College for IT?

[prochobo 10+ year member]

I am in college right now majoring in IT (security), but I don't see the point of it. I've heard from so many people that you can become very successful in the field without a degree, in fact, it's one of the only fields you can do this in. Experience and certifications rank equally as high as college degrees, is that right?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm considering quitting college and going back with a previous company where I would make about 35k a year.

I just want some opinions from people with experience in this field.

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[luvinthebass 5,000+ posts]

I have no idea what i'm gonna do with hte rest of my life either, they have IT classes at the community college bout 30 miles away from me and they're 28 credits and i'm gonna take some courses in teh spring and see if it's really somethin for me, i'm not gonna be in the food industry the rest of life...atleast i hope not

-Luke

 

[bbka 10+ year member]

Having a bachelor's degree will defintely help a lot. So my advice to anybody, get your 4 year IT degree when your young, it will help. Look at all the job listings, it will say college degree or experiance, so unless you have about 4 years of experiance working in the field I'd stay in school. Certs are okay, but I bet they look at the guy with the degree before the guy with only certs.

I went to ITT-Tech and got my associates, it basically gets your foot in the door, the rest is up to you. I'm actually considering going back for my bachelor's degree when I can find the time and money. You will get more money to start with the degree. I already have a few years experiance along with my degree, so that compared to just experiance would probably get you the job.

 

[Heresy 10+ year member]

unless you have about 4 years of experiance working in the field I'd stay in school. Certs are okay, but I bet they look at the guy with the degree before the guy with only certs.

That is what I heard from plenty of people at the last AES convention. A college degree says you can get up for your classes and pass them. Figuring that only 25% of freshmen graduate, that isn't an easy thing to do for many people. Right now, all those people who are successful without a degree are the ones who were at the right place at the right time and made an impression on the right people. There are plenty of people who tried similar things and weren't so lucky. Earn your degree, see if you can work in the on campus computer lab, and send out resumes to intern at various IT departments over the summer. It really sucks but you have a better chance getting what you want with that than anything else.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

You can also join the 1000s of Indians who do IT and want to go for their MBA. I see it all the time on the businessweek message boards. I think few, if any, were born in America.

 

[prochobo 10+ year member]

That is what I heard from plenty of people at the last AES convention. A college degree says you can get up for your classes and pass them. Figuring that only 25% of freshmen graduate, that isn't an easy thing to do for many people. Right now, all those people who are successful without a degree are the ones who were at the right place at the right time and made an impression on the right people. There are plenty of people who tried similar things and weren't so lucky. Earn your degree, see if you can work in the on campus computer lab, and send out resumes to intern at various IT departments over the summer. It really sucks but you have a better chance getting what you want with that than anything else.

Hmmm, well here's my background then. I've got 2 years under my belt from various jobs: call center, network admin, onsite tech, and Unix/Linux support staff. The Unix/Linux gig is what I'm doing right now on campus, beats the hell out of a computer lab. 4 entry/mid level certs, all Comptia (A+, Net+, Linux+, Security+) since I got a deal on em. The company I may go to will pay for any certs I want to get, I plan to get my MCSA, then MCSE while getting my RHCE and CISSP in the future. Will probably lean towards the Cisco route and who knows, maybe I'll be one of the few CCIE's.

I'm thinking about the economic profit that I'm losing staying in school right now. I'm gonna be 20k+ in debt after college, and from what I've heard, the average IT job will net maybe 30-35k with a degree, which I could be making right now.

I think that if I'm able to go on full time, I will. If it doesn't work out down the road (short run, like 2 years) I'll just go back to college and I'm back where I started.

It may also be the market. Around here, I know several people netting 50k+ a year and have no degree. Pretty good if you ask me. . .

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

I'm thinking about the economic profit that I'm losing staying in school right now. I'm gonna be 20k+ in debt after college, and from what I've heard, the average IT job will net maybe 30-35k with a degree, which I could be making right now.

I think that if I'm able to go on full time, I will. If it doesn't work out down the road (short run, like 2 years) I'll just go back to college and I'm back where I started.

It may also be the market. Around here, I know several people netting 50k+ a year and have no degree. Pretty good if you ask me. . .

im in the same boat, but hopefully as stated before the jobs will hire ppl with a 4 year bachelors instead of old joe blow with all the experience...

man, im gonna be broke when i graduate //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif