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University degree or IT Certification?

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by it-boy

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I am about to leave my country and my job in Southamerica because I have been given an opportunity to do a master/specialization course.I can't take it further or put it off, if I am commited to it I must do it now and leave everything I have here and that includes leaving my job as a networking admin.
I have been working for about 3 years as Networking Admin and currently focused on Security field which i find it very exciting and with a positive perspective in IT market.I am not a super expert on security but surely I want to be very specialized on this field.
So I am considering very seriously to go for a security degree in some University, at the moment i have two kind of options:
1.A degree (specialization on IT field like Security) in some University in USA or Canada
2.A security certification
Both implies leaving my job and my country as I would have to spend a full or a year and a half abroad studying .As my intentions are trying to break into USA IT job market my goal is to achieve some kind of certification like MCSE 2000 or 2003 by the time I get to USA and there after take one of the chances 1 or 2.

Any comments? am i doing right?
what would be the more reasonable choice?

3 replies

by ghstinshll

I have no idea... but if you want to leave the country and get into the US to work in that field, get a degree from a US college, and while in college here get those certifications too! Go for the Security+ in the mix of it all and that should put you in a good position with a degree, expereince, MCSE AND Security+. CISSP is another goodie, btu you won't have enough experience to take that one.

by it-boy

just a comment..when you talk about getting a degree from a US college, you mean a pre-graduate degree? and is that a comment from you or is it a specific law for IT security specialists?

Thank you for your time,

by davidpmartin

If you want to work in the US, the best legal way to do that is through a H1 visa. If you come in to the US as a student, then try to change afterward, the process is so difficult as to be impossible to do (I am not an immigration lawyer, but my wife's relatives are not US citizens, so I have some experience in this area).

What would be the best way - if you can afford to do it finish your US education on the student visa - then return to your country and apply for a H1 (technology worker) visa. What would be good qualifications for this - The best would be Degree + Security Cert + experience. You already have the experience in networking - so the Degree and or certification is the only decision I think you have to make.

So what's best - If you were going to work for the US government I would recomend the degree. But since you are a non-US citizen, that option is all but closed to you - your option is US private industry. In our private IT industry, the industry securitycertifications - beginning with Cisco's CCSP certification - are still more recognized than the largely theoretical CISSP. A CISSP has good 'head knowledge' about network security, but the CISSP certification itself says nothing about the person's ability to install firewalls, Intrusion Detection Systems, VPNs, and the like. So I'm not too keen on the CISSP (no hate mail from the CISSP community please :-)

Bottom line: From what you have posted, I would opt out for a well recognized IT industry certification over a college degree. Again, this is only my personal observation, and you need to get more information before making any decision (hows that for a nice disclaimer:-)

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