career advice - advancement

Comments

• n3tw0rk3r Member Posts: 17 ■□□□□□□□□□

  March 2012

  I would say it really depends on what you want to do.
  
  If you want to stay within the field of IT, I'd obviously recommend going with the IS degree. However, if you feel you need a change, finance isn't a bad option. What I would not do though is go after a plain business degree, from what I have learned, it is one of the more useless degrees out there (unless obtained from a top business school - which usually requires students to double major in something such as finance, accounting, IS, etc).
  
  If you want to go into management, imo, it's much better to start with your foot in a technical degree for your bachelor's and look for a good MBA program down the road. Alternatively, you could always get a bachelor's and work on a PMP certification, as well - assuming you have the necessary experience.
  
  At the end of the day though, it really does just come down to what you want to do and what you feel more comfortable doing.

  0 · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
• cknapp78 Member Posts: 213 ■■■■□□□□□□

  March 2012

  Agreed. If you are looking to move out of the Server Room and into more of a Design or IT Project Mgr role then I would definitely focus on an IT degree. Also...have you looked into pursuing a higher level certification to advance your degree? I see that you have your MCSA completed. Have you considered upgrading to an MCITP:EA or higher? How about taking your Net+ and moving up the Cisco path?
  
  I think you are right on schedule as far as trying to move out of the Server Room and into a higher functioning role. I spent about 6.5 years working help desk and systems administration before I started specializing in Exchange and SharePoint. After almost 15 years I am now the lead messaging architect for a large oil/energy company and working on migrating Exchange 2010 out to 96 sites over 33 countries. Been here 4 weeks now and there are some days I already look back with fondness on the old Server Room days. *SIGH*

  0 · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
• echo3 Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 13 ■□□□□□□□□□

  March 2012

  Thanks for the feedback; I would like to have an MBA oneday. Most the IT directors have MBAs from what I’ve researched. But I’m still not sure> I would like toupdate the certifications too and go for CCNA. But I get so burnt out doingthat stuff. It seems like every six months there some new certification thatyou have to get and if you don’t have it, it means you don’t know what you’redoing. It’s an endless cycle of crap.
  

  0 · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
• JoJoCal19 Mod Posts: 2,835 Mod

  March 2012

  From my experience (with large companies) it really doesn't matter if your Bachelors is in business or IT, either will help as long as you have experience and certs. I work in InfoSec and I see on plenty of job postings in that area or even others, where it asks for a Bachelors, or one in IT or business. I for one am looking to move up into security management so I am getting my BSBA and going on to my MBA. I have found some MBAs that have a specialization in MIS or Information Security Management so that is what I will go for.

  Have: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, eJPT, GCIA, GSEC, CCSP, CCSK, AWS CSAA, AWS CCP, OCI Foundations Associate, ITIL-F, MS Cyber Security - USF, BSBA - UF, MSISA - WGU
  Currently Working On: Python, OSCP Prep
  Next Up:​ OSCP
  Studying:​ Code Academy (Python), Bash Scripting, Virtual Hacking Lab Coursework

  0 · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
• griffinalice29 Member Posts: 13 ■□□□□□□□□□

  July 2012

  Based on the career snapshot you've provided us, I would recommend finding an executive leadership program to enroll in. Sounds like you'd have a good shot at getting a role as an IT Executive.

  0 · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter