IT Networking - CC, Distance Learning, or Self-Taught?

Hello all! A user on another forum recommended that I try posting my question here for more answers. Hoping you can help.

"On the verge of completing my master's degree, and the field of networking has recently piqued my interest. For anyone with any networking experience or knowledge, is it better to take my time while learning the material, such as attending my local CC with 16 week semesters, or can the material be just as understood/ingrained if self-taught?

It looks like my options are:

A) Attend local CC which has a series of Cisco Networking Academy courses (would take about 1.5-2 years to complete the series)
Pros:
1. Networking with professors/classmates - Possible internship/placement?
2. Structured Learning
3. Hands on experience
4. Probably would pick up CompTIA+, Net+, & be prepared to take the CCNA exam upon program completion
Cons:
1. Time to completion (1.5-2 years)
2. Commute (which really isn't that bad, but that gas money adds up after 16 weeks lol)
3. Mandatory attendance
4. Hard @ss seats. Seriously...why do schools have to make them so hard? They hurt my butt after 15 minutes lol.
Self-study and go cert-hunting (CompTIA+, Net+, Sec+, CCNA)
Pros:
1. Flexible schedule
2. Possibly less expensive than CC
3. Will likely acquire the certs quicker if going straight for them versus attending CC?
Cons:
1. Potentially not learning the material as in depth as I should be?
2. Lack of professional networking possibilities
3. Not as hands on
C) Distance learning (Possibly WGU's BSIT - Sec)
Pros:
1. Accredited + receive several certs through the coursework (CCNA, CCNA Sec, CompTIA+, Net+, Sec+, Project+, Linux+
Cons:
1. Maybe too hands off?
2. Would likely take me two terms to complete.

I'm trying to choose the path that would provide the best chance at getting entry level work in the field. I am also not against getting experience as help desk/desktop support as I know many IT professionals must pay their dues there. At the moment I am leaning towards attending my local CC to see if I enjoy it, and then possibly taking the plunge into WGU, but I am as indecisive as a squirrel crossing the road right now lol.

Any opinions or suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks

Note: Am I overemphasizing the importance of being "hands on" in this area of work?"

Original Post:IT Networking - CC, Distance Learning, or Self-Taught?

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Hunter91

I know this question is probably asked 10 times a month, but I'm bumping this thread with something I saw on the sticky page:

"- Stop rushing to get the piece of paper and make sure you're learning something. This comes up in forums over and over again where people want to rush to get a certification hoping it opens doors into the prospective field but they don't slow down to lab, commit and truly learn the content. Ok, so you got a CCNA in under a month. What's the point of getting a CCNA if you didn't commit anything to your long term memory?"

"- What kind of degree you have probably doesn't matter in most IT jobs. If you're switching to IT and you have a music/liberal arts/history/philosophy degree, my recommendation wouldn't be to restart college and get another degree in IT or Computer Science. You'd be better served probably going for certifications at that point. There might be some ROI on the technology-specific degree if you have no degree at all but not enough to put yourself in more debt just to get an technology-specific degree"

Irishtheangel recommends to not go back to school if a person has a "music/liberal arts/history/philosophy degree" which both my BA and MA are. Rather, Iris says to pursue certifcations.

On the flip side, Iris says to take your time and learn the material so you can actually be useful in the field.

Since I have no background in IT, maybe it is best if I attend my local CC while self-studying away from school on my own time for certs?

Iristheangel

My recommendation for degrees is not to put yourself in more debt over it and usually it's not much more than a checkbox in most cases. As far as your options:

- Option A: I found that most CC courses take longer to study for the certification than just doing it on your own. I.e. Why spend 3-6 months on a course that's the equivalent of the A+ instead of a month or two of hard study. Not sure what your study ethic is like but a lot of the lower certs could probably be attained faster with self study and you're probably going to get more out of it than the average CC course. That's just my 2 cents but you might get lucky and get some rockstar instructor.

- Option B: You're probably going to get as much or more depth than a college course lecture for 1-2 hours a week as long as you're using some good study materials. As far as hands on, why can't it be as hands on? For example:
A+ - Get a computer and some parts and start playing.
N+ - Probably won't need much labbing for this one tbh. Be prepared to memorize a lot of ports. Maybe it's different now but it wasn't a hands on thing when I took it
Sec+ - Same as with the N+
CCNA - This is the fun part. There's a lot of free virtual alternatives for the CCNA level (Packet tracer) but CCNA labs are cheap these days. GNS3 is also another great option but I'll have to figure out how to get images on your own. Ebay it and get your lab on. If you're serious about becoming a network engineer, you'll probably be getting some gear to play with at some point anyways.

- Option C: Pretty much the same as Option B to some degree expect your spending money on it and you get a different piece of paper at the end. It might be beneficial to you, it might not be.

Hunter91

Iristheangel wrote: »

My recommendation for degrees is not to put yourself in more debt over it and usually it's not much more than a checkbox in most cases. As far as your options:

- Option A: I found that most CC courses take longer to study for the certification than just doing it on your own. I.e. Why spend 3-6 months on a course that's the equivalent of the A+ instead of a month or two of hard study. Not sure what your study ethic is like but a lot of the lower certs could probably be attained faster with self study and you're probably going to get more out of it than the average CC course. That's just my 2 cents but you might get lucky and get some rockstar instructor.

- Option B: You're probably going to get as much or more depth than a college course lecture for 1-2 hours a week as long as you're using some good study materials. As far as hands on, why can't it be as hands on? For example:
A+ - Get a computer and some parts and start playing.
N+ - Probably won't need much labbing for this one tbh. Be prepared to memorize a lot of ports. Maybe it's different now but it wasn't a hands on thing when I took it
Sec+ - Same as with the N+
CCNA - This is the fun part. There's a lot of free virtual alternatives for the CCNA level (Packet tracer) but CCNA labs are cheap these days. GNS3 is also another great option but I'll have to figure out how to get images on your own. Ebay it and get your lab on. If you're serious about becoming a network engineer, you'll probably be getting some gear to play with at some point anyways.

- Option C: Pretty much the same as Option B to some degree expect your spending money on it and you get a different piece of paper at the end. It might be beneficial to you, it might not be.

Thank you so much for clearing some of that up for me Iris. I really appreciate it.