What Is Your Degree In or Field Of Study?

[VaginaShark]

My Field is Networking. Such as CCNA security and network

Just curious, did you have to earn any certs to break into networking or did the bachelor's in I.T. get you in?

 

[Scirilo]

Just curious, did you have to earn any certs to break into networking or did the bachelor's in I.T. get you in?

Certs most jobs application require Cisco certs nowadays

 

[Mbell4377]

LCDC

 

[Beano223]

Pretty cool thread idea.. I am in school now for my AA in business administration. I am planning on opening a business in the healthcare industry providing care to handicapped and elderly. It's important to me to own my own business I am not built to work for other people it drives me nuts daily

 

[Rhynosaurus]

Civil engineer. But teaching myself programming to transition into tech.

 

[grey]

No degree... many, many IT certs. Same vein as @Scirilo

 

[VaginaShark]

No degree... many, many IT certs. Same vein as @Scirilo

That's awesome. I've been seeing this a lot with even extremely successful I.T. guys either having no degree or an unrelated degree.

Any truth to the below statement? Ive heard this is how most hiring managers in the I.T. field rank qualifications for new candidates?
(Experience > certs > degree)

 

[grey]

Any truth to the below statement? Ive heard this is how most hiring managers in the I.T. field rank qualifications for new candidates?
(Experience > certs > degree)

Yes.

Depends on what market segment you are in but a great many markets could give 2 shits if you went to school or not, they want experience and/or certifications at a given level. Many customers (especially Federal and state governments) make various certifications and absolute requirement for some types of IT positions. Much rarer to see degree requirements, and when you do it tends to be "a B.S. in any field or x years of experience".

It doesn't take many interviews of applicants with 4 year degrees in Networking who can't subnet to sour you on the job being done in higher education.

I have a very short list of entry level tech questions I ask all candidates. To date, no one with a degree and no certs has answered more than 1. As the cert levels go up, the number of right answers go up.

 

[VaginaShark]

Yes.

Depends on what market segment you are in but a great many markets could give 2 shits if you went to school or not, they want experience and/or certifications at a given level. Many customers (especially Federal and state governments) make various certifications and absolute requirement for some types of IT positions. Much rarer to see degree requirements, and when you do it tends to be "a B.S. in any field or x years of experience".

It doesn't take many interviews of applicants with 4 year degrees in Networking who can't subnet to sour you on the job being done in higher education.

I have a very short list of entry level tech questions I ask all candidates. To date, no one with a degree and no certs has answered more than 1. As the cert levels go up, the number of right answers go up.

And most certifications, at least the ones I've looked at, run about a couple hundred dollars a piece. Compared to a 50 thousand dollar college degree.

 

[grey]

And most certifications, at least the ones I've looked at, run about a couple hundred dollars a piece. Compared to a 50 thousand dollar college degree.

Very true... but you would be surprised (maybe) by how many folks will sign up for a 6 figure student loan, but balk at a $200-500 dollar cert test.

I am very jaded from years as a hiring manager in IT.

When someone without any certs tells me they "are going to take a test" and I ask "When?" and their answer is "Haven't scheduled yet." the answer is "never".

No one studies for cert exams until their money is paid, the test date set, and preferably unrefundable.

 

[VaginaShark]

Very true... but you would be surprised (maybe) by how many folks will sign up for a 6 figure student loan, but balk at a $200-500 dollar cert test.

I am very jaded from years as a hiring manager in IT.

When someone without any certs tells me they "are going to take a test" and I ask "When?" and their answer is "Haven't scheduled yet." the answer is "never".

No one studies for cert exams until their money is paid, the test date set, and preferably unrefundable.

I think a big part of it is the appeal that you don't have to pay anything while you're still in school. It really doesn't feel like you're spending money while you're there.

Versus a cert which you pay for out of pocket so it feels like it's actually costing you money.

It's kind of like buying things with a credit card instead of cash. It's appealing until you start crunching the numbers, or worse yet, you get hit with the bill. Then it's a big *face palm* moment.

 

[VaginaShark]

Not sure if this has been mentioned anywhere on here but I just learned a nice tip for anyone that's interested in CompTIA certs.

If you can get ahold of a .edu email address you can buy them through their academic marketplace for a pretty big discount. Some of them it comes out to like half price.

 

[Ngtmarpete]

Aeronautics Engineering and mathematics. 270lb nerd

 

[Logan44551]

Journeyman Isnulator in the carpenters union.

 

[Roco Bama]

No fancy schooling for me, nope.

Instead, i wanted to get a job and start making some money.

i was young, so of course, i had all the right answers, 'cause you know, teenagers are never wrong.

Now i work a shit job for shit pay.

If i could only go back in time and kill my younger self before i made these choices, i'd be... Oh wait, that wouldn't work.

You don't need a degree to have a good paying job. Skilled trade jobs for example represent 1 of the largest area of growth.
Electricians, plumbers, welders, machinists, carpenters etc...make decent salaries. I can tell you that electricians/plumbers that work in the Bay Area are making into the 6 figures range.

 

[VaginaShark]

You don't need a degree to have a good paying job. Skilled trade jobs for example represent 1 of the largest area of growth.
Electricians, plumbers, welders, machinists, carpenters etc...make decent salaries. I can tell you that electricians/plumbers that work in the Bay Area are making into the 6 figures range.

Plus those jobs generally can't be outsourced