General Discussion - Can anyone relate????

Author

Can anyone relate????

Bobby Digital

2001-04-16, 8:41 am

I have been working for a large university for about a year now and I have noticed something that is funny, but at the same time disturbing. I concerns a matter of "professional" curtiousy among IT professionals.

Unlike a lot of my colleagues, I will only have a AAS in Computer Networking Technology and I am pursuing an MCSE before going after a BS in Technical Management. Most of them have bachelors or masters. In a way they look down on certifications. "The easy route" as one put it. So, you can also guess how my ideas and suggestions are taken.

Luckily, I work in a seperate department that is part of another department; therefore, I can make a lot of decisions on my own except for decisions dealing with our connectivity to their network. For example, the main department uses Eudora as an e-mail client and Netscape Calendar/Corporate Time. I suggested that my department switch to Outlook which would be more manageable not only for me, but for the individual user.

It was like I spoke some evil tongue. The main department techncians and administrators started giving me every excuse and reason why Outlook was bad from it isn't compatible with UNIX (yeah, right) to it gets more viruses than Eudora. You can probably guess that I was outnumbered.

So is this a glass ceiling so-to-speak? Do the higher degreed people feel threaten by a lowly tech with only an associates degree? I cannot play in their club because I do not have the right piece of paper on the wall of my office.

Interesting ain't it?

Randy

2001-04-16, 8:46 am

I think you'll get this sort of attitude in all sorts of places, but in academia it is most likely going to be worse. you don't have to be particularly bright to get a M.A. but if you have one, it gives you a good excuse to look down on someone else I guess. I do know that once had, degrees don't expire and can be less useful in practice than keeping up with current technology, whcih certifications typically require. As for taking the "easy route", that is the first ime I can recall hearing the MCSE Win2K as being referred to as "easy"; just goes to show that they did not try it or else they would have come up with a different term! Sounds more like people who already have their positions and don't want to be bothered to learn any more. Try not to let it get to you.

BGP4Me

2001-04-16, 3:39 pm

I wouldn't sweat it. That sort of thing goes on at all levels and in all areas.

Degrees are wonderful...degrees are great......so are certs. But neither are worth a dime if you don't have the ability, knowledge and committment to keep yourself up to date.

I let the talkers talk and go about my business and let my ability speak for itself.

glidesloper

2001-04-16, 4:53 pm

This is the way I see it: A degree used to be very valuable in professional jobs. As time has gone by the importance has diminished. Not anymore do you need a degree to achieve success. All you need is some intelligence and be able to prove that to your employer. No where is this more visible than in the high tech field. Take someone fresh out of college with a paper degree and someone with experience working in high tech and who do you think will get the job? Most likely the person with the experience. Certifications are just a measuring stick to show how much you know. That with experience and you'll be able to make just as much as the guy with the degree sitting next to you. Maybe that's why the negitive spin from the other departments. They all had to go through lots of school and now maybe they feel cheated that the new generations of employees don't have to sit through classes that don't have anything to do with their field! And to add insult to injury they have the same earning potential as someone with the degree.

Side.

darthw

2001-04-16, 5:13 pm

It must just depend on where you work. I have a BA, two AAS degrees, and have been working on, AND EARNING, certs for the last three years. However, I have worked at one place where none of the other techs had a degree of any type, and most were A+ certified and had stopped there. I worked with about ten other techs, and only myself and one other ever worked on any certs, so "the easy way" excuse wouldn't have worked coming from them. After all, if certs are so easy, when one really studies to learn, why did they all stop with A+?

However, I heard the "blah-blahs" from several of them that "college is purposeless" and "certs are purposeless". But after two years, the only two going to better paying jobs were me and the other multi-certified tech.

Of course, it takes more than college or certs to make a great tech. The more you learn from study, practice, or "on the job" the better tech you will be. It's been a year since I've worked there, and the only two new people that have started since we left, were the two that replaced us. So, I like to think that continually working towards educating ourselves helped me and my coworker move on to something bigger.

Just ignore them. It's a shame they are too elitist to listen to your suggestions. One should always keep an open ear to the suggestions from other techs, regardless of their education level.

imran1430

2001-04-16, 10:15 pm

I cant believe how easy it can be for people to tell others that, they know more than them, and are thus better.

I would never do that to anyone because I know how hard it could be when you are in the early learning stages, trying to make a living, and are being discouraged by others.

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