Degree or Certification or Other?

I've been pondering this question for a long time now and still have no solid reason to go to university over the alternatives. Is there really anything that much better, besides the peice of paper, that you get out of university. I've always found myself coming from a class situation, where you get no chance to ask all the questions you want, and researching 90% of what i wanted to know between computer books and google.

What about certifications, what kind of hold do they have on employment. Are they seen as something of importance. I'm currently working out the final details on starting an Oracle 9i Certificataion path, and have RHCE(RedHat Certified Engineer) after that. If not for the certification, at least for the knowledge.

But all in all. I've never had a problem teaching myself from home.

Not just looking for opinions from university students on how great it's been, but from those who have taken the alternate routes, wether successfull or not.

They go hand in hand. Usually, they only matter when they are required, as in “We won’t even talk to you unless you have X”. They wont seem that important until they are what stand between you and the job you want.

Back when I went to school, computer degrees were a joke. While working at IBM, the guys that had computer degrees were the guys in shipping and packed boxes with peanuts. Today, it is a different story. The people I work with now that just got out of school have something good. When I hear about what they teach today, I am shocked and wish I could go back.

I changed my major after seeing the computer stuff was a joke. I regret it today. With jobs becoming scarce and layoffs common, there have been many times when that computer degree has been what stood in my way. In my area, I see it requested more than certifications.

Certifications are nice, but prove little. Too many cram session operations are pushing out “paper certs” by the thousands. Most companies are becoming wise to this and will at least ask for a couple of years experience along with the certs. This is a good thing and wish the rest of the companies would get a clue as well.

Just yesterday, a recruiter called me asking if I would be interested in an Admin position. I will be laid off at the end of this month at my current job so I am desperate. He tells me that they are on an old Novell network and will be moving to Windows 2000. “Cool”, I say. I have done that many times. Then the recruiter tells me “They insist on having at least a CNA.”

Now, I have MCSE, CCNA, A+, N+ and a long list of vendor specific certs that is insane. I have had no interest in obtaining any Novell certs. “Well, do you think you can get the cert by the end of this week?”

I have basic Novell skills, but not enough to really support a Novell network. Getting a cert in a week would not change this. I figure this is typical of a head-hunter. They just want their money and don’t care about the rest, but he then had the guy from the company call me. He asked me the same thing!

This floored me. I explained to him the same thing I told the recruiter. Getting a NetWare cert in a week would not make me a NetWare expert. If that is what they truly need, then it would be a waste of both of our time. I then told him that if they are really moving from Novell to Microsoft, that I could do the job easily and that I was very qualified to handle that. “We really need a CNA, though.”

So I give the guy the names of the 2 existing CNAs I know. I tell them if they change their mind to give me a call, but I was not about to pretend that I am something I am not nor even care to be.

Degrees are for management. If you want to lead, then go to college/university. There are other "noble" uses for college, but none of them pay. VERY FEW of those with "Art" degrees find a meaningful job directly related to their degree/course of study. Most end up, as I did, getting certifications in order to get a real job making enough money to eat and pay off the student loans for their noble, yet futile, pursuit of "higher" things. lol

Certifications are for technicians, people who lead through knowledge, the grunts and backbone of any industry. if you like satisfaction in knowing you could do your bosses job, but they probably couldn't do yours, then go certs.

Other is homelessness, Daddy/Mommy's prodigy, or McDonald's school for overworked management.

In general, without a bachelor's degree, your promotion pathway to higher job levels will stall out at a certain level. You'll be permanently stuck there. Unfortunately that's just the way the system works. Just to have better upward mobility, I would get your degree, in whatever field.

Decaf said:

In general, without a bachelor's degree, your promotion pathway to higher job levels will stall out at a certain level. You'll be permanently stuck there. Unfortunately that's just the way the system works. Just to have better upward mobility, I would get your degree, in whatever field.

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That's the truth. But I wouldn't say the alternatives are dead-end. There's a lot to be said only making 10% less pay then your supervisor, with 50% of the responsibilities .