I.T Degree or Industry certs

I would recommend reading Computer Science at a good University and take your career from there. I would avoid the technical support roles that you typically find when studying for more vocational courses. These roles are highly saturated and under paid. A good degree (e.g. Computer Science) from a decent University will be far more valuable in the long term.

I did a BTEC (IT practitioners) and then I discovered the IT support industry was a joke, hence doing Computer Science and then found something I enjoy and getting paid very well for it.
 
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triggerthat said:
I would recommend reading Computer Science at a good University and take your career from there. I would avoid the technical support roles that you typically find when studying for more vocational courses. These roles are highly saturated and under paid. A good degree (e.g. Computer Science) from a decent University will be far more valuable in the long term.
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I disagree, you're never going to "avoid" paying your dues in at least a year or two of 1st\2nd line support even with a good degree. There are very few graduate infrastructure jobs simply because they require real life experience that degrees don't teach.

EDIT: Did you change to a coding career? If so then that's different and not what the OP is aiming for. Yes degree's have more worth for that.
 
Vtec9k said:
I disagree, you're never going to "avoid" paying your dues in at least a year or two of 1st\2nd line support even with a good degree. There are very few graduate infrastructure jobs simply because they require real life experience that degrees don't teach.

EDIT: Did you change to a coding career? If so then that's different and not what the OP is aiming for. Yes degree's have more worth for that.
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Pro-tip: Graduates don't go really go into support roles or infrastructure roles anyway. Although some do.
 
I don't think that's really true, if you don't go down the coding route then 90% of other IT jobs are pretty much on the infrastructure side.
 
A degree will give you more options and may also open up areas of interest you haven't considered (I personally find networking to be dull as dishwater!). But the job with training will offer more immediate rewards.
 
the two are not comparable IMO, certs are all usually aimed towards working in a help desk or systems admin etc. Degrees are not aiming in that direction, they tend to be more creative programming, computer sci etc
 
Vtec9k said:
I disagree, you're never going to "avoid" paying your dues in at least a year or two of 1st\2nd line support even with a good degree. There are very few graduate infrastructure jobs simply because they require real life experience that degrees don't teach.

EDIT: Did you change to a coding career? If so then that's different and not what the OP is aiming for. Yes degree's have more worth for that.
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Strangely enough I went into digital marketing (with some technical elements that University prepared me for), something I wouldn't be able to do if I initially perused a technical support role. My degree opened many doors, and I'm quite proud of where I have ended up. I suppose I am saying that a degree will give you more options, especially in the long-term (maybe something to think about in terms of long-term plans). If the OP wants to secure a role in tech support/networking, then a degree is not necessary. But let's look at the long-term...

OP, just to let you know that I studied for a BTEC National Diploma about 6 years ago and was faced with a similar dilemma.
 
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Its kind of gone all whispers of an ethnic origin now.

Just to clear a few things up. My passion lies within networking, servers and virtualisation. Ive tried my hand at coding, a HND in software engineering to be exact years ago and its not for me.

The degree definitely seems a good way to go for programmers but maybe not for me hence the dilemma.
 
triggerthat said:
Strangely enough I went into digital marketing (with some technical elements that University prepared me for), something I wouldn't be able to do if I initially perused a technical support role. My degree opened many doors, and I'm quite proud of where I have ended up. I suppose I am saying that a degree will give you more options, especially in the long-term (maybe something to think about in terms of long-term plans). If the OP wants to secure a role in tech support/networking, then a degree is not necessary. But let's look at the long-term...
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Yea, again. Down the line i may think about management or even my own business. Who knows and there's lots of good modules on business etc with the degree.
 
Lorddalron said:
Yea, again. Down the line i may think about management or even my own business. Who knows and there's lots of good modules on business etc with the degree.
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If you passion is in networking, then certainly follow that. I do know of a few degrees that is quite vocational (i.e. they do networking modules as well as industry standard certifications, CCNA, MCSE? etc) if that is something that interests you?
 
Sounds like you've got a decent bit of ambition and some common sense so that's you already more qualified than about 50% of the workforce ;)

Either way will work for I'm sure, perhaps a more infrastructure related degree with some business modules would suit more than a traditional CS degree. And i do totally agree with triggerthat about it giving you options.
 
If a degree was free or your parents are going to pay for it all then I would say get a degree in something better than IT. Like electrical engineering or similar.

If you have to pay for it then I would say you would have to be silly to want to pay £30k for a degree in It that realy won't be worth it. You will be paying that off the next 30 years.

You will probably be further in your career if you just got a job at the bottom and worked your way up, learning on a long the way. In three years you would have progressed quite far in your career. You do a degree all you have to do is start from where you would have without a degree. Unfortunately having a degree in IT does not give you opportunity it realy should.

Sure you might get a job, if you are lucky or well connected, at a top firm after getting a degree, due to your degree. But you would still be starting at the bottom.

I would rather put that 30k in the bank and use it for a rainy day etc. Maybe when you are a bit further in your career a few years, you know more about what you want to do then, you can then spend the money on some courses or maybe by then you know what you want to do. Maybe you want to go into IT sales/consultancy and need a communication/sales degree or similar.
 
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Vtec9k said:
I disagree, you're never going to "avoid" paying your dues in at least a year or two of 1st\2nd line support even with a good degree. There are very few graduate infrastructure jobs simply because they require real life experience that degrees don't teach.
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I wouldn't agree with this. We employ graduates into 3rd line infrastructure positions as graduate trainees without 1st/2nd line experience, (or even necessarily an IT degree).

We tend to find it a lot better to get someone who has learned to think and learned how to discover information rather than someone who thinks they know everything required to support a large enterprise environment. It's a lot easier for us to take, say, a science or maths graduate and get them trained in the technologies we need them for.

At the end of the day it's easy to teach someone Windows/Unix/etc ... it's a lot harder, and takes far longer, to teach them to be able to think and assimilate information in order to be able to troubleshoot large, complex environments.
 
memyselfandi said:
I wouldn't agree with this. We employ graduates into 3rd line infrastructure positions as graduate trainees without 1st/2nd line experience, (or even necessarily an IT degree).

We tend to find it a lot better to get someone who has learned to think and learned how to discover information rather than someone who thinks they know everything required to support a large enterprise environment. It's a lot easier for us to take, say, a science or maths graduate and get them trained in the technologies we need them for.

At the end of the day it's easy to teach someone Windows/Unix/etc ... it's a lot harder, and takes far longer, to teach them to be able to think and assimilate information in order to be able to troubleshoot large, complex environments.
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Yea unfortunately I have ran in to some of those third line engineers, what a disaster that was. Any one with a degree in maths and science that ends up working IT. It was most likely not his choice of career and he most likely will never realy get IT. They might be able to complete a task, but you won't get much enthusiasm out of them and they won't know any of the new technologies. If it was not on their little course, they would never have heard of it.

Yea I am sure many corporations don't mind teaching people with math degrees windows/unix because its easy. What i am saying is what a load of bs.
 
groen said:
Yea unfortunately I have ran in to some of those third line engineers, what a disaster that was. Any one with a degree in maths and science that ends up working IT. It was most likely not his choice of career and he most likely will never realy get IT. They might be able to complete a task, but you won't get much enthusiasm out of them and they won't know any of the new technologies. If it was not on their little course, they would never have heard of it.

Yea I am sure many corporations don't mind teaching people with math degrees windows/unix because its easy. What i am saying is what a load of bs.
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I'm sorry but I would have to disagree totally with all your points; just because someone has a non-IT related degree doesn't mean that they are not interested in the subject as well.

Most of the best IT people I've worked with have had degrees in other subject's ... most of the incompetents have had IT degrees. The latter are the people that have caused most of the screw-ups I've come across ...

So frankly it's not bs, I suggest you go back to whatever cloud cuckoo land you have come from where only people who have IT degrees are interested in technology :rolleyes:
 
You're right i agree, i probably shouldn't have said never :)

I've interviewed graduates who I'd have loved to train up for a year or two and fast track them straight to a senior role but not had the resources. I've also met ones who's daily achievements include not ****ing on their own shoe.

But i think it totally reinforces my point that attitude is a huge part of getting hired, or in fact pretty much everything in life.
 
memyselfandi said:
I'm sorry but I would have to disagree totally with all your points; just because someone has a non-IT related degree doesn't mean that they are not interested in the subject as well.

Most of the best IT people I've worked with have had degrees in other subject's ... most of the incompetents have had IT degrees. The latter are the people that have caused most of the screw-ups I've come across ...

So frankly it's not bs, I suggest you go back to whatever cloud cuckoo land you have come from where only people who have IT degrees are interested in technology :rolleyes:
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The people that I have come across with non IT related degrees that work in IT are a liability to say the least. "Oh look he likes iphones and reads engadget and has a math degree lets make him in charge of our virtual infrastructure"... hows that working out for you ? :rolleyes:
 
groen said:
The people that I have come across with non IT related degrees that work in IT are a liability to say the least. "Oh look he likes iphones and reads engadget and has a math degree lets make him in charge of our virtual infrastructure"... hows that working out for you ? :rolleyes:
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I tend to agree with that, but as always there's a few who are frankly superb in 3rd line support roles, for that you can't really be taught it at university or college, you either have the proper mindset to troubleshoot and understand complex infrastructure or you don't. I'm clearly talking networks and systems though, not MS Word.
 
groen said:
The people that I have come across with non IT related degrees that work in IT are a liability to say the least. "Oh look he likes iphones and reads engadget and has a math degree lets make him in charge of our virtual infrastructure"... hows that working out for you ? :rolleyes:
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Any Maths Grad with a Iphone/Ipad ain't a real Maths Grad. Just saying. :p
 
groen said:
The people that I have come across with non IT related degrees that work in IT are a liability to say the least. "Oh look he likes iphones and reads engadget and has a math degree lets make him in charge of our virtual infrastructure"... hows that working out for you ? :rolleyes:
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Still got that chip on your shoulder I see ;)

Never had a problem working with anyone with a non IT related degree myself, seems a bit of a sweeping statement to me.

The problems you can get (again not that I've had any particularly) are when someone lands in an IT, or any job, not because they want to be doing that job but because they need to as at the end of the day a jobs a job and they need to earn money. Has nothing to do with degrees.

If the wrong people are being put in the wrong jobs then it's not the persons fault, it's management's.

And can we please remember that just using the term 'IT' can mean a multitude of things that quite rightly could be a perfect fit for a science or maths grad in some areas such as development, R+D etc. Stop pigeon holing IT to just supporty type roles :)

I'm in 'IT', with a non IT degree, but probably reasonably far removed from the sorts of stuff you chaps are talking about work wise.
 
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