Back to school?

gsweaver2012

Hello,

Looking for some opinions. Here is my background/scenario:

I am from NJ, 30, married, no kids, and have been a police officer since I was 18 years old as well as an EMT for the past 3 years. I obtained an AS in Criminal Justice online from Ashworth College back in 2004. My significant other just accepted a killer job in Orlando, FL, so we will be relocating there. For numerous reasons (my time in the pension system won't transfer, less money, burnout, etc) I am no longer interested in emergency services work and have decided to go into the IT field in Florida. I am not positive what specialty I want to work in, although I'm leaning toward System Analysis at the moment. I was interested in Computer Science, but math is a huge weak point of mine, so I think that would be a mistake.

Now, here is my situation. I realize I can get some certifications and an entry-level position help desk - type job and start my career that way without going back to school. However, I don't want to limit my oppertunities for the future. My wife can afford to support us on her salary alone, so I was planning on going back to school (University of Central Florida) for IT, while working a help desk - type job part time for some hands on experience and extra cash. I figure with that route in the next 3-4 years I will have my degree, some certifications, and some experience.

Does this seem like a good plan or am I wasting too much time by going back to school? I think long term the lack of a bachelor degree, (IT related or not) is going to hurt me. Is that accurate? Would I be better off just getting into something entry - level with some basic certs and forgoing school? I want a good paying job. I know it won't happen overnight, but I'm looking long term. I'm willing to put the work in. Some of this stuff may be boring at times, but it beats the heck out of dealing with what I had to deal with in my past profession!

Also, does anyone have any knowledge of the IT field in the Orlando area? Seems to be a hotbed of sorts, with the theme parks, university, airport, medical centers, etc. a quick search on Dice showed a ton of jobs in the area.

Thank you for any advice and please feel free to criticize anything if you think I'm making a mistake somewhere!

the_Grinch

If you are looking long term then a degree is going to have to be completed at some point. Some might argue with me, but due to the lack of experience the BS/BA could land you that spot. Also, if at this point you could do it while working part time then jump at that chance. You'll find that it is much harder to get back to school the older you are, if you have kids, and while working full time. I am also from NJ, do you have a Class II certification or a full Class A cert to be a police officer? Florida would waiver either of those and if security was of any interest I don't think you'd have an issue moving to the forensics side of things. Also I would look at hospitals since you have experience in EMS. I interviewed at a Medical School and they were very excited that I had EMT training. So here is what I would do:

1. Go back to school
2. Begin working on A+ and Network+
3. Look at getting your cert as a police officer waviered in Florida
4. Search specifically for Computer Forensics positions with either a college or sheriff's department (I believe Broward County recently posted for a forensics specialist and I want to say the pay was in the 60's)
5. If you completely want nothing to do with law enforcement, then look into hospitals because if there is one things people will always do it is get sick

But yes go back to school while you still can!

Asif Dasl

I can't advise you on your degree choice, but there are a lot of people going to WGU here that could give you some support with that. Out of interest - what part of IT do you find boring? If you don't have a passion for it, then you wouldn't want to go down the wrong line of work.

NetworkVeteran

gsweaver2012 wrote: »

I was interested in Computer Science, but math is a huge weak point of mine, so I think that would be a mistake.

A CS major is not particularly math-intensive. The core software engineering classes require strong algebraic skills and you will need to be able to add, subtract, and multiply/divide by factors of two quickly. The only classes where you will have to suffer through calculus, is calculus and perhaps physics. It's worth asking yourself whether a rewarding lifelong path is worth suffering through a couple difficult math classes. That bit of determination is part of what employers are looking for when they seek someone with a degree, besides a solid foundation.

I was planning on going back to school (University of Central Florida) for IT

An "IT" degree doesn't sound particularly useful. In my area, most technical jobs don't seek "a" degree, they seek a CS, EE, or a hard science degree. They often forgive the lack of one given enough experience and/or certifications. If you're not getting an in-demand degree, I'd focus on in-demand certifications rather than a low-demand degree. You can double-check what's in-demand in your area by doing a search on Dice for the sorts of positions you'd like to have.

TheCudder

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

An "IT" degree doesn't sound particularly useful. In my area, most technical jobs don't seek "a" degree, they seek a CS, EE, or a hard science degree. They often forgive the lack of one given enough experience and/or certifications. If you're not getting an in-demand degree, I'd focus on in-demand certifications rather than a low-demand degree. You can double-check what's in-demand in your area by doing a search on Dice for the sorts of positions you'd like to have.

Seeing an employer ask for a Computer Science degree is sometimes the same as seeing an employer ask for an MCSE a for tier-1 help desk position. I've seen more & more Senior Desktop Support & System Administrator jobs asks for "BS in computer related field" or "BS in Information Technology". It all depends on what you're looking to get into

NetworkVeteran

TheCudder wrote: »

Seeing an employer ask for a Computer Science degree is sometimes the same as seeing an employer ask for an MCSE a for tier-1 help desk position.

For a $12-$18/hr tier 1 help desk position, certainly they can't demand such things in most places. However, he did say long-term, and the higher-paying jobs in my area have no problem specifying that they require a CS/EE or CCIE--and they get it. Another common tact is requiring far less experience if you have a CS or EE degree.

I've worn the recruiting hat before. When you have dozens or sometimes hundreds of candidates to consider, you can't screen each and every one. These are simple filters that generate a reasonable pool of candidates.

It all depends on what you're looking to get into

I agree 100%.

gsweaver2012

Grinch - Thank you for that info. I am leaning away from going into anything law enforcement related, but that is definitly an option that I did not consider. I really like the medical idea, too. I also agree that now is better then later as far as going back to school.

Asif - I think I should have said "frustrating" and not "boring". This is all relatively new to me, so sometimes I feel like I'm reading another language. It's intimidating and frustrating, but I think that's what draws me to this field so much. The challenge of something totally new and out of my comfort zone.

NetworkVeteran - I was wondering that exact thing actually. UCF offers an IT degree and a CS degree. Obviously CS would be a better choice as I'm sure it would offer more job oppertunities and would look better on a resume, but to be honest I've shied away from any type of programming/CS type work because of my lack of math skills. Do you think that in the real world that would be a problem after school? I agree that suffering through a few classes is worth it in the big picture, but do you think that at some point I would run into issues in my career because of my lack of math skills? I can think logically, but basic alegebra makes me want to bang my head against concrete!

NetworkVeteran

gsweaver2012 wrote: »

I can think logically, but basic alegebra makes me want to bang my head against concrete!

If you said pre-calculus or calculus or geometry or trigonometry made you want to bang your head against the wall, I'd say no worries, there are so many jobs that don't require those! However, algebra is fundamental to advancing at programming. To a large extent you are storing values (like #s) in variables (like x, y, z, i, or n), testing their equality/inequality (=, <, >) and performing operations (like printing) on them! Let me give you some specific examples--

// Prints the numbers from 1 to 10
X=1;
DO {
PRINT $X;
X = $X + 1;
} LOOP WHILE ($X <= 10);

or--

// A reusable function you can call when you need to add two numbers. It returns the sum.
FUNCTION ADD(X,Y) {
RETURN ($X + $Y);
}

If the algebra in those scares you, programming is probably a poor choice. And that's totally fine! Enjoying what you do is much more important than the numbers on a paycheck. If I hated algebra, I probably wouldn't write software.

gsweaver2012

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

If you said pre-calculus or calculus or geometry or trigonometry made you want to bang your head against the wall, I'd say no worries, there are so many jobs that don't require those! However, algebra is fundamental to advancing at programming. To a large extent you are storing values (like #s) in variables (like x, y, z, i, or n), testing their equality/inequality (=, <, >) and performing operations (like printing) on them! Let me give you some specific examples--

// Prints the numbers from 1 to 10
X=1;
DO {
PRINT $X;
} LOOP WHILE ($X <= 10);

or--

// A reusable function you can call when you need to add two numbers. It returns the sum.
FUNCTION ADD(X,Y) {
RETURN ($X + $Y);
}

If the algebra in those scares you, programming is probably a poor choice. And that's totally fine! Enjoying what you do is much more important than the numbers on a paycheck. If I hated algebra, I probably wouldn't write software.

You just removed any doubt in my mind about whether or not I should pursue programming in one simple post! haha

You may or may not be able to answer this, but do you think struggling through the math and getting a CS degree would be much more beneficial then the IT degree offered by UCF? From what I've read on here it seems like any one thing you can do to outshine the next guy helps, and I feel like an IT degree would be less desirable the CS, but I could be way off base here.

Patel128

I am currently doing a CS degree, and by no means am I good at calculus. I am currently taking Calculus and I can say without a doubt it is do-able. It just takes a bit more studying than other classes. I am learning Java as of right now, and the math part does help, but it is (as of right now) not anywhere near calculus in the math operations. I say do the CS degree while you can, or you may regret it.

NetworkVeteran

gsweaver2012 wrote: »

You may or may not be able to answer this, but do you think struggling through the math and getting a CS degree would be much more beneficial then the IT degree offered by UCF? From what I've read on here it seems like any one thing you can do to outshine the next guy helps, and I feel like an IT degree would be less desirable the CS, but I could be way off base here.

I know someone with no degree. He spent the years I was in college earning expert-level certifications. We have about equal experience and are on equal footing in the six-figure range. Sometimes he's turned down for no degree. Sometimes I'm turned down for not being certified enough. So no, it's certainly not hopeless! But it will be doubly important to earn challenging, specialized certifications if you want to earn a high salary, because that degree won't help impress clients. The good news: certifications don't require any math! The bad news: certifications and the technolgies they cover expire or become obsolete, quickly! Can't wait to earn my own CCIE numbers.

petedude

TheCudder wrote: »

Seeing an employer ask for a Computer Science degree is sometimes the same as seeing an employer ask for an MCSE a for tier-1 help desk position. I've seen more & more Senior Desktop Support & System Administrator jobs asks for "BS in computer related field" or "BS in Information Technology". It all depends on what you're looking to get into

Seconding this.