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I have an Associates degree in Network Admin, A+, and Network+. I’m debating going back to school to earn a Bachelors.

I currently work as a Systems admin, gaining experience which helps as well.

The question is: is a Bachelors degree more marketable than MCSA & CCNA?

Frankly, I think the return on investment is greater with certs and with self study will be much cheaper. However, there are a good amount of job listings that require a Bachelors and list certs as nice to have.

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If I was hiring a Sys Admin I wouldnt care what or of they had a degree, experience counts for a lot more. Certs count for a bit but only if matched with experience in that area. I have been interviewing recently for juniors to join my team. Some people were certified out the wazoo but had no real world experience

If you have an MCSA and experience managing a network and server environment who cares if you spent 3 years learning something that will be out of date before you finish the course. Add having a lab at home where you can learn what you arent exposed to at work and you are set. The rest is down to personality and a bit of luck…

CCNA is a nice to have, shows a basic understanding of networking but its not going to get you a job. Anyone who is going ot be just doing networking will be in a large setup so will require knowledge way beyond this level

I have a degree, nothing to do with IT. Never in 20 years have I been asked about it…my experience deploying, managing and running equipment, people and projects has been asked about a lot

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I agree with Toby. Experience is extremely important. Formal degree not as valuable but not a waste either. Certs…well helpful, but not as valuable as experience.

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Even if they have the degree listed, apply anyway.

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In general, degrees do not get you very far. And on average, they never make up for the cost. If you pay attention to all the ads from colleges about how much more their graduates earn, it’s all spin. Pay attention to the numbers that they use and yes, their grads earn more per year on average, but they leave out details like that they earn less over their lifespans, just more per year in their remaining years. College can work for you, but chances are, it won’t.

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Statistically speaking, it’s actually a waste. On average.

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I think a bachelors is great for the more business side of thigns over the technical ones…
that being said… those ads that “require” bachelor’s degrees rarely actually do… if they dont explicity say it, htey usually implicitly mean “or relevant experience”

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Or “we just print this on everything”, which is very often the case. It’s very possibly boilerplate.

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I have a degree, in Software engineering. It’s NEVER been asked for

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May vary country to country, I know in Aus a degree in a many places is highly regarded ( often even if though the degree may not be in the field you are applying for ).

It shows a prospective employer a few things, IE that you can stick at a task, you can take direction, you are able to work to deadlines.

There are several other non finical benefits to it as well, the networks you make can prove invaluable.

I recently applied for a job and despite having ample experience in the area, I was unable to even land an interview as I did not meet the key selection criteria of having a degree.

How much would a bachelors level degree set you back in the US ?

In these parts full time study is about 8k per year for an IT type course full time on campus or 4k per year part time by distance education.

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Roughly double that in the US, depending on the school.

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We’ve recently started recruiting for an IT Assistant who would be a university graduate. We’re requiring a minimum of a 2:1 degree in an IT related field and have turned away CVs purely because they don’t have a degree.

Guy’s post above details exactly why we’re doing this. We want this person to rise through the ranks so we can promote them.

My argument was that even someone who didn’t have a degree (like myself) could still be as successful if not moreso. Would an extra 3 years experience give a greater benefit to a technical role? Yes, definitely. What about a slightly different role involving much more “academic” qualities? Possibly not, this is where the educational side may do better.

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I found that people trying to get into work without experience get stuck…

Employers want people with experience but you can’t get experience without being employed…

So how do you get experience? i suppose you could come in at a lower level and work your way up like everyone else…

but even the low end jobs now ask for experience… it’s retarded lol

But About your decision to which is best (Certs are better then a degree unless you have a degree in computer science)

Certs are constantly updating them self’s every year which keeps you on top of all tech that is coming out and it’s even better if you get your company to pay for it instead of you.

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My answer is the long-forgotten apprenticeship.

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Which is only just starting too come back in the past few years…

This island still only employs pro’s at every level… which ends up forcing all our bright students and starters over too the UK… i could slap every states member 100 times for idiocy…

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Frankly, I believe that you will need all 3. The bachelors, MS and Cisco cert due to the amount of competition in our industry. When you’re on the job you will realize the experience and certs were the most valuable but the HR department doesn’t know much outside of degree programs.

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Experience (relevant) > Certs > Degree

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It depends on what industry you’re planning to work in. It seems obvious that you’d say the IT industry but that’s not what I’m getting at.

IT is a critical component of pretty much all industries today. If you want to be a Sys Admin in the Education industry, like a University, they’re not going to let you in without a degree. Same probably goes for Financial companies, government jobs, hospital/healthcare, you get the idea.

If you want to work at a brewery, manufacturing shop, mechanical services company, k-12 education (in a poor district), or other small privately owned corporation the certs will probably get you in the door for an interview. They demonstrate a basic level of proficiency (at least at the level you’re suggesting). You should plan to know your stuff, start low, and work up. You’ve got the associates so that’s definitely a bonus over just certs.

Agree though, the experience is where it’s at. I tossed a ton of wet behind the ears recent bachelors\college grads out the door in favor of people that had a basic skill set and drive to be successful. The main reason was the “ok, I finished four years, wheres my 60k-90k job, Mercedes and condo” attitude.

Mainly try to find common ground with the people you’re trying to work for. Why you want to work in their industry, what you can bring to the table.

Good Luck!

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From what i have always seen the cert and experience is most valuable. It seems like most job post add in a lot of FLUFF when they ask about a degree. I see a lot of helpdesk jobs and they mention having a degree,ccna,np and or ccie…Bogus. Just go take a look at indeed. I believe all of my positions had that kind of stuff posted and never asked about.

Stick to certs and gaining experience unless very well stated a degree is Needed.

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The degree really comes into play when you are applying for jobs where there is a 3rd party at the company doing the screening, it a hiring department. You could have all the experience in the world and be a perfect fit but never make it on the table of the person who actually can identify that.

That being said, I also work as a Sys Admin and have a degree in Natural Resource. I am also the IST department head and in charge of hiring. When our company looks at applicants, experience is king. Personally, I actually look at degrees… not to see if it is a related field, but rather as an indicator (small one) of resolve. Can they start something and finish it, and in the absence of experience… as an indicator of critical thinking.

Regarding the question of a Bachelors degree… I would look at the jobs that you want to get and try to determine if you would make it past the initial applicant screening without the 4yr degree. If the answer is yes, than you have a baseline to work from.