Bachelor's Degrees and credibility (IT and IS field)

Kriz

After my prospective Information Systems job for the fall has fallen through, I find myself turning back to college and what I need to get myself into a good career. Even though everyone tells me that experience is more important than a degree in IT and IS, I know that in this job market a Bachelor's degree or higher gives a big advantage, and I think I should seek that out.

Background: 21 years old, state high school diploma with honors, very few general community college credits under my belt. I have some, but not a lot of experience: I worked in my community college's IT department as a workstudy. I really enjoy the tech field; it's interesting and fun to work with new computers and networks and all that.

My local University (UConn) has a Management Information Systems bachelor's, and I'm thinking that might be the way to go. I'd like to know if any IT or IS professionals, HR reps, or anyone in general could lend their opinion on the value of different degrees in getting a decent position.

fshavlak

In a lot of fields a bachelor's degree will not actually teach you a whole lot but will be hugely beneficial to your employability and the rate at which you get promoted.

You're already somewhat out in the real world, so if money is an issue I'd suggest keeping up the job search and working on your degree part time. When you finish, you'll have several years work experience and a bachelors degree to turn into either a big raise at your existing job or a big pay increase by switching jobs.

Legionnaired

YMMV:

At Ohio State the MIS degree is mainly seen as a Business Analyst / 'soft' technical skill degree. That's not bad, but unless you're gunning for an analyst or architect position you're probably not doing a whole lot for yourself there. Still, a degree is a degree.

Kriz

Legionnaired wrote: »

YMMV:

At Ohio State the MIS degree is mainly seen as a Business Analyst / 'soft' technical skill degree. That's not bad, but unless you're gunning for an analyst or architect position you're probably not doing a whole lot for yourself there. Still, a degree is a degree.

UConn has a Business and Technology degree and I thought that was "soft" degree.

My skills aren't really in programing so CS isn't exactly what I had in mind. I like the hands-on sort of computer repair that working in IT has, and I just wonder what sort of degree does one aspire to when in that field? I know certifications and experience are key, but I don't want to be held back in the world by not having a degree.

are there truly no respected degrees in the technology world between the ranks of CS wizard and microsoft office monkey?

Hlubocky

Kriz wrote: »

Legionnaired wrote: »

are there truly no respected degrees in the technology world between the ranks of CS wizard and microsoft office monkey?

There are respected positions, but you seem to hit the nail on the head in that there are none you can get a bachelors degree for. As someone with a BS/MS in Computer Science, I have to say that I think out of any degree, that probably opens the most doors for you if you are just looking to get into IT work and not actual programming. Otherwise I think you would be better off just taking those cert tests I guess. I don't know much about MIS degrees... maybe they are worth something.

Jimmy King

As a fellow IT guy (I'm a developer) with no degree who is attempting to get one now, here's my take on it. Experience is more important than a degree, but a degree sure isn't going to hurt, and definitely helps in some cases. I have been skipped over due to the lack of degree and was told so.

Unfortunately, it's very hard for someone to tell you what degree to get. There isn't any specific name for a specific type of degree. Eqvuialent degrees get called different things at different schools and degrees with roughly the same name are sometimes very different. It's going to be more important to look at the actual classes required for the degrees to figure out what you need to take. In most cases, you're probably not looking for a CS degree. What you want will probably have Information Systems or Networking in the name, but not always.

exoplasm

From my experience, many technical employers acknowledge that a lot of certs and degrees are worth only as much as the paper they are printed on. The problem is that HR usually puts up a bunch of red tape. If you interview two candidates: one has more experience, but the other has degrees, policy states take the educated guy first. This isn't always true, but it has boned me a few times.

On the other hand, without any certs or degrees, I have enough keywords on my resume to get recruiters from everywhere calling me. Of course, it sucks when I list a keyword for some system I setup once and then get job offers for a position that's related, but a completely different system. The huge pay would be nice, but I've yet to fake my way through those interviews successfully.

Bottom line: If you can get past the initial resume filter and get an interview, if you can show your skills and knowledge off then you can beat the cert/degree holders who are merely typing monkeys. (Obviously this doesn't apply to all cert/degree holders)

underdonk

It really depends on your goals. Do you want to try and work your way to C-level management or is a middle management/high-level technical position more in line with what you want out of your career? Do you want to work in academics or perform highly technical research? If you're shooting for C-level management or a position in the academic field, get that college degree now. It means a lot. If you're shooting for a high-end technical position, concentrate on technical and project management certifications and get as much experience under your belt as you can. I've worked in INFOSEC for the past 15 years and have been highly involved in the hiring process within the companies I've worked for, and what I describe above generally holds true. Also, if you don't have good people skills, work on them. Join Toastmasters (http://www.toastmasters.org/) or some other such professional networking group. Being able to communicate with the customer, your peers, and management is as important as anything else you bring to the table.

Erandus

"Computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes." - Edsgar Dijkstra

If you want a technical IT job such as a windows sys admin or some sort of break/fix desktop support, college degrees are probably not the "best" thing as far as being an aid in performing the work. Technical training and experience are generally superior.

That being said, the degree always looks good on a resume, and the fact that you have the motivation, skill, and commitment to finish any 4 year degree is a major boon to prospective employers.