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I am in between making a huge decision and I need answers rapidly. I have both an Associates and a B.S. in Telecommunications Technology (Electronics and I.T.). Do I stand to make more money pursuing a Masters degree in say, Information Assurance and technology, or to at this point simply doing Boot Camps for certifications such as VMware or Checkpoint Firewall, or maybe even Linux Administration?
Would like to hear from someone in the I.T. field.
Neither/both? I mean it sounds like they are for different tracks... you could make more money with either one depending on what jobs you want... but both seem to make okay money
just pick the one you want to do more... no point chasing money into a career you'll hate
Meh... In my opinion, certs only really matter if you're a contract worker or work for some type of MSP. I've been a Linux/UNIX engineer for 6 years over 3 different large companies (always direct hire). If you can get the interview and prove you know your stuff, who cares if you have such and such cert? I've never had an issue climbing that tech ladder without it. I've never been pressured to get any sort of cert.
For a masters degree, it may help you down the line. I have a masters degree. It *may* have helped me through HR and to get the interview... However, you get to the hiring manager and they don't even really care or ask about it. At my last employer, my manager had to complete skills profiles for each of his employees, and goes "Hey, you have a bachelor's degree don't you?"
That's really up to you. Both have their place and can help increase your knowledge. But hiring managers have their own preference. An IT director who's never attained their B.S./M.S. my not put a lot of weight on them. That said, I also know a lot of people that think many certs are over-rated.
Ultimately, both are just "supplements" for your skills/experience - which is the main contributor to making more money.
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Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
I think the certs are going to be far more helpful. They show demonstrable hands on experience.
That depends on the cert. Some simply demonstrate that you can pass a test. I've interviewed many folks who had all sorts of certs. But couldn't demonstrate the basic knowledge the certs represented.
It depends where you want your IT career to branch off to. Do you want to branch off to do more technical work or branch off to manage people/projects?
Certs are nice for technical stuff, and masters is good for management. I will admit that I don't know if a masters degree in something "IT" related, goes over any actual technical skills. Anyone we hire usually needs experience to back anything up.
If you want more money I think the masters degree will be better. I know a lot of IT directors, with masters degrees, who make tons of money and they couldn't fix a computer/network to save their career. What they are good at is listening to their techs, understanding what they are talking about to a point, and telling them what "essentially" needs to happen to reach the goal. Then of course managing the budget, time frames, and teams that make those projects happen.
...if you have completed an Associates and Bachelors in both you should be able to comfortably find a job even without certifications. With everything being equal of course you'll always make more money with a masters degree however it depends on if you want a masters degree. There are CEOs who have reached that high without a masters.
With what you already have assuming making money is your goal just obtain some certifications and you should be in good shape. If you want to take it a bit further then get work experience by doing projects with non-profits.
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