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Originally Posted by PcGeek04  I would tend to put Certs above a Degree.... but I would NEVER put a Cert or a Degree above 4 yrs experience.!!!!! I will say that it may be hard to get an interview without the degree, but if you have the experience, and a cert or two... screw the damn degree!!!! I do not hold a degree yet, still 1 year left on my BS in Tech Management. I hold the A+, Network+, and MCSE certs... I also start a new job on July 9th for 60K/yr. Was this due to my degree? well... some would say yes since I have a 3.96 and that little fact was on my resume, but others would say no since I do not hold the degree yet. either way... it was my experience, that showed when the questions were getting blasted at me and the folks wanted to know what I thought of the situation and what my prioorities would be. Do I think a degree is importnat hell yeah. But from my experience so far, it doesn't teach you anything but HOW to do a task. Putting those tasks together to formulate a cohesive plan is beyond the scope of the teachings. I also am finding that WHEN to utilize the knowledge the college is teaching is also onto given. To me... knowledge without direction or purpose is worthless. I have anough experience in the field to make sense of it all, but to newbs, I can see college as being a large waste of time at first. and I can also see a person graduating with honors, getting a good IT job based on that GPA, and not knowing a damn thing about how everything works in IT. THere it THeiry IT, then there is the real world of IT. Things arent always like it is in a book!!!! laters
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For starters, you were making a judgment on the Dell tech based on her "low level cert" accomplishments, exactly the opposite method of aptitude assessment that you seem to condone in your follow up post where you stress the merits of experience as a trump over certifications or degrees. The entire argument is rather silly and just shows a lack of experience in the corporate IT workforce and that's not an insult to you at all, simply an observation. I'm sure you'll get there soon enough and it sounds like you'll do well. I really can't say much because I've been there and can remember acquiring all the same MS, comptia and Cisco certs during my senior year of college, convinced that they were going to be magically much more useful to me than my BS in chemistry could ever be since I was working in IT at the time. They helped me get my foot in the door, but that's all. Certs are trash in my opinion, unless it's something along the lines of a CCIE where you have some real skills to show for your accomplishments. The subjective value of a certification can oscillate sporadically depending on a multitude of values, but the long term value of a formal education and 4 yr degree will never change. My 4 yr degree opened so many opportunities for me and my graduate degree in MIS, even more so. I worked in IT for several years and enjoyed some great job opportunities and advancements that I can directly attribute to simply having degrees. I can't stress enough the value of a good formal education. I had even considered dropping out of school my senior year and focusing only on certs since I wanted to work in IT but was working on a chemistry degree at the time. If I could go back in time I'd slap myself. Certs might help you get your foot in the door, but the degree will facilitate your advancement in corporate America much more rapidly than anything else. I'm not saying that there aren't cases of people excelling without degrees, but it's much harder. I've seen some of the most brilliant programmers and engineers completely excluded from management opportunities simply because they didn't have a 4 yr degree. The numbers don't lie, you can command a greater salary, additional job opportunities and greater job security, all by having a 4 yr degree. Ok, enough soap boxing. I sound like my father. I'm glad to hear you are finishing your degree. I think the combination of degree and certs will serve you well, but I fully expect you to see the value of your formal education as you spend some time in the workforce. You'll notice it's value more in medium to larger corporations with the stereotypical culture.
