HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU PAY FOR CERTS 4

[just1fix]

Just wondering for those of you who are going through formal training, what is a reasonable price to pay for certs vs. 4 year degree. The package that I have is instructor and online training with books and videos for A+, Network+, Server+, Security+, MCSA, MCSE, and CISCO (CCNA). My package includes vouchers for all exams plus a free retake each. I can also retake any of the courses, within a 6 month time frame. They also create a resume and have job placement. They even threw in 3 scrap computers for labs to do at home. This cost me $21K, which should take close to 18 months to complete all (appox). Since my current employer isn't IT related, I have to do this on my own.

Since I went to college more than 7 years ago, colleges now won't transfer any credits so it would take about 8 years to get a Bachelor's in Computer Science (part-time) and about $32K. Basically I would have to start all over.

Is the certs the right choice in this instance? People I know in this area, say that I got a pretty good deal, but living in a dead-end town (Buffalo), that might not be saying much. Being 35 with a family, job and mortgage, doesn't give you a lot of room for error in choosing what is best, so I took the "cert's" path. Just wondering what training is worth elsewhere?

 

[RiverGuy]

Seven years does not seem like very long ago to me. Have you checked with other universities to see if they will accept your transfer credits?

 

[just1fix]

I went to three different schools and one would give me about 6 hours, which is nothing. ITT would have given me 12, but I heard not so good things about them.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I'm not sure that you focus primarily on the cost of the program, but rather, the return on investment. I know that cash outlay is an issue to be addressed, but if you can, think long term. Personally, I think a degree will provide a more long-term and higher return.

Good Luck
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[blutekhnd]

If you want a degree, I would do more checking. I went to a state university way back when. 15 yrs later when I decided to finish my degree, all of my credits transferred. A lot of them went to electives since my major changed from accounting to it, but they still counted.

 

[mmorancbt]

My advice would be to determine what your objective is first. Degrees, certs, training, etc. are only as useful as their application.

What is your current field?

How can you capitalize on existing skills while developing IT related skills (if IT is your chosen path)?

I'll be frank with you, although I am really Matt but frank will do for now. You do not need certs or a degree to start your IT career. Before you bite off on time and money pursuing a direction, are you sure the direction is what you like? To know that you would have to be working in the field? If you are already working in the field in some degree, the certs and degrees are less critical than your applied solutions and your professional network.

I’m not saying that they are not important, just not first-step critical.

Many people chase careers instead of chasing desires and molding careers. The second is a much more powerful option. It allows you to capitalize on natural talents, aptitudes, and desires, and then mold them into a career.

Case in point. My background is in English and Philosophy. I’ve never taken a computer course but I’ve taught many. I develop applications, create strategic IT plans for small and large companies, and write customized logon scripts for automated configuration and deployment.

Of course, my anecdotal situation is only one anecdotal situation. However, in the past 4 years I’ve helped a lab technician become a network consultant (doing quite well), and helped a clerk at a financial services company become a .NET developer. Neither has a degree or cert in any technology discipline.

They did have a natural aptitude, desire, and capitalized on existing skills and opportunities. The lab tech supported the small network at a lab he worked at. The developer started writing applications for the company where he was a clerical worker. Their IT department saw his natural talent and brought him in – trained him and he is doing well.

I have other examples as well but I just want to provide you fuel for thought. Don’t get stuck on the get a degree/cert and then get a job in an IT department (help desk) as the sole method for developing your IT career. It is an extremely limiting path and one that I would NEVER recommend. I’m not saying you can’t go that route, I just don’t know why anyone would want to.

Just something to think about.

Matthew Moran
Read my career blog at:

http://www.cbtoolkit.com

Career Blog:

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career/

Todo esta bien.. Todo esta divertido (it's all good, it's all fun)

 

[just1fix]

Of course you can have all the knowledge in the world, but "HR Monkeys" like to see some type of training of work experience to get your foot in the door. One of best friends has an incredible amount of knowledge of networking as he has several servers in his house (gaming) but he does this strictly as a hobby, and is now trying to get into the IT field as a career, but is having a problem without no certs of degree. It's hard to say you know how to do something without work experience or certs. My company moved me to IT at my request, but I was only there for 4 months as they use a outside vendor for IT. I was only mostly resetting passwords on a Novell 5.1 Server anyway, which is why I chose to go the cert route rather than degree.

 

[langleymass]

Most classes are a complete rip off. It seems like they are taught by techies who couldn't find better jobs.

Plus, the qualities that make someone a good techie are often very different from the qualities that you need to be a good teacher. When you find both of these qualities in the same person, you have found an extremely special person.

The only things I can honestly recommend are the Transcender practice exams. Some employers purchase them, and they apparently guarantee you will pass. I have used a couple myself, although it has been five years as I was pursuing MCSE on NT 4.0 at the time. They give a bunch of questions and also provide detailed answers, telling you why the particular answer is the correct one. You can gain a lot of practical skills from them.

The MCSE NT 4.0 also ended up being a totally worthless certification to have. I have actually been thinking of going for something lately. The economy seems to be coming back, and my financial situation is starting to look better as well.

Certifications are such an emotional topic that it is difficult to get any objective advice on the topic. The most experienced techies hate them because they feel that they give less experienced ones undue credibility and money. Then there are guys like me who busted our butts to get one and found that it didn't help at all in the job market. Certification mills push them for obvious reasons. The people who are most enthusiastic about certifications seem to be the ones who are pursuing them, figuring it's the ticket to instant wealth.

The best thing you can do is to talk to as many experienced professionals as possible.

 

[just1fix]

Thanks for the info. Our instructors swear by Actualtests.com, which is where (supposedly) most if not all the actual questions are for Cert tests. Of course you have to pay $100 and only half of the questions give explanations on correct/incorrect answers. I also heard that MCMCSE.com is the "most realistic" free sight for practice questions. On top of class 5 nights a week, I've hit these pretty hard. How does Transcender compare or are they pretty much the same?

 

[langleymass]

I should have given Transcender's URL, which is just <

http://www.transcender.com>.

Go check out their prices.