Certs vs degrees - What's best? What do you have?

[TerminalTryHard]

So for someone looking to go into the IT field what do you think would be better getting some kind of certication such as CompTIA or Cisco or a college degree?

I understand of course that a lot of it depends on what kind of specific job you're trying to get, but just in general what is your opinion or what has your experience been?

 

[REGENDarySumanai]

I have a degree, but I'm planning on getting certifications. Never really got the chance to get certifications while getting my degree.

 

[Autisimodo]

Whatever will give you more practical experience with IT. From what Industry Veterans have told me when I was in college for IT, employers are more interested in what you're skilled at over what pieces of paper you have.

Take with a grain of salt though.

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

I'm a sysadmin without any degree, I think the industry is still focused on what you can reliably do moreso than degrees. I only have my a+ net+ and sec+ so even certwise I'm bottom of the barrel

 

[He Who Points And Laughs]

Depends. A degree never hurts. But certs change over time.

A CEH was the cert to have 10 years ago. But the CEH is a multiple-choice test that is a check against your knowledge of terminology (not the terminal emulator). OSCP is a much more valuable certification.

For absolute entry level, get A+, Networking+, and Linux+. The Cisco certifications are also valuable. A CCNA is worth more than a Network+

 

[Massa's Little Buckie]

Depending on which branch of IT, a degree might help.
Like others have said, experience is paramount in this field, and certs can help you.

Depends. A degree never hurts. But certs change over time.

A CEH was the cert to have 10 years ago. But the CEH is a multiple-choice test that is a check against your knowledge of terminology (not the terminal emulator). OSCP is a much more valuable certification.

For absolute entry level, get A+, Networking+, and Linux+. The Cisco certifications are also valuable. A CCNA is worth more than a Network+

If memory doesn't fail me, CompTIA certs follow some sort of hierarchy. If you take Network+, it renews your A+. You need to re-certify every two years with A+ and N+, while I believe Linux+ is for life since it hardly changes. Cisco and CompTIA certs are similar, is just that Cisco's are meant to deal with, well, Cisco.

Speaking of CCNA, I heard once that a tech school was looking to hire an IT professor. When a candidate showed up with years of experience and a CCNA, they didn't accept him because he didn't have Network+.

 

[Reverend]

Amazon Web Services: Solutions Architect.

Do you like money? Do you want lots of money? Do you want to work from home? Pursue this to it's fullest and enjoy your six figure salary and then some.

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

Amazon Web Services: Solutions Architect.

Do you like money? Do you want lots of money? Do you want to work from home? Pursue this to it's fullest and enjoy your six figure salary and then some.

This

Since IaaS/PaaS is getting cheaper, a lot of smaller companies are turning to cloud hosting (usually AWS, but Azure's kind of coming up) to delegate the maintenance of hardware away from themselves and save money/headaches. At the bare minimum, every small business I've worked with has had a cloud-hosted phone system and most of them are moving to cloud-hosted email and file hosting.

 

[Manwithn0n0men]

Amazon Web Services: Solutions Architect.

Do you like money? Do you want lots of money? Do you want to work from home? Pursue this to it's fullest and enjoy your six figure salary and then some.

How do I level up to this?

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

How do I level up to this?

Amazon training is free dude

 

[Manwithn0n0men]

Amazon training is free dude

No like I am slightly smarter then a dumb boomer on computers.

Can I level up with their training?

 

[Reverend]

No like I am slightly smarter then a dumb boomer on computers.

Can I level up with their training?

It's best you let the adult's keep the Big Iron running while you play fortnite. It's honestly for the best.

This

Since IaaS/PaaS is getting cheaper, a lot of smaller companies are turning to cloud hosting (usually AWS, but Azure's kind of coming up) to delegate the maintenance of hardware away from themselves and save money/headaches. At the bare minimum, every small business I've worked with has had a cloud-hosted phone system and most of them are moving to cloud-hosted email and file hosting.

Hosting your own email even if you are a company of thousands is dumb/insane as google/amazon/MS do hosted email 1000x better with way more options than you can provide with a team of people.

I deal mostly with moving people from data centers, self hosting colos, and on premise equipment onto the cloud with whatever cloud infrastructure they want. How did I get this knowledge?

1. Started fucking with the services on my own to replicate my home environment
2. Took online courses (Udemy classeswhich were $12/course) and watched as many videos and training seminars as I could.
3. Applied for every consulting/contracting gig which would get me where I want with the tech I wanted.

 

[Manwithn0n0men]

It's best you let the adult's keep the Big Iron running while you play fortnite. It's honestly for the best.

But seriously is there anything I would need to know before trying the basics of Amazon training

 

[Reverend]

But seriously is there anything I would need to know before trying the basics of Amazon training

Watch this companies videos, and if you get a grasp on what he's saying you'll just need to pay for an amazon web services account which was $5/mo if that.

Cloud Computing Certification Training Courses A Cloud Guru

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acloud.guru

If you think that technology is fun/interesting search for "acloudguru" on Udemy.com The courses are 12-15 and they are CONSTANTLY updated.


You can also search for Amazon Web Services training here:

AWS Training and Certification - Cloud Skills Courses and Programs

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aws.amazon.com

 

[TerminalTryHard]

Depends. A degree never hurts. But certs change over time.

A CEH was the cert to have 10 years ago. But the CEH is a multiple-choice test that is a check against your knowledge of terminology (not the terminal emulator). OSCP is a much more valuable certification.

For absolute entry level, get A+, Networking+, and Linux+. The Cisco certifications are also valuable. A CCNA is worth more than a Network+

Interesting, I had been looking at CEH and saw that it had been divided into a traditional test and a separate practical skills test but I had never heard of OSCP.

 

[Bitch Kitten]

Get a real man's job like fixing cars or construction

 

[Harvey Danger]

If you are just getting in, fresh start, you don't need certs. You either need a degree in an IT related field, or you need 2-3 projects that you've completed and can discuss with a recruiter.

Realistically you need both degree and a project portfolio to land a decent starting gig. But you can skate by with just the degree if you find one of the rare firms willing to build up raw recruits in a low paying entry level position. My recommendation is to spend your college time doing projects on your own instead of studying for certs. (Class projects don't count, unless you take one and build it up into your own thing after the class ends.)

Once you're in your first job, then certs might help. For obvious reasons, you go for the certs that apply specifically to your job. Many employers will refund your test taking costs or offer a bonus if you get a relevant cert while working for them. So unless you are 100% certain you know exactly what you will be working on for the next 5 years, it's not worth the risk of investing in a cert your first employer won't care about.

Note that the above is from a USA corporate perspective, meaning doing IT work for non-IT companies (banks, retail companies, etc). Doing work for IT companies (Google, Apple, etc) will have different requirements, they care more about demonstrating technical skill.

Finally, if you will be working for a government agency, directly or as part of a consulting firm, then the degree becomes mandatory. Certs help you negotiate for higher prices from government entities, but the degree in an IT field is a checkbox you can't skip.

 

[sadrabbit]

Doing a degree and some internships in CS until I figure out which part of the industry I really want to go into, then might look into doing certs. I'd like to hope it depends on how good you are at what you're interested in more-so than what papers say about you, as long as you can get past the HR gatekeeping.

If you are just getting in, fresh start, you don't need certs. You either need a degree in an IT related field, or you need 2-3 projects that you've completed and can discuss with a recruiter.

Realistically you need both degree and a project portfolio to land a decent starting gig. But you can skate by with just the degree if you find one of the rare firms willing to build up raw recruits in a low paying entry level position. My recommendation is to spend your college time doing projects on your own instead of studying for certs. (Class projects don't count, unless you take one and build it up into your own thing after the class ends.)

Once you're in your first job, then certs might help. For obvious reasons, you go for the certs that apply specifically to your job. Many employers will refund your test taking costs or offer a bonus if you get a relevant cert while working for them. So unless you are 100% certain you know exactly what you will be working on for the next 5 years, it's not worth the risk of investing in a cert your first employer won't care about.

Note that the above is from a USA corporate perspective, meaning doing IT work for non-IT companies (banks, retail companies, etc). Doing work for IT companies (Google, Apple, etc) will have different requirements, they care more about demonstrating technical skill.

Finally, if you will be working for a government agency, directly or as part of a consulting firm, then the degree becomes mandatory. Certs help you negotiate for higher prices from government entities, but the degree in an IT field is a checkbox you can't skip.

When you say that you need both a degree and a portfolio to land a decent gig, do you suppose internships also help out? Last summer I spent my time on an internship whilst I know that some of my peers spent time working on some small projects, and I'm wondering how companies might look at a portfolio in comparison to experience when it comes to graduates.

 

[NOMYBITCASH]

I have a digital forensics and cyber Security BSC hons degree

it fucking sucked i wish i did something different like welding or fabrication.

 

[Harvey Danger]

When you say that you need both a degree and a portfolio to land a decent gig, do you suppose internships also help out? Last summer I spent my time on an internship whilst I know that some of my peers spent time working on some small projects, and I'm wondering how companies might look at a portfolio in comparison to experience when it comes to graduates.

It boils down to experiences and stories.

On your resume, you list periods of employment. Under each job, you list what you did, and big projects you worked on. So it might look something like this:

2017-2018 I worked as an intern at Company X

• Handled the tech support desk; managed 120 computers across 2 sites
• Created a ticketing system with built in chat feature

2019-2020 I was an independent contractor (buzzword for "self employed")

• Created a web page for a law firm
• Made a database for alumni information at my local school

When you go for an interview, they're going to look at this and say, Ok, Sadrabbit has 3 years' experience in IT. Now I want to know what he can do. So you're going to get questions about your experience:

"Describe the work you did on tech support. What were your responsibilities? Did you manage yourself? What initiatives did you start to make things more efficient? How did you handle difficult users?"​

And you're going to get questions about specific projects:

"Tell me about this ticketing system you worked on. Whose idea was it? Were you the only developer? What technologies did it use? Describe the biggest challenge you faced on this project, and how you overcame it." (Be prepared to answer that question for every line of past experience on your resume.)​

​

So your internship is fine, as long as you can describe specific things that you did. It's not enough to say, "I did an internship for computer stuff with Company X". Have a list of problems you solved and projects they put you on. Tell the story of your internship, like "I came in and the help desk was a mess, but we got things cleaned up by the time I left". Think through the business challenges your company was facing, how those challenges affected your work, and how things ultimately worked out.

(And if things started bad and stayed bad when you left, don't complain, and don't throw people under the bus. Just take a resigned tone and show how you tried. "We tried to clean up the help desk ticketing system, but the boss said we didn't have budget for the new software, so I tidied up the code and saved it in the repository. Hopefully they have the budget next year, and it's ready to go!")

I would still recommend having at least 1 passion project you did on your own time that you can talk about. Whatever really interests you in IT, the kind of thing that you'll skip video games and parties to work on out of sheer curiosity. (And if you aren't so interested in coding or creating that you occasionally do it in your free time... then maybe take a serious consideration about whether you want to do it as a career.)

TL;DR You don't need a full portfolio of projects, you just need specific things that you've accomplished either at work or on your own. You need to be ready to tell the story of how you did it, and what you learned from the experience. Projects are the language of IT--state the problem, solve the problem, implement the solution--and make it easier to communicate to others what you've done.