Associates in Computer ... something?

[dfrecore]

I'm not in the techy world so not an expert here but the question that comes to mind is..... which is better - the degree or the certifications? I assume having both is the best of both worlds. I have a few friends who went and got certifications from local community colleges and got into the most basic, entry level IT type jobs. Usually by the time they were ready to get their degrees they had already worked in a few different areas and knew what they liked. So before they dropped a whole lot of money into a four-year degree, they knew what they wanted and even were with an employer where they knew exactly what that employer wanted. I don't know if the advice changes when you are talking about an adult trying to start a new career or if its an 18-yr-old high school graduate who doesn't know what they want to do. But is there ever a time where one shouldn't focus on the degree but on the skill / work experience first?

My husband went and got certs and got entry-level jobs when he first started. Help desk comes to mind. He didn't love it, but liked the field enough to know that if he could get enough experience, he could work his way up into a job that he would love. So, no degree, just working his way up. But, it was 1998 when he started, and times were different. I'm not certain what it's like there now, and how quickly you can get to making a decent wage. If you're a guy with a wife and 2 kids making $50k, it's going to be rough starting back at the bottom, and then who knows how long before you're back to making $50k? Plus, a lot of companies are going to look at your work history and not want to hire you anyway, thinking you're overqualified (in some ways) and won't be happy with the salary and the work.

I do think that cert's overall aren't as valuable as a degree. Some certs are worthless. A few are very valuable. But it's hard to know which is which if you're not familiar with the industry. And some are going to be almost impossible to get without a lot of knowledge and industry experience. It's not like you can just run out and get a CISSP cert and get a great job. You have to have years of experience at a certain level to pass that (and for them to even let you take it). Yeah, you can go get an MCSE or A+, but that won't get you much in today's world.