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Michael.J.Palmer

Personally I enjoy Katie's squabble over how much she makes annually. Speaking of which, Katie, I work for Allscripts, you wouldn't be presenting anything at that conference that has to do with any of our EMR/EHR products would you?

. Another WGU student/grad in the HIT field, if only they knew we were the ones responsible for protecting their precious medical records.

Roguetadhg

I was expecting a flame war on this thread. Surprisingly, there's not. I guess because Techies tend to be more "Liberal" :P Everyone that deals with technology can attest that Technology changes. While fundamentally, it stays the same, just different ways of delivering the applications. Windows, Unix, Cisco, Citrix, it doesn't matter... We all serve the higher purpose, empowering end-users with applications that get the work done, faster. The bottom line of investment can excel companies by saving thousands of dollars each year while making it secure and yet still transparent for users.

Alif_Sadida_Ekin wrote: »

There's a comment thread where someone said they graduated from a state university debt free with a BS in Engineering and Computer Science. So many responded to her post saying that it's impossible to graduate from college debt free... That's pretty sad.

There's a lot of people that believe the way they did it is the best way. There isnt any other way of doing it. My Fiance is 70K in debt going for her Masters. It's not a good thing. The classical, society-approved methods of "living" for us boils down to: Go through high school, graduate HS, goto a 4-year university, Graduate, work until 70s, die. If you deviate from that in any way, you're immediately shunned. It's a society thing. Blame Rome not the Romans. For the few with the ability to see in different ways, there's better ways. Cisco, is teaching me that there's many different ways to learn besides reading.

My view for online degrees is this: You can get a paper and wipe your arse with it. You can also get the same paper and having done more work to get it, you're ontop - in theory. Like Psoasman said

Hands-on learning, which is hard to get when you're studying is simple these days. It take research to get it done, or asking questions and requires a better-than-entry computer to do it though. Emulations and Simulations, or outright purchase what you need from auction sites.

Isistheangel hit a hard nail, straight on: Certifications are popular. With popularity comes more people willing to try to make a buck off the material. CCENT and CCNA level certifications are from what I've heard from interviewers (hearsay) is a hit or miss. Mostly a miss. It's a shame, because I personally put a lot of work and time into my certification that mills - Online or elsewise - tend to make the test look like nothing. I've heard CCIE's are also hit or miss, go figure

. Its not just for Cisco certifications either, see http://www.techexams.net/forums/ec-council-ceh-chfi/35544-so-you-want-take-ceh-read.html. However, there are many reasons why a "simple" question isn't so easy.

- forgetting information. Techies deal with so many acronyms it's hard to remember the subtle nuiances of them all. Looking at the information, and being in the information for 8 hours a day: Yes, it's entry-level information. However, go study a C|EH exam, or something completely different. You'll forget something, you may forget something that seems simple like NAT - unless you're constantly exposed to the information (repitition). I've forgotten information from CCENT, while studying for my CCNA. Wireless, mostly. [I'm Taking a break to look back over the chapter]
- Certifications also change, a lot. While in the present the courses [CCENT was Introduced June 2007] the information was trivial and included. However, take a step back Maybe in the past it wasn't. I remember a lot of "Design" aspects from my CCNA studies 9 years ago in HighSchool, even to go as far as to design a physical floor plan with students and place wiring, rooms, etc. Currently, however, the ccna has been boiled down to just Routing and Switching. Technology changes so quick that if you don't continue the education, you'll be lost when trying to get back into the oven. [unemployed, family deaths, military, girlfriends,life]
- Not everyone interviews well either. I remember my first interview, trying to shake off the fact that "This person will either hire or fire me. Oh he just asked me a question." is un-nerving. I got the whole flop-sweat thing going in my arm pit, a swelling stain on a white-shirt. It's a horrible experience all over. Talking to a man that resembles a bouncer for a Las Vegas strip joint about networking for the first time with a large container of Whey protein in the back didn't help! [Nailed the interview questions though

]
- Its easy because you know it. Not everyone knows everything. Try to admit it if you don't.

For those that have no idea what Cisco Certifications are designed like i'll say this:
Cisco Certifications for Routing and Switching (Many different tracks):
ENT [Entry. (ICND1) 1 Test] >
NA [Associate. 1 composite or 2 individual (ICND1/ICND2) tests] >
NP [Professional. 3 Tests (ROUTE,SWITCH,TSHOOT)] >
IE [Expert. 2 Tests (Written, LAB)]
-- from what i've read of the NP, so far while studying for the NA; as well as seeing how the ENT progressed into NA: Information builds upon each other. Yes, It omits information to avoid getting too deeply into anything, but information you've learned at ENT is a tip of the iceberg compared to what you're expected to know at the IE Level.

Iristheangel

Michael.J.Palmer wrote: »

Personally I enjoy Katie's squabble over how much she makes annually. Speaking of which, Katie, I work for Allscripts, you wouldn't be presenting anything at that conference that has to do with any of our EMR/EHR products would you? . Another WGU student/grad in the HIT field, if only they knew we were the ones responsible for protecting their precious medical records.

No, nothing vendor specific. The audience is doctors so the presentation has to be fairly low tech. We're talking about basic security principles to keep doctors HIPAA compliant such as not using public WiFi to access medical records, physical security, encryption, physical media, and so on. Our goal is for the audience to internalize the threats and walk away correcting at least one dangerous habit. I was invited as a subject matter expert in security by the original presenter that I met at another conference.

I am sure that a lot of people like to pretend that only Yale, MIT, Caltech and Harvard grads are in charge of protecting their personal information, but the reality is that we nerds come in all shapes and sizes with varying backgrounds. For example, a manager at my current employer was just promoted from manager to IT site director and his only education was a B.S. and MBA from University of Phoenix. I believe we all have the opportunity to make the best out of our educational experience.