Degree path to follow..

[MattWray]

Hello,

I often read the posts in this forum, but don't often post due to the ongoing war of the Cert Vs The Degree. As you'll see by my sig, I am certified.

After leaving the Military, I found myself with no marketable skills, outside of Merc work. So I had a couple jobs in Construction, then I moved to Cable-pulling. From there I worked for a CLEC(NorthPoint) and moved to a company installing PBXs and Key systems.

Along the way, I decided to get certified to learn the Data side of the house and to hopefully get my "foot in the door".

It worked and I now have a job as a Network Admin. So as evil as some believe certs are, they served their purpose for me and since I obtained mine legit, I'm proud of them.

But now, I want to get a degree. I'm not sure what type of degree would be most beneficial to me. I'm leaning towards something in Business, to better understand how the Non-IT side works. But then I think something like CS would probably make me better at my current job.

Opinions are welcome, the above-mentioned war is not.

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[AnanthaP]

Man, with so many technical ualifications and certs, tech things should come easy for you. So to improve yourself, it should be what is called "cross-functional". It seems to me that CS will not be very helpful in your case unless you want to become a systems programmer. (CS isn't directly "cross-functional" by the way).

So to get a feel of non tech stuff, why don't you take some cert in things like business accounting, one semester part time courses in document writing and so on. It will also tell you whether you can be successfull in full degree courses.

End

 

[jwdcfdeveloper]

Another route you may want to consider is getting a degree in Information Systems (IS) or Management Information Systems (MIS). These degrees have a good mix of technology and business. They tend to focus on how business and technology work together. If you really want to go combine your techie know-how and gain business skills, an MBA is a great way to go to. Hope that helps.

 

[MattWray]

Those sound like exactly what I'm looking for. How one affects the other and vice versa.
Thanks jwdcfdeveloper!

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

 

[RiverGuy]

I sort of agree with jwdcfdeveloper. I am currently pursuing a degree more on the IS side part-time, online. The university also has a CS program, and I've looked through the mandated courses in both areas. There is some business in the IS side in my program.

Being a programmer/developer, the CS degrees don't appeal to me anyways. I would rather have to have taken the 5 programming courses, 2 Database development classes and 3 Systems development classes than learning about the theory of microprocessors. Its not that I'm not interested in the latter, its just that it won't help me as much in my career.

Most universities' IS/MIS/CIS/IT degrees are under their business division.

If you are interested in this route, go to some .edu websites and check out their business administration pages and compare them against the CS/CE degrees.