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Home > Archive > microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcsd > January 2003 > Degree vs. Certification
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Degree vs. Certification
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| Keith Killoran 2003-01-08, 9:23 am |
| I am at a crossroads . . . I have been in the IT field as a programmer/web
designer for the last 12 years or so. At my job, I do the IT work part time
and do CAD design the rest of the time. I am the only IT guy so I don't
have a slew of peers to work with. I now need to boost my knowledge base by
a large margin to stay competitive in this field. So, is an Associates
Degree in Computer Information Systems is worth a damned thing in the IT
field or are my efforts, time and dollars are better spent in certification.
Any comments direct or posted to this newsgroup would be appreciated.
Keith Killoran
kkilloran@comcast.net
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| Alan Davis 2003-01-08, 10:23 am |
| An honors, or better still a masters, degree will be of more benefit
than an any ms cert. However if you are already in employment it will
take several years to get such a degree (depends on how much effort
you wish to put in), but you will learn a great deal about the
software development process which the ms exams do not attempt to
cover.
Nothing wrong in doing the ms certs, but unless you have a good deal
of experience of real world software developments, employers/clients
will not be too interested in you. MS certs only cover the
technologies used by ms development tools/products and in no way
expect you to understand the concepts of software development
(employers will though!). The newer .net exams do test you on the very
basics of oop techniques though, while 70-100/70-300 test you to a
very basic level on software design but nothing like what should be
covered in a computer released degree (or in the real world).
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| Keith Killoran 2003-01-08, 11:23 am |
| That's the real problem . . . time. I am married, 2 children, full time
job. I'm trying to maximize my time, money, and effort, and at the same
time, come up with something tangable. I can finish my Associates in 2-1/2
years. Bachelors, probably closer to seven since I have so much math to
catch up with. Masters . . . I'll be an old man by then.
"Alan Davis" <.> wrote in message
news:64io1v8l1tqatavar4dv5t74s
1bc943kha@4ax.com...
> An honors, or better still a masters, degree will be of more benefit
> than an any ms cert. However if you are already in employment it will
> take several years to get such a degree (depends on how much effort
> you wish to put in), but you will learn a great deal about the
> software development process which the ms exams do not attempt to
> cover.
>
> Nothing wrong in doing the ms certs, but unless you have a good deal
> of experience of real world software developments, employers/clients
> will not be too interested in you. MS certs only cover the
> technologies used by ms development tools/products and in no way
> expect you to understand the concepts of software development
> (employers will though!). The newer .net exams do test you on the very
> basics of oop techniques though, while 70-100/70-300 test you to a
> very basic level on software design but nothing like what should be
> covered in a computer released degree (or in the real world).
| |
| Gregory Lin 2003-01-14, 12:23 am |
| Certification always outdated.
Degree goes with you all your life.
To me, definitely "degree". At least it shows your dedication.
Greg Lin
"Keith Killoran" <kkilloran@marteltool.com> wrote in message
news:uOfpdNztCHA.2308@TK2MSFTNGP09...
> That's the real problem . . . time. I am married, 2 children, full time
> job. I'm trying to maximize my time, money, and effort, and at the same
> time, come up with something tangable. I can finish my Associates in
2-1/2
> years. Bachelors, probably closer to seven since I have so much math to
> catch up with. Masters . . . I'll be an old man by then.
>
> "Alan Davis" <.> wrote in message
> news:64io1v8l1tqatavar4dv5t74s
1bc943kha@4ax.com...
> > An honors, or better still a masters, degree will be of more benefit
> > than an any ms cert. However if you are already in employment it will
> > take several years to get such a degree (depends on how much effort
> > you wish to put in), but you will learn a great deal about the
> > software development process which the ms exams do not attempt to
> > cover.
> >
> > Nothing wrong in doing the ms certs, but unless you have a good deal
> > of experience of real world software developments, employers/clients
> > will not be too interested in you. MS certs only cover the
> > technologies used by ms development tools/products and in no way
> > expect you to understand the concepts of software development
> > (employers will though!). The newer .net exams do test you on the very
> > basics of oop techniques though, while 70-100/70-300 test you to a
> > very basic level on software design but nothing like what should be
> > covered in a computer released degree (or in the real world).
>
>
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| Alan Davis 2003-01-14, 2:23 am |
| >Certification always outdated.
Too true, and so do IT degrees.
I doubt 20 years ago, subjects covered distributed programming within
an internet environment, object oriented design/programming with uml,
java, .net. Defiantly would have covered C, Fortran, Cobol and
Assembler though
Don't think there was too much on relational databases either and
certainly never covered configuring and maintaining servers such as
exchange server, sql server, so a twenty year old degree won't help
you too much there!
>Degree goes with you all your life.
Yep they do.
| |
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| "Gregory Lin" <rainnight@excite.com> wrote in message
news:1PNU9.55129$%n.21079@sccrnsc02...
> Certification always outdated.
>
> degree goes with you all your life.
>
> To me, definitely "degree". At least it shows your dedication.
Dedication to what exactly?
--
Regards
Neil Simpson
Partners in Ecom (UK)
| |
| Scott 2003-01-25, 12:23 pm |
| Hi Guys,
Continue to educate yourself in this industry get CERTIFIED and specialize
in framworks.
my opinion
"Neil" <complaints@btopenworld.com> wrote in message
news:eSLU#E7uCHA.1624@TK2MSFTNGP10...
> "Gregory Lin" <rainnight@excite.com> wrote in message
> news:1PNU9.55129$%n.21079@sccrnsc02...
> > Certification always outdated.
> >
> > degree goes with you all your life.
> >
> > To me, definitely "degree". At least it shows your dedication.
>
> Dedication to what exactly?
>
> --
>
> Regards
> Neil Simpson
> Partners in Ecom (UK)
>
>
| |
| Jonojacker 2003-01-25, 10:28 pm |
| See if you can afford to spend the time to get a degree. Your circumstances will dictate whether going back to school is a worthwhile thing. Some employers might be impressed with your dedication to go back and do a degree -- others may think it was pointless. Certifications could be the easier and less expensive way out. Update them regularly and combined with your experience, you'll be fine. A degree just gives you a foot in the door. Certifications can do that too. | |
| Alan Davis 2003-01-26, 5:23 am |
| > A degree just gives you a foot in the door. Certifications can do that
>too.
It depends on whether an employer sees certifications has having
meaning. The sad fact for ms certs is that over the paste 4/5 years or
so, the certification process has come under ridicule and has been
undermined for various reasons.
There has been plenty of debate within this ng (and others) about the
value of ms cert's, which seems to change depending on your location.
In the UK there is little call for these certs, while in the States,
they seem to hold more value.
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