Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
Old 11-10-2013, 01:28 PM
 
128 posts, read 148,260 times
Reputation: 36

Advertisements

Something I have been hearing from many bachelors and master degree graduates, more specifically in general science fields, is that the jobs to get with these degrees are more geared towards graduates with specific certification to the job vs. general broad education.

I have been considering getting some certification for some time now but there are a few issues that prevent me from going down either road. For one. With certification, the job potential may be higher, but there is a lower range of job possibilities. You are specifically geared for one job with little flexibility to switch over to other careers with wanted or needed be.

Going the degree route is the opposite however the pros of getting a degree is that you are trained to many things vs. being just trained to do one specific tasks, which means if you need a few credits to obtain certification here or there, switching over is easier to do vs having a certification.

Both options have their pros and their cons. I guess at the end of the day it all comes down to your personal preference. With a degree it is still possible to go back for a certification, and it may be easier this route to get multiple certifications with a degree then without one. At the same time, with a certification, it still may be possible to go back and get your degree and it may be easier to do that as well.

Again it comes down to preference. Which do you prefer? To be a well paid, in demand, job secure 1 trick certification pony, or to be something of a low job secured, low paid jack of all trades with a degree, more or less with both.
Unless someone knows a way around either so that either a degree or certification is tailored to his own preferences, I think it seems to come down to these two options.

Personally for me, I rather be low paid, and insecure with my job possibilities, but trained for a broad range, then to be stuck for possibly the rest of my life running on the same wheel. But of course thats just me. If I had the time and money on the other hand I would have hundreds of certifications and 0-1 degrees.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-10-2013, 01:40 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,114 posts, read 60,214,676 times
Reputation: 60714
Get a concentration/major. Unless you're a professional grade athlete, then a General Studies Bachelor's is sufficient.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-10-2013, 01:43 PM
 
7,413 posts, read 6,212,853 times
Reputation: 6660
What do you want to get certified in if you were to choose certification?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-13-2013, 08:00 AM
 
28,896 posts, read 54,045,943 times
Reputation: 46669
The Wall Street Journal has an article that advises to really think long and hard before choosing a highly-specialized major:

Focusing too narrowly in college could backfire - WSJ.com
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-13-2013, 09:27 AM
 
12,076 posts, read 23,185,839 times
Reputation: 27203
What kind of science certs are there?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-14-2013, 07:57 AM
 
Location: Jamestown, NY
7,840 posts, read 9,170,294 times
Reputation: 13779
OP, are you talking about pursuing professional certifications rather than a BA/BS degree or are you talking about taking specialized coursework within your major while getting your BA/BS?

Certifications in place of a college degree will probably not get you in the door. Many employers won't even consider you without a degree no matter how many certificates you have.

The article that cpg linked makes an excellent case for not over-specializing at the BA/BS level. You will be working for 40 or more years, and the world will change during that time. That's about the only thing you can be certain of.

When I was originally in college, I didn't major in computer programming because it wasn't a course of study at my college. The math department offered a few courses in it, mostly for the truly weirdo nerdy guys. When I started as a computer programmer 25+ years ago, I programmed in COBOL and worked with ISAM files. I moved on to relational databases, gui interfaces, and various proprietary toolsets. Now, I've moved on to the world of object oriented programming, which didn't exist outside of academia, when I started my career. If you are in the sciences or a technology field, you are going to be constantly learning and adapting to new stuff for your entire career. The chances are that the skills you learn now will be obsolete in ten or fifteen years, and you'll likely be working in a specialized area that barely exists today. IOW, I'd go general.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Education > Colleges and Universities
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:25 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top