Degree or Certifications?

I am about to finish my Associates of Applied Science in Information Technology and am unsure of what to do next. My goal is to enter into the Ethical Hacking field, I am currently study for the Certified Ethical Hacker certification and I think I have a good plan for future certifications.

The thing I am confused about is if I should continue with college and get a Bachelors in Network Security and Forensics or just focus on certifications with the same focus.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments

earweed

One thing I'll say which I'm sure some others may agree with is that before searching for some magical certs or the degree the University "guarantees" will get you that great high paying job after graduation is to get some experience. You may have to start in helpdesk or even do contract to hire or temp jobs to get the experience.
If you have the means to go straight to a university for a degree check on internships or see if the uni has a co-op program. Make sure the university you go to is regionally accreditted and that they have an active job placement program. If you possibly can continue your education as that is really important.
Even if you do go to a Uni now you can still try to get as much experience by doing volunteer or get temp jobs (they're out there) during breaks from school.
Loading up on a bunch of Security certs wont get you that security job. Those usually have to be worked up to and starting at the bottom.

Plantwiz

Get some type of job and experience AND continue for a Bachelors of sort. Your ability to network socially in addition to your scholastic success will be the ticket. Certs alone or a degere alone will not bring fast results.

It will take time in the industry, in addition to getting to know people who will recommend you for a position that will put you where you'd like to be some day.

Patience

eansdad

You could always go the adventurous route and hack the NSA. Sure that will get you noticed and after the 3-5 you serve you might have an offer.....lol

Seriously start from the ground up. Look through the forums on herot and hackin9 and just keep learning. You'll get to where you want eventually.

sudoaptget

Thanks for the quick replies. I will be finished with my Associates in 16 weeks and will go ahead and continue on with a Bachelors.

It's nice to talk to people with more experience than me. I don't get many chances where I live.

nel

experiance + degree + certs is the way forward long term.

Imo finish your university studies sooner rather than later. I would rather be doing honours / masters when im younger than having to slug it out when im 40+ with kids! the certs can always come after if you dont have the time whilst doing it. Remember, experiance is king though

brad-

Finish the degree.

Certs will still be there when you finish.

It is harder to go back to formal schooling when you get older.

If you choose to get out of the technical world, you'll still have the degree to open doors.

Megadeth4168

I can speak from experience when I say that certifications can get you started on gaining job experience faster, but advancing to another level may require a degree.

I landed my job at the age of 21, decent pay with incredible benefits. Now, 8 years later, I'm having trouble moving up from where I'm at. One reason for this is that the economy in Michigan and job market is awful.

So, last year I decided to go to school. I transferred in many of my certifications to credits and started full time classes. The credit transfers knocked off more than a year of schooling for me and I will be graduating with my associates in December and then continuing on with my bachelors.

On one hand, getting the career type job early on with certifications seemed great at the time and got me job experience. Moreover, I have a job in this economy.

On the other hand, I have a full time job and 2 children, one of which is only 2 months old. Taking full time classes is much tougher now than if I had done it before having a family or a full time job.

At the end of the day, I've learned that it is best to have certifications, a degree and experience. My advice, get the degree over with first, because a lot of certifications can be self paced study. If I could have a do over, I would have finished school first. Although I do have to say that it was nice to have so many certs transfer to credits.

BradleyHU

here we go again....

erpadmin

The degree/certification argument is one of those evolving discussions, and I do not agree with Bradley that it's beating a dead horse as the answer always evolves too, based on macro forces ALWAYS at play.

Many of the above posters are correct.

A bachelor's degree opens many more doors for people than a cert in some vendor technology. Those certs have shelf-lives. A degree and the people you meet on your way to one do not! Real-World Networking (with people!) is one of those skills you gain in college that just can't be done with anything else. Also, if you have a high school diploma, and a high aptitude to learn technologies no one with a MS wants to touch and earn close to six figures (like the guy who made this post.....

), good luck if you want to move on to a management position. EVEN THOUGH at least two folks from here have done just that, IT IS RARE and EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to do. But what cuts the odds down a bit in one's favor....a bachelor's degree!

That's why this discussion isn't a dead-horse topic...the game constantly keeps changing and evolving.

sudoaptget

I suppose Certifications and Degrees can both help in different situations. A non technical HR person may see CEH and be confused as to what it is while if the same person saw Bachelors they would have an idea as to what it is.

veritas_libertas

sudoaptget wrote: »

I am about to finish my Associates of Applied Science in Information Technology and am unsure of what to do next. My goal is to enter into the Ethical Hacking field, I am currently study for the Certified Ethical Hacker certification and I think I have a good plan for future certifications.

The thing I am confused about is if I should continue with college and get a Bachelors in Network Security and Forensics or just focus on certifications with the same focus.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Security roles (at least from what I have seen on Monster.com and Indeed.com) seem to desire Bachelor degrees, and often Master degrees more than the typical IT role. I'm finishing up my BS in IT and I plan on going after a MS in INFOSEC after that.

it_consultant

We have a thread like this every couple of weeks. Needless to say you need EITHER certs OR a degree OR both but not neither.

The most important thing is not certs or degrees. Its attitude. Present yourself well, be eager and willing to learn, be a hard worker, pay attention to detail. That is all more important than whether your rocking a BS:IT or an MCSE.

networker050184

it_consultant wrote: »

We have a thread like this every couple of weeks. Needless to say you need EITHER certs OR a degree OR both but not neither.

The most important thing is not certs or degrees. Its attitude. Present yourself well, be eager and willing to learn, be a hard worker, pay attention to detail. That is all more important than whether your rocking a BS:IT or an MCSE.

I agree with this 100%. There is no one path that leads you to an awesome job. If that were the case there wouldn't be so much disagreement every time one of these threads pop up. Every employer is going to value credentials differently. They are all going to be looking for a hard worker that doesn't ***** and moan though.

If you are already in school then keep going if you can afford it. If not get a job and some certifications and hit the school again when you can.

Mike-Mike

it_consultant wrote: »

We have a thread like this every couple of weeks. Needless to say you need EITHER certs OR a degree OR both but not neither.

The most important thing is not certs or degrees. Its attitude. Present yourself well, be eager and willing to learn, be a hard worker, pay attention to detail. That is all more important than whether your rocking a BS:IT or an MCSE.

I have only been here a few months, but I have seen several incarnations of this thread...

most people say you need a degree, certs, and experience...

90% of the people say get a degree... and one or two will say you don't need one...

but that being said, I could care less if there are repeat threads, sometimes I like it

puppy001

We have a thread like this every couple of weeks. Needless to say you need EITHER certs OR a degree OR both but not neither.

The most important thing is not certs or degrees. Its attitude. Present yourself well, be eager and willing to learn, be a hard worker, pay attention to detail. That is all more important than whether your rocking a BS:IT or an MCSE.

What if someone has the attitude eagerness and williness to learn and is a hard worker and doesnt have any quals (THE CERTS + DEGREE) and there is another candidate who has the attiude eagerness and is willingness to learn and is a hard worker PLUS he has quals (The certs + degree) guess who will get the job ?? it is quiet obvious isn't it, Yeah it is true it is important but there is no point in having all of those stuff if you do not have the quals. I.T isnt what it was like back then it is over crowded now, a lot of people who had the right attitude, eagerness and williness to learn and who was able to work hard got in without quals cause it was easy to get in and they still think the same way. It is really hard (not impossible) to get a job now a days without a paper qual unless you get lucky and have contacts etc.

Experience kills everything.

Just go to college and get your degree, and do not look back, the last thing u want is regret.

Education is important.

but experience is the king.

man networking will help if u could get a lead on something

Plantwiz

puppy001 wrote: »

What if someone has the attitude eagerness and williness to learn and is a hard worker and doesnt have any quals (THE CERTS + DEGREE) and there is another candidate who has the attiude eagerness and is willingness to learn and is a hard worker PLUS he has quals (The certs + degree) guess who will get the job ?? it is quiet obvious isn't it, Yeah it is true it is important but there is no point in having all of those stuff if you do not have the quals. I.T isnt what it was like back then it is over crowded now, a lot of people who had the right attitude, eagerness and williness to learn and who was able to work hard got in without quals cause it was easy to get in and they still think the same way. It is really hard (not impossible) to get a job now a days without a paper qual unless you get lucky and have contacts etc.

Experience kills everything.

Just a note:
It is 'possible' to edit a previous post and MODIFY or ADD content

(many of us have at one time or another posted twice in a row, just not typically re-stating what we've already stated).

That aside:

It seems the obvious solution is to complete the degree at this point. However, as far as puppy's comment about eagerness and such goes (and in a round about way he/she comments to get the degree) if a person HAS the talent (eagerness and knowledge and social networking skills) they typically are an entrepreneur and go into business for themself.

There is plenty of work for individuals who not only posses the technical ability, but also the sales skills to 'get' the jobs (and 'jobs' meaning making ones own client base rather then hiring on to only 1 organization).

The key here (IME - in my experience) is that one then needs to be good at learning new technologies on their own. This individual may not take exams and such to prove this, but does read/research and utilitize these new tools in the field.

I've met several people who have chosen this path. College (if they attended) was for a general business degree or something very broad, and because they are constantly working, don't schedule time for an exam (as that takes away from their billable time with a client) and keeps moving.

The sacrifice is these people don't typically land Gov't contracts of large-team project, but do quite well with small-med business work and things they only need themself and maybe a peer for (so they split the work).

Finding someone or being that someone with both great technical skills AND great sales skills...that's the rareity and likely why many focus on building their personal skill base and looking for work on an existing team with a sales force (or just being the inhouse support team).

You do have options. Since you have started school...the concensus seems to follow...stay in school.

tpatt100

I would just go to college get the four year degree. Do a lot of projects, tinker etc. Just have fun with it vs studying for certs that will expire soon after you graduate.

puppy001

to tell u guys the truth certs high end ones like mcse, ccnp etc wont shine unless u have industrial experience to back it up

eansdad

If you want a good answer look at just about every job posting. Sure they are a wish list of the best person but they ALWAYS allow substituting experience for schooling and/or certs. Certs and a degree will get you noticed but experience will get you hired. If you can't find a job and you can afford to go to school make sure you pick one with a internship or apply for competitive internships like Disney.