Career advice - Degree or certs

Hi fella's

i am about to start a new job at a isp and many of the technologies i am pretty new to or do not have extensive experiance with, so im guessing its gona be a big learning curve but great exposure to some good stuff. I start the job in september. Now before i got the job i also applied for a Msc network computing which i have been accepted for and been told i will have 95% of my fee's paid for leaving me to only pay about £400 for an Msc. The masters follows the entire CCNP material (with a few extras) so that would allow me to finish up my NP whilst doing the masters.

Now my question is what would you pursue...should i take the job and study the masters/ccnp and getting my masters for a pittance? or should i drop the masters and complete certs relavent to my job role such as ccnp, juniper, checkpoint etc?

Currently i feel that it would be best to complete the masters because of the cost and the fact i can get the ccnp which i need to finish anyway, then pick up vendor specific certs on the way after i finish.

I would just like some opinions from you's guys before i decide.

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Comments

TrainingDaze

Is it possible for you to do both? - accept the isp day job and take a class or two per semester for the Msc at night?

nel

TrainingDaze wrote: »

Is it possible for you to do both? - accept the isp day job and take a class or two per semester for the Msc at night?

hey,

sorry i should have made that clear - i will be accepting the isp job either way. the question was really to either do the masters whilst working at the isp or do certs whilst working there. The way i see it, the masters may slow down my learning of my daily job as i wont be able to study certs at night due to the masters but on the other hand i'll be gaining hands on. Where if i do the certs then i should learn/master the technology faster perhaps. but im thinkin if it slows my learning down then i can easily do the certs after the masters anyway.

Bl8ckr0uter

You have a BS. Take a year or two and build up your certs (CC{IN}P, JNCI{AP}) and don't do any school. You can always come back to school in a little while.

Edit: Could you just take 1 or 2 classes and work on it very slowly? You were already accepted so will they let you postpone your enrollment?

Zartanasaurus

So... you can get a nearly free Master's degree that will allow you to sit for the CCNP exam. I'm sorry, what was your question again?

TrainingDaze

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

So... you can get a nearly free Master's degree that will allow you to sit for the CCNP exam. I'm sorry, what was your question again?

This.

Your Master's degree will not only give you and advanced degree but it will also help prepare you for the CCNP. As long as the degree is at an accredited college/uni, this is a no-brainer. Gain experience at your new job, earn your advanced degree, pick up your CCNP, make lots of money.

nel

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

So... you can get a nearly free Master's degree that will allow you to sit for the CCNP exam. I'm sorry, what was your question again?

yeah

like the op said, its a no brainer. and i already had a good idea that was the path i am going to take. Just wanted to make sure as the new job will really through me in the deep end and i guess i am wanting to live upto there expectations so i actually make it past my probation period

rogue2shadow

Definitely go for the masters degree. If you're going government this will help meet one of the requirements for getting near or above the GS-13 paygrade (salary varies based on occupation). The nice thing about degrees is once you get it, its for life!

gorebrush

Sounds like a dream opportunity to me nel, get in there son!

BradleyHU

degree....you can always study for certifications while you take classes or study during the winter & summer breaks....

veritas_libertas

Finish the Master degree, it can only help!