Career/Education advice

dmadurski

Hi, I'm in desperate need of the advice of people in this field.

I am currently attending a community college, 1st year done with my associates in applied science in CIS. Have not picked a major yet.
4.0 gpa and I am doing really well.

I need a lot of help though ,and the people at my school are clueless, and I don't really know anyone in this field to talk to.

Instead of write a 50 long page post. I just ask if anyone who could sort of 'mentor' me with guidance on what classes to take, certs to aim for, what sorts of jobs are out there. ect. ect.

I am at the point where I need to pick a major and start either preparing to find some way to get the money up to attend a university, or start moving myself towards a niche now, and deciding what certs to get ect.

If anyone out there wants to help email me at dmadurski@gmail.com

If this is way off base and totally annoying than I apologize. But when you are trying to plan your career path and are getting NO help it is really stressful.

Thank you for any help or replies.

/usr

Play around with new things (networking, hardware, etc.) as much as you can, read up on different technologies. If you're enjoying reading or learning about a particular thing, pay special attention to that, as it generally indicates what you'll truly enjoy doing and leads you in the right direction.

The job options in IT are essentially limitless and it would be hard to even begin to start naming jobs. I mean,if you're curious, get on Monster and just search for jobs in your area with all the IT related categories selected. Look up the results and see what each does. It's not a fantastic way to learn, but you'll see jobs around you and maybe one will look interesting.

Generally your "path" is going to be split into two roads, programming or hardware. That is by no means anything but my opinion, based on what I've seen from other people in the real world and in school.

On the programming side, you could do things like .NET/C/pick a language programming for a broad variety of things, websites, databases, development, and so forth.

On the hardware side, you could get into PC hardware, network administration, network engineering, etc.

Keep in mind those are very broad categories, so to speak.

What generally happens is you'll find out that you like one path better than the other, be that in college or whatever, then you'll land an entry level job and things will just kind of click from there.

You'll find your path eventually. It's really hard for anyone to give you ideas, as we have no idea what your interests are, what you've been exposed to, etc.

We all (well, most of us at least) go through this same thing early on.

I apologize if this didn't help, but it's really the most honest advice I can give you based on my own experiences, which are much like yours. Let me know if you have any other questions.

sidsanders

what things do you want to get into? network/hw/programming/databases/etc...

what classes have you liked that might drive you towards picking a major? do you like math -- maybe com sci/physics/chem/engineering is for you.

dmadurski

Thank you both for the replies.

Well my school offers 4 majors in the CIS field, the two I am interested in is IT security, and software engineering.

The security one says it leads to an INFOSEC certification, but I have no idea what that even means hah.

I do really enjoy programming, but my concern is with just an associates from a community college the options would be very limited or nonexistent.

I pick things up very well and I'd probably be in the top 1% of 'best' community college graduate...but still I know its not ideal.

That is why I was thinking of getting a few certifications? But I don't know which there are, which are useful ect.



See I told you I need a LOT of help

This website is helping a bunch though.

/usr

In order to pursue certifications, I would suggest finding an area that interests you first so you can narrow down your focus.

I mean, if you're interested in hardware or networking, start off with CompTIA's A+ or Network+.

There are some development/programming certs, but I wouldn't really recommend you pursue those until deciding what type of programming interests you.

seanw87

I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I too am interested in security.

My advice to you(certification-wise) would be to start out with Network+ and Security+ from CompTIA so that you can get a good grasp on basic network and security concepts and decide if that's something you'd really like to do.

dmadurski

Yea, my interests are definitely either security or some type of programming.

With an associates in one of those, and some certs, are the job prospects there?

I was told for most programming a bs degree is essential, but I would REALLY prefer to just go with the two year degree and then taking additional classes/training for certs in a specific area.

Is that a sound path into either security or programming? One more likely than others? Or should I focus more on some other fields that are more accommodating to my chosen path? Is a community college degree even worth anything in this field? Because I can abandon the degree and just take the classes that would pertain to getting certs, there is CCNA A+, the INFOSEC and I think a java cert training classes at my school.

I really just don't know what is going to be useful and what is a waste of time...

Thanks to everyone so much for all the help. I've been stressing out so much, as I have to pick a specific major by December (actually should have picked one before this semester).

seanw87

It's been my understanding that without a B.S. degree it can be very difficult to get anywhere. I search job postings daily and I would estimate at least 90% of them require a four-year degree.

veritas_libertas

seanw87 wrote: »

It's been my understanding that without a B.S. degree it can be very difficult to get anywhere. I search job postings daily and I would estimate at least 90% of them require a four-year degree.

This is common to see yes, but by no means the rule. I have an AAS in Computer Networking Technology and have found a good job. You just have to be willing to start at the bottom. I would encourage you to surf the forum here and learn about different directions. Ask us questions in different subforums here, research these different paths on Google, and then make a decision. You could also just start taking what are basic required classes for a BS in CIS at your school.