Security Basics mailing list archives
RE: Student-Degree valuable or not?
From: Hans_Newton/cpfcu () cpfederal com
Date: Thu, 2 Oct 2003 08:48:36 -0400
I was recently in the same predicament, although I waited a long time to finish my degree so you have the advantage of age on your side but as I was interning at a local automotive plant, my supervisor and I were talking and this exact subject came up. He brought up a great point in that the actual people you work with, i.e. your IS department or network department want experience. The more experience you have, the better. Degrees are just formality for promotion. If you can get the job accomplished without breaking anything or taking down the network, you'll go far. The flip side of that coin is that in most of these work places in order to get your foot in the door you have to have a degree, which is established by the company's HR department, who incidentally have NO idea what it means to rebuild PC or track a bad line of cat 5 cable, but since they're the gatekeepers, they won't let you in without a pass. The more degrees and certifications you have, the bigger your pass will be. My opinion would be to continue getting your certs and any thing else you can degree wise while you can still afford to devote so much time to this, because I just finished my degree and with taking care of a family, working full time, going to school full time and studying for certification tests, I nearly went CRAZY!!!!!! The other thing I would recommend would be to get an internship. Company's are a lot more willing to let someone in when they don't have to pay for you, this is your opportunity not only to get experience, but also to possibly prove yourself to the management and end up with a job with that company. Also get as many professional referrals as possible. Hope this helps. -Hans Network Administrator Paul Ledin <paul_ledin () yahoo com> on 10/01/2003 11:43:11 AM To: security-basics () securityfocus com cc: Subject: RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? Dude I think Micro$oft is "the man", or at least a very dear close personal friend of his. ;-) Seems like a bit of a contradiction to be so passionate about law and a company that's been in such blatant violation of it, not to mention buying its way out. Anyway I have to say again that I think your in a very advantageous place in life right now. You might well elude that recent grad catch-22 that one of the previous poster's eluded to ie can't get a job w/o experience and can't get experience w/o a job. The current economic enviroment might be exagerating it somewhat, but I think this is true most of the time regardless of economic conditions. Granted I didn't live in Silicon Valley or one of the other former IT hot spots, but when I graduated in 1999 I played the same game then, although only for a month or two instead of 6-12 which is probably the norm now. --- DANIEL SIMPSON <DANSIMPS () uat edu> wrote:
After graduation of high school I moved to Silicon Valley and worked for Napster (3 months), Hi Five (8 months), a local consulting firm and a large private school doing IT related stuff. I got laid off (at age 22) and really had to reinvent myself. I traveled around, visited friends and family and talked to as many older people as I could for suggestions (lasted about 6 months). After everything people told me, I knew what I had to do. They told me the one thing nobody can take from you is an education. I have passion in technology and law and everyday I want to do something new. I'm in my 4th week of school and wonder if I made the right decision. After all, I had to move away from California and leave all my friends and family behind. I already realize that I don't want to work for "The man" but I would like to work for one of my favorite companies for at least a couple years so I know I MUST get a degree to fulfill this dream. I'm getting a powerful degree from a school that is fairly unknown but has the best program I have ever seen (Yes they are regionally accredited) and some of the best access to latest technology any school can provide. I didn't do so hot in high school so my access to public schools was extremely limited, I was forced to spend the bucks and allow to private schools. Who can complain? I don't plan on sitting during my 4 year stint; I already have some certifications and plan on getting more. I'm doing an internship right now and applying for a summer intern at Microsoft.
===== I can't die until the government finds a safe place to bury my liver. -- Phil Harris __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? Randy Golly (Oct 01)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? Paul Ledin (Oct 01)
- RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? DANIEL SIMPSON (Oct 01)
- RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? Randy Golly (Oct 01)
- Re: Student-Degree valuable or not? ~Kevin DavisĀ³ (Oct 02)
- RE: Student-Degree valuable or not? Hans_Newton/cpfcu (Oct 02)