Some advice needed

billscott92787

I am about a year from graduating and achieving my Bachelors degree in Networking and Communication management. I'm studying for my CCNA (take it in November). I plan to move onto the CCNP once I'm passed there. I've inquired about a Masters degree program in Networking and Communication Management as well. But, I'm trying to decide if I should do it. I would only need probably about 12 classes to get the degree. Eventually one day, I'm sure I'll try for the IE. Would it be worth going for the extra education?

tpatt100

Can you work on your Masters while working full time? You did not mention your work experience so I was assuming you were going to school full time and not working in IT.

If you are not currently working in IT I would get a job in IT with just your bachelors and CCNA. Really most places won't give you CCNA level access with no skills so Microsoft certs are probably a better option.

At my recent interview I met with the entire team and from comments made I realized most did not have a bachelors and only the Director had his CISSP and Masters degree. It could be viewed as a threat if you have more education than your peers when trying to land that first job.

Aldur

tpatt has a good point. If you don't have any IT experience or a job in IT right now it would probably be more beneficial to get some experience before going on for the masters degree. Plus a lot of places have some sort of tuition reimbursement so you could get your masters degree paid for.

From my experience as long as you have a Bachelors degree, certifications, and experience your set. More education is never a bad thing but it may not help all that much if you don't have any work experience to back it up.

billscott92787

I am working full time now in IT. I work for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Our title is a Network Engineer. But, it's actually a Help Desk Position dealing with VPN. I have been working with them so far for one year. I worked another position, in IT, for a different company for a little while. I also had my own little repair business on the side for a few years.

Aldur

billscott92787 wrote: »

I am working full time now in IT. I work for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Our title is a Network Engineer. But, it's actually a Help Desk Position dealing with VPN. I have been working with them so far for one year. I worked another position for a little while. I also had my own little repair business on the side for a few years.

Good to hear! I would say go for the masters degree if you not completely burnt out from school already. With only 12 classes to get the masters you could have it done in 1-2 years depending on your class load. The only thing I would caution is to not let going for your masters stagnate your certification goals. In all honesty I found that my certifications were worth well more then my bachelors degree. All though I did need my bachelors degree, without my certs I would be working a much lower level position with much lower pay then I am now.

tpatt100

billscott92787 wrote: »

I am working full time now in IT. I work for the Department of Veteran Affairs. Our title is a Network Engineer. But, it's actually a Help Desk Position dealing with VPN. I have been working with them so far for one year. I worked another position, in IT, for a different company for a little while. I also had my own little repair business on the side for a few years.

Yeah I would go for the Masters now if you can do it. Might as well do it now rather than later and have life get in the way and make it harder to do so.

L0gicB0mb508

tpatt100 wrote: »

Yeah I would go for the Masters now if you can do it. Might as well do it now rather than later and have life get in the way and make it harder to do so.

Yep get it done and over with. I will say however, try to stick with your certification studies too. The combination of all that should get you pretty far.

billscott92787

Thanks guys for all the advice. I'm definitely going to continue on with the certification studies once I get passed the CCNA. I will move on to the CCNP after that. They told me it would take me about a year if I did full time. If I did part time, I could get it in around 2 years. In that time, between course work and everything else, I plan to study further, certification wise. Thanks for all you guys advice. I have a year until I would start the program. But, I am pretty sure I'll go for it and see where the degrees and certifications lead me.

Kasor

Graduate Education always important and helpful. However, you have to look into the program. If I'm the director or Vice President, then I want my mid-level manager to have a graduated level education. However, you need to mix with IT and business together.

YOu don't need a graduate IT degree unless they are CS or IS. Otherwise, you are paying too much for a technical degree. You can alway obtain better technical training from big corporation and their specific software.

Remember graduate degree suppose to focus on the area when you will be master. I prefer most non-IT guy to get technical graduate degree to balance out the knowledge. If you already have a BS on CS/IS/CE, then a MBA with IT concentration will work well.

Think deep