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Certification/University?????????????

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by a_d_fisher

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IT Professionals,

I am new to this site and have been reading your discussions on this very topic. There seems to be a lot of opinions on people with degrees vs people without and vice versa with certifications. OK, I have a scenario for you....

I have recently been terminated from my position with a Telephone Company, I used to be a Network Operations Tech. I have a 3 year community college diploma in Information Networks, and worked for the Telephone Company for approx 1.5 years, and still can not obtain a job.. most companies tell me to get some certifications.

I am currently pursuing the idea of going to a training school that will train me for my A+, Network+, CNA and MCSA certifications. but I am also throwing the ideaof University around. I would like to hear some you verteran IT folks opinions on this.

Since I have 1.5 years experience plus 3 year Technical college diploma plus in several months time I will hopefully have a couple of ceritifications will this measure up to Companies that are potentially looking for University Degrees.

I guess basically I am looking for an answer of what is better.

Thank you in advance

I have talked to several

3 replies

by jimbb

Companies are not interested in certifications or degrees, companies are interested in someone that can make their organisation run (more) profitable. Then how did you get all those replies? Probably because you talked to HR or so. They cannot make the difference between a good and a bad techie, so they base themselves on easily recognisable things: candidate A has a cert., candidate B not. So A is better than B.

A veteran, as you call it, knows that this simplification sucks, and that the combination of theoretical knowledge (certifications, education), experience and personality is what counts. But HR cannot judge that, so if you rely on them as a first filter, get them certifications quick to satisfy them. However, most CIO andother IT managers know that theoretical knowledge alone is worth zippo, and they will want to know who you are, not what kind of papers you hold. After all, they're more interested in knowing if you'd fit in their team, if you'd be capable of doingthe job.

Yes, sure, certifications can prove you have the theoretical knowledge you need to do a good job. For that reason alone it's a good thing to have some. But it doesn't prove you do a good job. It's up to you to prove that, by talking to the hiring manager, *not* to HR.

Jim

by ebob

Just thought I'd chime in and say "couldn't have said it better" myself.

Now, as to whether A_D_Fisher SHOULD go get a cert or a degree, well, the only right answer is: It Depends.

It depends on what you want to do with your life, and your career.

If what you really want to do is get your career back on the rails, get a job, and move along, then grabbing a couple of Certifications will help (as Jim said) get you through the extremely flawed screening process in H/R.

It continues tobe my position that a University programme should not be "job training". A University education should (only IMVHO!) purely be an intellectual exercise. The best University degrees have absolutely no practical application in the "real world". (The preceeding is purely a personal opinion.)

If you're looking for Job Training, look to a community college for a technical diploma (A-D already has ONE), or go the practical experience route, backed up with cerifications, where appropriate.

by mzii

i am AT varsity right now and i refute the allegation that the best degrees in IT do not possess much hands-on stuff. e get milked here by lecturers and stuff in about as much stuff that the prac guys do....AND we have the theory as well....

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