Hi all,
I'd like to get some input on college education from those with more experience. I am currently 20 and working as a systems administrator for a worldwide satellite and cellular communications solutions company. Here's a bit regarding my career progression:
- Graduated high school in June 2010
- Started working for a local IT consulting company as a part-time (contract) desktop administrator with numerous clients in our metro area, making $13/hr.
- When that contract came to a close, it just so happened that one of their clients was in the market for a part-time, internal desktop administrator. My initial company referred me, and I was hired on by the new company a week later. My main job was end-user support and administration, however, I acted as their "jack of all trades" and also managed: industrial label printers, the company's B2C sales portal, and IP-based security camera and access control systems. All but ~5 of the users were local, so there was a bit of remote support. I started
@13.50/hr and ended, after 1.5 years, at $14.25/hr.
- My current job was obtained through a friend (colleague in a volunteer organization). Between the two of us, we are responsible for ~90 users, spread between two local offices, and one off-shore office in Auckland, NZ. We share responsibilities spanning everything from direct user support (desktops, laptops, mobile and VoIP phones, printers, etc.) to network systems. I'm only a month into this job, so I can't really expand much more on it than I already have, aside from saying that there seems to be a lot of room to grow and learn more. The company is expanding at a rapid pace, most notable is my direct unit, which makes up the majority of the company. I started here a month ago (first full-time job) making $45,000/year, including overtime (full-time, hourly - not salaried).
Besides my high school diploma, I do not have any formal education or certifications. I was one of the very few lucky ones who was able to get on-board at a young age through people I knew, and personal knowledge. I would like to change that, however; and that is the intention of this post. I see a good mix of people who are very strongly for gaining a formal technical education, in addition to certs, and those who are strongly for combining work experience and certs with a business-based education.
As mentioned, I do not have any formal education, besides ~20 or so general education college credits. I would definitely like to start up towards my 4-year degree soon, with the requirement that it's majority (if not fully) online. I am certain an in-class education is not my thing; however, with online programs, I am definitely aware of accreditation standards and such.
Tl;dr - Would you recommend combining a 4-year business degree (and later, hopefully, a MS in Information Assurance) with my experience, or should I opt for something more technical?
If you'd like to get a better idea of my work experience, here's my Linkedin profile:
Alex Ramos | LinkedIn
(If links violate ToS in any way... my bad, mods!)
