel

Monkeybolt, sounds like you've made your mind up. So go for what you feel is best. We've put input but the rest is upto you.

Remember its your life.

MonkeyBolt

Yh i sure have...Thanks for the helps guys

famosbrown

Good luck with everything. After you are done with the 4 year degree, check out a few websites of many companies and government agencies to check out there college graduate entry level programs that usually bring you in for development and an automatic sliding salary during the development years. Below are just a couple, but there are thousands out there as more companies are trying to recruit talented college graduates.

http://www.microsoft.com/college/ft_itops.mspx

http://www.dfas.mil/careers/college.html

itdaddy

supertechCETma

what he said..100% get your degree while you are young 1 day it will pay off

Hypersonik

In my, albeit limited, IT career experience, the Degree ISN'T essential.

I have 2 now - BSc in Aeronautical and BEng in Computer Systems Engineering.

When I went for my first IT job, my current one, I got it based on two factors:

1) My Degrees
2) My intelligence

In my 2nd interview, they asked my a load of networking questions of which I knew less than 5%. I plainly turned round and said 'I don't know'.

Our infrastructure department is about 20 strong. 8 of us have a Degree, of which 3 of them are computer related.

What I will say is this:

You can get your CCNA with a 6 day course.
You can get your CCNP with a 14 day course.
A Degree takes 3 years.

If/When you go for a job with a large corporation, not having a Degree will hurt your chances, especially if it is for a Senior position.

And if you are going to do a Degree, may I reccommend doing a BEng/MEng. These Degrees are accredited by an Engineering association (IET/IEEE/IMechE) and are widely recognised as being superior to their BSc counterparts.