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Degrees/Experience, What really counts?

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by john tieso

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What do we consider the ideal staff in IT these days? Is it those who have been granted degrees in IT, regarless of how relative? What do we do with those who have 'grown up' in the field without formal education? What role does education and experience play? What do we want for the IT staff of the future?

This is an opportunity to express your views on a very divisive subject. Looking forward to hearing your side of the story.

11 replies

by ggwbm

I am one of those people that you have mentioned that have "Grown Up" i the industry. I have been in IT for over 17 years. I have certainly taken advantage of theopportunities at hand, but there comes a point in which there is a fork in the road. IFyou aspire to be in the upper levels of management, then it is undoubtably that you will face solid business dynamics, ROI Analysis etc. You need the skills and training tha really I think only acadamia can offer. Otherwise, plain and simeple, you are just another "Techy". Let's face it. What it really comes down to is two things. One- Where do you want to go, and two- what tools do you need to get there.

by callctrmgr

When looking at my staff and potential people to hire, I look for someone that can work for and with me and my group. If the person will not fit in with the group they have to work with, regardless of what degrees they have, then I would not hire them.

I look more for people skills and their will to work hard.

The tech. certs. are good to show that they had the initiative to work hard to complete them.

I think people skills are key in a customer service environment.

by john tieso

I agree that tech skills can be taught. People skills take experience that classrooms don't provide. Most Management skills, such as ROI Analysis, strategic planning, etc. can similarly be learned over time

by goobs

Being of the group that has learned by experience, I have to say that experience means more, at least to most people I have had conversations with (those of us that grew up in the IT field). I have had many opportunities to work with those with degrees and certifications and have found overall than most do not have the practical knowledge to do the job properly. If they did not learn it in class, then they don't seem to know how to do it.

Example: There was a person that I was working with on a project that had their 4 year degree in CIS/Network Administration. We were talking about Windows 2000 Adv. Server setups at home. He had no idea what DNS and WINS were used for and was not running DHCP on his home network because he didn't know how to configure it. This was a person that graduated with his MCSE and CCNA. It seemed to me that he studied and retained only long enough to take the tests. The real world is a completely different situation.

That is my 2 cents worth.

by john tieso

Some years ago, I will modestly say that I had something important to say on the evolution of business process reengineering--at least in the Federal space. People would come to listen to me at conferences and my e-mail was always choked( still is)with questions that I happily answer.

I should add that my undergraduate degree was in American Colonial History, followed by Master in Education and Business Administration (Resource management). My PhD is in Public Policy. Did you see anything about business engineering, or data management, or computing in general?

We had nothing in the mid-80s that taught anyone how to deal with these issues--other than BSD. We all learned from doing and experience and most of us did fairly well.

by ckyong

Degree , Master and etc is a paper qualification or rather an academic qualification. It stays with you as long as you are. It somehow represent the intelligence you have...

Certification like MCSE, CCNA and etc is the industry certification that will "obselete" after some time but it will form as your foundation to continue in developing and seeking new knowledge in the latest technologies.

With the conveniences of internet-ready, anyone can easily obtain any or both of these certifications at anytime ....

I feel the most important criteria is the right attitude that a person has .... I would rather have a committed "monkey" rather than a loose "genius" in my team ...

likewise in any job interview that I have conducted, I would say almost 95% and above of all applicants has degree and experiences that we advertise ... the main challenge is still to find the right candidate with right attitude ....all others can come later !

by mlayton

...I always tell people I hire that "I don't expect you to know everything, that would be impossible. I do expect you to have an idea of where to find the answer." Which means they need interpersonal skills, research skills, and a good base of knowledge to build onto, and most important the ability to know when they don't know the answer and go look it up somewhere instead of trying to fake it!

by elwoos

I've just completed some work with some final year undergraduates in Information Systems. They couldn't believe some of the things that happen in the real world. I think that academia gives you the ideal to aim for but experience gives you knowledge of what really happens and what works when you are under severe pressure. The academic side is merely the foundation. I think there's a fine balance.

by mlayton

...are not taught in the classroom but can be learned in the proper educational environment. Diplomatically dealing with professors and others in a study group, who may be on different levels than you certainly can apply in the office as well. What is needed is a willingness to see beyond the technical issues to the overall business impact - which means you need to understand a little finance, a little management, a little legal, a little of every role in the company and the ability to look at things from a different perspective. While they can be learned over time, the classroom is a good place to enter into these discussions and learn standard business practice if you have the right program.

by raghu

I must say this before giving my argument.

It is impossible to judge a person for any IT position from his
degree or experience. U will never know wat has hit u, once any
thing goes wrong. So, I believe that this question does not have
the required sanity.

However, I can suggest that if one has a clear purpose of the
position for which u are going to hire a person. Give that
purpose to the candidate and him, if he would like to work for
this purpose. and u can start making ur judgements from their.

by kare.dyvik

A degree, no matter on which subject, shows a capacity for learning. If you hire someone with much experience but little education, you may find that he has a limited capacity for learning new skills, or that he's a slow learner.
People skills are certainly important; however, don't be fooled by a candidate's "interview skills".
What kind of person do you need? Maybe you should aim for staffing your group with a mix of techies and "people" people. But can you make them work together?

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