12-28-2007, 08:51 PM
I've worked in IT for over fifteen years, and I have had a very succesful career. I did it exclusively through hard work, and on-the-job experience, as well as vendor IT certifications (over the years I have taken 17 exams). That being said, though, I do think earning a degree is important, and I am going back now to complete mine. I never want anything working against me in the marketplace, and having a degree is important regardless of field.
I switched my major from IT to Liberal Arts because it is faster and easier for me to complete, and to be quite honest--hiring managers and HR types do not seem to care which degree you have--only that you finished one. I have noticed that many of my colleagues have degrees totally unrelated to IT, and nobody cares. It has not held them back, as you still need to get experience and vendor/product specific training to do nearly any IT job out there.
If you want to get into a highly specialized technology area and can find a degree program that offers it, than go for it. I also found most technical college courses were already behind the times--leading me to question the value of any technical degree. The technology changes so rapidly that the database or operating system course you took four years ago is probably worthless when you graduate anyway. Much of what is taught in college IT courses is theory and conceptual--not a bad thing to learn, but also not terribly applicable once you land the real job. So, I would say my opinion would be to get a degree in something that interests you, with some technical classes thrown in--then get an entry level job in IT to get your foot in the door and start getting real on-the-job experience (there is no substitution for real experience). Add vendor certifications throughout if you can, and if that is important to you and your employer.
If it is Management you are interested in, then get a degree with management focus, and not primarily technical. I have done both jobs and the required skills and focus is entirely different. Managing people is not the same as technical work.
I have also been the IT hiring manager, and what I look for is someone with required skills to do the job, but also one who shows the self motivation and aptitute to keep their skills current and fresh--which is important if you really want to work in this industry as constant change is a given in IT. If you don't like constantly reading, researching, updating your skills, etc., this might not be the best field to go into. If you thrive on that stuff, you will likely thrive in IT as well.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
I switched my major from IT to Liberal Arts because it is faster and easier for me to complete, and to be quite honest--hiring managers and HR types do not seem to care which degree you have--only that you finished one. I have noticed that many of my colleagues have degrees totally unrelated to IT, and nobody cares. It has not held them back, as you still need to get experience and vendor/product specific training to do nearly any IT job out there.
If you want to get into a highly specialized technology area and can find a degree program that offers it, than go for it. I also found most technical college courses were already behind the times--leading me to question the value of any technical degree. The technology changes so rapidly that the database or operating system course you took four years ago is probably worthless when you graduate anyway. Much of what is taught in college IT courses is theory and conceptual--not a bad thing to learn, but also not terribly applicable once you land the real job. So, I would say my opinion would be to get a degree in something that interests you, with some technical classes thrown in--then get an entry level job in IT to get your foot in the door and start getting real on-the-job experience (there is no substitution for real experience). Add vendor certifications throughout if you can, and if that is important to you and your employer.
If it is Management you are interested in, then get a degree with management focus, and not primarily technical. I have done both jobs and the required skills and focus is entirely different. Managing people is not the same as technical work.
I have also been the IT hiring manager, and what I look for is someone with required skills to do the job, but also one who shows the self motivation and aptitute to keep their skills current and fresh--which is important if you really want to work in this industry as constant change is a given in IT. If you don't like constantly reading, researching, updating your skills, etc., this might not be the best field to go into. If you thrive on that stuff, you will likely thrive in IT as well.
I hope this helps, and good luck!
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