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Re: The future, what employers look for, and degrees


From: Phillip Bristow <pbristow () siu edu>
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2011 13:18:41 -0500

Hello all, I just graduated from a school that had a security program, the
great thing about it was that we were encouraged to work on our own projects
and integrate them into the curriculum. This is what I think that makes a
good program is when you are encouraged to find alternative means to
accomplish a task and allowed to implement the solution. I guess I am mostly
seconding Mike Patterson's point that you will only get what you put into
your education, also it is an expensive approach to gaining knowledge.

On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 11:04 AM, Jeremy Pommerening
<theaudioman () yahoo com>wrote:

I agree with your point.  However I have considered getting a masters or
even an MBA for the same reason he mentioned.  The people that matter (the
ones that will pay me the big bucks) seem to respect the paper more than the
knowledge or abilities.

Jeremy Pommerening
CISSP,GCFA,GPEN,GAWN,GCFW,
MCSE Win2K, MCSE NT4


--- On *Tue, 2/1/11, Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek () irongeek com>* wrote:


From: Adrian Crenshaw <irongeek () irongeek com>
Subject: [Pauldotcom] The future, what employers look for, and degrees
To: "PaulDotCom Security Weekly Mailing List" <
pauldotcom () mail pauldotcom com>
Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 4:50 PM


    Ok, I was speaking with someone today from a different field today that
has a masters. I alluded to the fact that I'm loosing interest in the
"Security Informatics" masters program I'm in because of lack of perceived
applicability, time taken that I could use learning other things, and it
seems like there is a huge disconnect between academia vs. what I see in the
industry (through my admittedly limited experience listening to podcast,
reading forums/mailing list, going to conferences, etc). His take was that
I'd be competing with people in the future, and the masters degree could
likely be the deciding factor. Do you think that is really true? Or do you
think employers will start to see academia as it has become to be a largely
wasteful exercise vs. getting your name out there and learning/getting
experience on your own? When I hear about people going into great debt to
get something that amounts to a union card in many cases (a degree), it kind
of makes be hope the whole system can be reformed. For what I've seen in the
industry, it seems to mater more what people know you for than any degree
you have. Am I wrong? Anyone got a different way to look at it?

Adrian

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