Just general question about IT career paths

jrel209

Hey;

I'm mostly interested in Cisco certifications, as far as how far I want to take it (associate, pro, specialist) I'm not sure at this moment. The biggest question I had was about schooling for Cisco and Computer science in general.

After deciding that I do want to take an IT route for my major and career path, I tried doing some research on what most companies hiring atm were looking for. The biggest thing I found was that most companies werent looking for a general certificate, but more of a '4 year degree'. So can someone share some light on how that translates, I mean since I HAVE to absolutley HAVE to work to even support my schooling. The only choices I have are colleges like say Itt, or Kaplan University, something that offers a lot of online courses. But how will that affect me in the long run versus someone who could get a general CompSci degree form say San Jose State? Also, does something like Kaplan University (located in various areas in california, it's like a HEALD college) even count as a 4 year degree, even though it's considered a 'bachelors' after your time in?

Also lastly, do I get my Cisco certs seperate from those actual '4 year degrees' in Comp Science or am I thinking of two seperate IT fields. The main thing I'm looking into is network administrations and security.

I'm asking and looking for as much information as possible so I can make sure the path I take is the right one, so any information would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I just go to a Junior college, and taking general courses for my A/S.

Thank You
Jorrel Hecita

rensational

I'm sort of in a similar position as you are. And from my research, the thing that's most clear to me is a college degree in IT or Comp.Sci related areas is nowhere near as important as work experience. If you'd just be going to school to get a degree just to get into IT--where you'd likely start off in jobs that really don't even justify getting the degree both in terms of pay and how much of your schooling you'd be using--which is a choice I was facing, I would (and personally have decided to) skip it. I will take classes for cert prep and that's about it, aiming for an entry level job.

Maybe someone can tell you better, but I would just keep taking classes towards the AS and trying to round up work experience related to IT...then (or even now) start on getting some certifications. I see that a lot of IT employers either want a bachelors degree, associate degree or certifications...but that's often always in combination with IT experience. Some won't even say anything about degrees or certs, but just want the work experience. So I wouldn't say there's a way for you to go wrong as far as job opps, but there's a way to go wrong as far as spending a lot of money possibly unnecessarily. If you end up needing a bachelors, you could always start schooling up again. But shoot for something entry level now while in school, and two years of that ought to open doors to better, higher-paying positions.

jrel209

I see, after doing some more research, I also found out that there are three areas of concentration in which you can get your A/S.

1) Computer Science - focuses on windows excel, word, access, and various langauges like java, c++, COBOL?
2) Computer networking software - focuses more on unix and programming langauges, and couple security classes.
3) Computer networking technology - focuses on unix and electronic networking and it's hardware

They all are almost similar, but what degree are most of these employers looking for? The classes for computer science seem a little bit out dated, and the other two seem like a better choice. But is it better to be more well rounded educationally, or am I suppose to be looking for a certain path.

My goals are to do system administration and security down the road, all this started with just wanted Cisco certifications, but decided to just fully finish my A/S and work towards B.A., unfortunately it just feels like there is a lack of information on the route to take. I do plan on talking to a counselor next week, just also wanted an idea from people already in the iT industry. After all, research always provides better answers!

JoJoCal19

jrel209 wrote: »

Hey;

I'm mostly interested in Cisco certifications, as far as how far I want to take it (associate, pro, specialist) I'm not sure at this moment. The biggest question I had was about schooling for Cisco and Computer science in general.

After deciding that I do want to take an IT route for my major and career path, I tried doing some research on what most companies hiring atm were looking for. The biggest thing I found was that most companies werent looking for a general certificate, but more of a '4 year degree'. So can someone share some light on how that translates, I mean since I HAVE to absolutley HAVE to work to even support my schooling. The only choices I have are colleges like say Itt, or Kaplan University, something that offers a lot of online courses. But how will that affect me in the long run versus someone who could get a general CompSci degree form say San Jose State? Also, does something like Kaplan University (located in various areas in california, it's like a HEALD college) even count as a 4 year degree, even though it's considered a 'bachelors' after your time in?

Also lastly, do I get my Cisco certs seperate from those actual '4 year degrees' in Comp Science or am I thinking of two seperate IT fields. The main thing I'm looking into is network administrations and security.

I'm asking and looking for as much information as possible so I can make sure the path I take is the right one, so any information would be greatly appreciated. At the moment I just go to a Junior college, and taking general courses for my A/S.

Thank You
Jorrel Hecita

Hey Jorrel, I can provide some feedback to your questions. First let me say that the best way to obtain IT jobs is a combination of degree, experience and certs. If you cant have all three or dont yet, then atleast a combination of two. You are right when you say that a lot of companies do ask for a Bachelors degree, and many times it doesnt even have to be in IT, just a Bachelors period. I myself have only an A.S. and have lost out on jobs that I was more than qualified for, only because I dont have a bachelors and it was a strict requirement. More and more state colleges are offering bachelors degrees online in business and IT so if you are able to find a public state college and get a 4 year degree then you will be helping yourself out in the long run. Now there is nothing wrong with ITT or other private colleges but here where I live I can now get the same exact degree from my local state college that have the same accreditation as all the other state universities and also costs less than a 1/3 of what ITT charges.

To your question on Cisco certs, they are generally obtained seperate from your degree either from you studying then testing or going to a bootcamp or taking training courses and then testing. If you are wanting to go into the networking area then you would do well to get the Network+ certs and then obtain your Cisco certs.