IT and IS degrees (with management?)

[Ideas]

Ideas, I need to ask....what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?  Your sig mentions BSBA (Finance and Marketing) and a BA in Comp Sci/English, as well as a NA Masters in MTS.  Now you're looking at another Masters in IT.  What exactly is the end goal?

MTS would be part of my ideal path, but the industry is becoming more regulated, and I feel like it's not going to lead to a good primary career for me personally. It seems like something I would burn out on if I were doing it more than a little, but I feel like that type of work is what I really enjoy. I'm considering skipping this, but it costs as little as $1500 and I can do it part-time, spread out over more than a year, while doing the BA. I'm not sure I have enough commitment to this, but it seems like a great opportunity.

I want to be able to land a good job in IS (or the other IS) if I need to, so I want the CS undergrad plus a Masters. I have some CS credits and some real life experience. I'm not that interested in having an IS job full-time, but I feel very insecure unless I have it as a possibility, and I would use the degrees to get temporary/piecemeal work or maybe part-time work.

English is quick to add onto the CS, and should help with my current work, while I'm doing the Masters degrees. Adding English on seems like at most 1 month full-time work, although I would be doing other stuff at the same time, so it would become more spread out. I have some credits already.

Business because I find business easy and interesting. And it was the quickest, cheapest degree when I started. At the time I didn't plan to do any degrees after this one. I wanted something quick.

Basically, I do have work experience, knowledge, skills, and interest in all of the areas except theology (and in others too, but I feel ok with passing those up).

However, that said, I am primarily doing all of it for personal reasons because I have serious health issues that force me to mostly take piecemeal/temporary work. When forced to take that kind of work, it's good to have eggs in multiple baskets -- unlike people who are going for a specific career and should focus.

All of it together is less than most people spend for their first bachelor's. It would be 2.5 years for everything if I am able to stick to the plans. (Not counting the time I spent in the past to get those old college credits.) The 2.5 years includes the 9 months I've already spent.

I do have concerns that the calculus will slow me down, or certain parts of the MTS (the memorization and the reading parts that are not in modern language), but in general I'm really good at test-taking, writing, and learning from textbooks. I feel that I have a maximum amount of math/programming/difficult language I can handle per day.

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I am more than a little crazy. But I would take a much less crazy path if I were healthy.

I'm not sure yet on either Masters degree. I know I definitely want some Masters degree. I feel that I would want a PhD someday.

I need to research IS jobs a lot more carefully, and also figure out how far the CS degree could get me (without the IS degree).

[dfrecore]

I agree with quigongene, you are kind of all over the place with your plans. It seems like you have 32 of them floating around here.

First, I don't agree with you that having multiple degrees will get you these piecemeal jobs that you want. I think the better way to get the piecemeal jobs you want/need is through experience. I can't imagine that a company wants something specific done, and they're out looking for someone with the right degree; they want someone who can get 'er done, correctly, and quickly. Otherwise, they would go about the process of hiring someone for a short-term or long-term position.

Second, I don't think it's possible to hedge all of your bets.

Third, the more you spread yourself so thinly between everything, the less you're able to accomplish. I think you should get the first degree (whichever one you choose) and then try to get work in that field. THEN, if you find that the work isn't there, or you can't get it because you don't have the right degree, or you're finding that you need to go in another direction - you can get a different degree. But it seems like you're trying to get the "right" degrees all in place, when the purpose of all of this is to find work. You haven't given finding work a chance, but you're spending your energy getting more degrees.

I may be wrong in my assumptions, and if I am, I apologize.

[quigongene]

they want someone who can get 'er done, correctly, and quickly. Otherwise, they would go about the process of hiring someone for a short-term or long-term position.

From someone who has over 20 years in IT and no degree (yet), this...

Certifications and experience are what have floated me so far.

[Ideas]

I agree with quigongene, you are kind of all over the place with your plans.  It seems like you have 32 of them floating around here.

First, I don't agree with you that having multiple degrees will get you these piecemeal jobs that you want.  I think the better way to get the piecemeal jobs you want/need is through experience.  I can't imagine that a company wants something specific done, and they're out looking for someone with the right degree; they want someone who can get 'er done, correctly, and quickly.  Otherwise, they would go about the process of hiring someone for a short-term or long-term position.

Second,  I don't think it's possible to hedge all of your bets.

Third, the more you spread yourself so thinly between everything, the less you're able to accomplish.  I think you should get the first degree (whichever one you choose) and then try to get work in that field.  THEN, if you find that the work isn't there, or you can't get it because you don't have the right degree, or you're finding that you need to go in another direction - you can get a different degree.  But it seems like you're trying to get the "right" degrees all in place, when the purpose of all of this is to find work.  You haven't given finding work a chance, but you're spending your energy getting more degrees.

I may be wrong in my assumptions, and if I am, I apologize.

My past plans are off the list. Yes, I've changed plans a lot but many of my past plans never got off the ground because of my health and other reasons. With those, I never got to the stage where any specific degree was something I was realistically, actually considering. One reason is that I'd read a lot about a particular field or job type, and thought it would make a nice career for myself. However, then I would realize that those jobs are exceptionally competitive and it was simply unrealistic, because I would have to relocate to actually get one of those. Even then, I am not a competitive candidate in many areas for many reasons. Someone would need to know more about my health, location, and other factors to understand my plans well, and while I'm explained a lot on this forum, I can't put additional personal details.

If someone were to read everything I posted, they would find an underlying confusion for me, all along, has been that I didn't want to pursue an IT/CS career, but that I felt it was my only realistic option. I had about 4-5 other careers I wanted instead of an IT/CS one. I have now conceded that it is the only decent option given my personal, confusing issues. There are a couple very specific areas of IT/CS that I do have interest in, but for the most part, getting the 1-2 IT/CS degrees is just my "backup" that's practical and boring and makes me feel more secure. Security is extremely important to me. I am willing to pass over the other fields I am more interested in, because they are less realistic. The only thing I'm not necessarily willing to skip over is my MTS plan.

I'm only sure about the second Bachelors, and considering 2 Masters. I'm not sure why people think that's a lot, I guess, given that some of the material is stuff I already know, or have familiarity with. It's only about 21-24 more months of school if I do all 3 that I'm currently considering, but I've been writing how I'm not sure about doing both Masters.

I already know that I'm not going to get the type of work I want without either a Masters or a BA-CS. Because of specific searches I've done for specific jobs. Because of the residency waiver situation, I find it highest priority to do the BA-CS, and it's only about a month more to finish English too. I know for certain that the time and energy cost of English, Business, and CS will be something I recoup and gain from. Most people would skip the BA-CS and do the MSIS instead (that Hodges degree should be called MSIS like other degrees of that type, not MIS like they label it) but if I had to choose between them, I think I would do the BA-CS. However, the MSIS is only 6 months.

I am not going to stop without 1 Masters degree, minimum. Sometimes they say that college is the new high school.

But as I said, I don't know if I am doing them both. The MTS, in my situation, is not too practical. I guess I feel more like the MTS would be a hobby / long-term personal spiritual exercise, and that the MTS is pretty flexible on timing. (At $1000 per year, for 2 years, it is not unlike the cost of a hobby or deep spiritual exercise.) I feel it would fit nicely along with the CS/MSIS because it's such a different subject. I don't like studying a lot of the same subject in a week, I like to switch between a few subjects. It is also an NA degree and for various reasons, it would be nice to have at least 1 RA Masters. Although I say that the MTS is not too practical, I am pretty sure it will be something I'm glad I did, if I do indeed complete it. I worry that I'll start it and want to drop out, but there is only one way to find out. Dropping out after a few months would be only a few hundred dollars "wasted". If I don't do the MTS program, I feel like I need to spend months or years doing my own self-study spiritual program, anyway. I would end up putting that off and it's better to do it sooner.

The only downside to any of this, in my opinion, is the opportunity cost. If I skip one or two of these degrees, I do not think I will gain work experience that means much (i.e. I think the degree would help me more). Well, at least I hope that I would learn practical skills in whichever non-MTS grad program(s) I do. However, I would be taking time away from a few other important life things. Only for 1-3 more years...

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From someone who has over 20 years in IT and no degree (yet), this...

Certifications and experience are what have floated me so far.

Well, I would certainly consider crossing out the Hodges Information Systems degree, and adding in a certification or two or three. If I felt a specific certification would be applicable to the area(s) of IT work I want, and felt it was otherwise reasonable. 

I don't think it makes sense to spend 4 full-time months on a certification, for example, if I could just do the (MS)IS degree in 6 months (although it would be working really hard, more than full-time for those 6 months).

I did find a grad certificate that I would love to do, but why spend $3000-$6000 on a grad certificate if I could do the (MS)IS degree for $3900?

I guess I should consider skipping the MSIS to spend the 6 months on volunteer/internship or entry-level work. That could make sense if it's in the specific areas of interest I have. My guess is that they wouldn't even give me an internship without the BA-CS being almost complete, but it could get me started sooner.

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First, I don't agree with you that having multiple degrees will get you these piecemeal jobs that you want.

Well, your post is making me think about other things. I'm concerned that I might not be able to use this as a secure "backup plan". My (misguided, I guess) plan was to have the flexibility to either get a full-time job or the temp jobs when I wanted. So, I do see that this has big flaws.
There are many questions that I have. I wonder if I volunteered, would they give me a reference more than a year later? Two or three years? If I had no real work experience, besides volunteering and maybe 1-2 smaller contract projects per year, is it enough to land a full-time or part-time job, given all the competition? 

I want(ed) to study and gain experience in an area that's very in-demand, so that employers would be less picky. I don't think there are many fields like this, actually.

I feel like many volunteer positions don't actually seem impressive because I think they don't require as many skills.

Well, so, most likely I won't do a Masters in this field...

[Ideas]

I think I won't be satisfied if my only education beyond "college" (bachelor's) is the MTS which is NA. But I could do some non-IT degree or certificates slowly, I suppose. I think you will find that more crazy than doing MS-IS, not less.

[rlw74]

Have you thought about combining the MTS with IT by volunteering or working for something ministry or mission based? For example, organizations like Compassion Intnt'l, World Vision or Samaritan's Purse hire IT professionals all the time. Someone with an MTS degree would appeal to them because of the religious base of the organization. You also might have the opportunity to live overseas since you mentioned that being a desire.

On a side note, I wouldn't worry about the MTS not using "modern language" in their textbooks. Even the Bible itself has modern versions. I'm not finding it very different than studying history or literature. Just know that a master's program is different than undergrad. It's nothing like taking a study.com course. It will take a lot more time.

[quigongene]

I have former supervisors in the IT field who were psychology majors. I have a friend in IT who is a philosophy major. I was considering a BALS just to get to a masters program quicker. The former CISO of Equifax was a music major (OK, maybe a bad example there :-P). Point is, major (or lack thereof) doesn't matter much in this field in my experience. Experience, IT certifications (CompTia, Microsoft, Cisco, etc. for sysadmin/support roles) and/or a portfolio (for programmers) reign supreme.

[davewill]

Personally, I would get the master's in whatever you TRULY want to do, then get busy on it. The undergrad degrees you're getting are sufficient to get short jobs in IT/IS while you're finishing up.

[posabsolute]

What do you want to lead in IT specifically?

I have been a software engineer/manager with more than 10 years (associate degree). My personal experience is that a master in computer science, cybersecurity or software engineering would better serve you. I rarely have seen a job offer with the MIS requirement, what I saw much more is a master in the related IT field.

Not saying it would be useless, but really not sure it's the differentiator you are looking for.

[quigongene]

The Hodges MIS has two concentrations, one of which is cybersecurity.