I.t. Schools

[Pawn]

So I would like to start that I am not a complete dunce with computers but, I am by no means on a level that I would like and I am in no way close to where I would like to be in the I.T. world. As such I decided to go back to school now that I am able to afford it and, finally get a degree. However looking over the courses and talking with people in classes (who seem to know less than me) I am starting to wonder if I would be better skipping school and spending my money on certs or there is a good school to attend.

That being said the school I was going to attend is Devry University. While I am finally able to afford going back I still face several problems. One being I will be employed full time so Devry (the degree that I had chosen from them was data forensics which is another interest of mine) offered both on-line and in-call options with on-site instructors which can work easily around my schedule. Aside from Devry in my area I would be forced to attend a school such as ITT or vaderott (sp). My personal goal is to go into information security and I would like to do penetration testing but, I am keeping my options open. My other option is however to skip school and go for certs such as the CEH or the CISSP along with more common certs like the CCNA. does anyone have any experience with this issue in a constructive manner?

Thank you in advance for your help

P.S. The most I have been able to afford up to this point is to be a sophomore in college. My experience is little more than a service write at a tech bench(what the geek squad called a Counter operations agent) during that time I did attempt the CISSP once as the test was paid for as a gift to me by from friends. My score on it was a 688 but, I have not been able to afford retaking it until now. My current job does little to advance my technical skills as it is a simple vendor job for a tech company. (I admit it I am paid to be a fan-boy)

[Trax]

So I would like to start that I am not a complete dunce with computers but, I am by no means on a level that I would like and I am in no way close to where I would like to be in the I.T. world. As such I decided to go back to school now that I am able to afford it and, finally get a degree. However looking over the courses and talking with people in classes (who seem to know less than me) I am starting to wonder if I would be better skipping school and spending my money on certs or there is a good school to attend.

That being said the school I was going to attend is Devry University. While I am finally able to afford going back I still face several problems. One being I will be employed full time so Devry (the degree that I had chosen from them was data forensics which is another interest of mine) offered both on-line and in-call options with on-site instructors which can work easily around my schedule. Aside from Devry in my area I would be forced to attend a school such as ITT or vaderott (sp). My personal goal is to go into information security and I would like to do penetration testing but, I am keeping my options open. My other option is however to skip school and go for certs such as the CEH or the CISSP along with more common certs like the CCNA. does anyone have any experience with this issue in a constructive manner?

Thank you in advance for your help

P.S. The most I have been able to afford up to this point is to be a sophomore in college. My experience is little more than a service write at a tech bench(what the geek squad called a Counter operations agent) during that time I did attempt the CISSP once as the test was paid for as a gift to me by from friends. My score on it was a 688 but, I have not been able to afford retaking it until now. My current job does little to advance my technical skills as it is a simple vendor job for a tech company. (I admit it I am paid to be a fan-boy)

Heh i'm partly there with you. i've been going back to school to try and get some kind of degree and have been wishing i hadn't.

But my circumstance's are a bit different. i was laid off in oct of 08 and entered school in jan or feb of 09. one of my main problems though has been lack of derrection. while i have allot of interest's (IE Computers, manufacturing, welding, blacksmithing etc...) i have not been able to find something that i would like to do as a career.

One of the things i found out personally is that the trade schools like devry, ITT etc cost way to much money for what you get. on top of that from what i have heard from various employers is that they look at the degrees from them as little more then someone without any. now i may have heard wrong but i've known far to many people with BS/BA degrees that have ended up flipping burgers or doing sales.

please excise this a bit as its alcohol fueled atm...

[BlueWyvern]

I'm in about the same position as Trax, I was laid off in December 08 and of course it was after the holiday rush so I couldn't even get a part time gig working at a big box store. So I went to college, well still am in college doing it online, and found that I don't like this college's IT Program. (But that's neither here nor there) I do have some IT Experience under my belt, but no degree and no certifications. I still applied to several places and the two reposes I received were...

a.) Your resume looks great, but unfortunately we only hire individuals who have a college education.

b.) I'm sorry Mr. X, but it seems you are overqualified for this job.

Funny story about two jobs i applied to, one was a help desk and I was told I needed a college education to answer a phone and type on a computer, the other was I was told I was overqualified to work at my local Best Buy's geek squad.

so it's truly hit or miss with the value of a degree, however with all that being side your three options are

a.) Any College that offers an IT Program (They are all about the same)

b.) ITT Tech (no actual degree, more like job training)

c.) Certifications (and there are tons of them out there)

College will give you more classes that you really dont need to suck money out of you to make you a "Well Rounded Person" but if two people are hired at a company, one with a degree and the other graduating from ITT Tech the college graduate gets the higher pay.

best of luck!

[digip]

IT Training varies by school, but know this. Certs or no certs, it doesn't mean a hill of beans if you aren't learning anything. A lot of certs don't really measure a persons true worth. You could fail a cert, but know more than half the people in your class, or you could be like some people who pass certs well by studying the material, but can't do much in the real world when confronted with a problem in the environment you haven't seen in a text book.

That said, get training any way you can, cert or otherwise, its only going to help you in the long run, but know that most of what you will learn, will happen as you do it and along the way. Certs are a something I recommend as a way to gauge where you are, but don't shun regular college either. You could go through both and still spend the year to two afterwards looking for work just to get your foot in the door. I myself am going through that right now as well as some others on the forums. It just goes with the territory.

Challenge yourself any way you can. If you see a topic with someone asking for help and you don't know how to do it or have the answer, research it, and do it yourself. Teach yourself, and keep pushing. Don't limit your scope to getting x y z so you can get a job, give yourself the opportunity to learn anything you can get your hands on, so you can go beyond just "getting a job" and build your own career. Also, don't be afraid to fail, and definitely don't be afraid to take a chance out on your own working for yourself, it helps you build skills and confidence.

http://www.hak5.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17340

http://www.hak5.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17307

[Infiltrator]

Experience is very important in IT and even tough the certs are good to have. Generally they not good for measuring candidates experience. What you need is a help desk job, I know it's not a decent job but it will help you develop your skills and on the longer run it will reward you with a much better and valuable experience.

I say that because I've been on this path in the past and I now work on a enginner position.