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Higher Learning, Online?
provell writes "An ad for the U of Phoenix online education program caught my eye the other day. I know the concept of online education isn't a new one but it seems to be growing more prevalent with each passing year. As an IT consultant at the age of 18, I didn't give myself much chance for college and I don't get much time in town to take part time courses. With the burst of the E-Bubble, I'm starting to notice an increase in hiring standards. Is a BS a necessary bargaining chip for the IT industry and are online undergrad programs widely accepted/adequate? Any thoughts/experiences would be much appreciated."
From my experience, the most important thing you can have is a personal reference at the company you are trying to get a job with. Let me explain.
I don't have a degree and have had a very difficult time getting a job. My friends with degrees have had just as difficult time finding a job. The job market is tight right now and basically no matter what's on your resume it's going to be hard to find a job.
However, if you know someone in the company at the very least you will get an interview (try sending resumes to various companies and see how many get back to you) which is a big step and more than likely you will get a good recommendation from someone the hiring person knows. I can't stress the personal reference bit enough. All the jobs I've gotten comes from knowing someone in the company (except the bookstore job but that was not computer-related and only $7.25 an hour).
So, my suggestion: contact everyone you've previously worked with and find out where they're working. Ask them if the company is hiring and even if they aren't contact them again in a few months. Things change quite quickly in the job market.
Finally, good luck and I suggest at some point you get a degree anyway. Pay scales are often based on degrees. I plan to get mine starting next year.
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Jump in and get yourself a small degree (like InfoSystems in the Business College). Most business courses (if not all) are probably available at night school or saturdays/weekends. Not only this, but most companies pay for your school if you do well.
After about 5-10 years on the job, school no longer matters (if you don't have a degree), only experience matters.
As a side note, I'm a firm believer in college educations. I'd be very hard pressed to hire someone without a degree. And in an economical drought of the IT industries, a CS degree won't get you far if you are up against good CompEng canidates (with similar experience, of course).
If you are geared more towards management, go ahead and try to grab an MBA while you are used to going to school, and you should be set and well paid for the next 5-10 years (MBA's usually give you a jump on pay your first 5-10 years).
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Not having finished my degree yet has certainly held me back in more than one job. I'm a network admin with a strong *nix and NT background, but even with certification from Cisco, it is difficult to progress. One can always land a job based on what you know, and how well you present yourself in the interview, but my experience so far has shown repeatedly that the lack of degree will dampen your chances of rising beyond the daily grind. I work for a large utility now as the prime network admin for my department, but I will not be able to make the leap into management without a degree. My advice to anyone who jumped into the IT business too early (for whatever reason) is to make the time to get the degree from a respectable establishment. It'll cut into your personal time and, in my case, family time, but the ends will justify the means. No one really wants to retire a packet-jockey. Certainly not me. Thus I am making the economic and social sacrifices to get my degree. Even if it takes years, it's worth it.
Ludicrous tuition. Online learning should be cheap. University of Phoenix is silly expensive, especially for out-of-country types (Canadians like me).
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Let's not stir that bag of worms...
I think you hit the nail on the head. Many people, and that unfortunately includes people in Human Resources, see the online degree as something that gets banged out during lunch. Until people really do get out into the workplace with such a degree and prove themselves this is probably always going to be the case.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
I'm studying Computer and Information Science (Unix, database theory, networking, C++) at the University of Maryland University College. All my classes are online, only proctored final exams; it's fully accredited through UM, and it offers credit for OJT "experiential learning." Cost: same as state U. I think I've learned more doing it online because instead of wasting time in lecture halls, I'm hacking away at my computer(s) doing some pretty heavy-duty programming, sysadmin, database design, etc. Hands-on learning beats boring profs any day, and I don't have to worry about wedging classes in between my full-time job and my 2+ hour commute. (I'm counting on my BS, 20 years of being an end-user, and a little help from a mentor to break into the field.)
re: the need for a degree at all --
I graduated with a degree in Chinese literature (minor in CS), and I had no problems getting offers from selective companies (for very technical positions). You're much more than your IT skills -- you might want to round yourself out (you'll have IT jobs on the side, or during summer) or learn about something new. The money/career will probably be there when you're done, if that's what you're looking for.
Don't sell yourself short, and remember to keep your head about you -- it's not all about money.
there is no thing
what else could you want?
The key here is that a traditional classroom has advantages that an online setting cannot begin to eumulate.
And the online setting has advantages that the traditional classroom can't emulate. I have two graduate degrees: one from a large traditional school, the other from an accredited online school. I can honestly say that I learned just as much from the online program as the traditional one. The online degree was both more convenient and more efficient. In the online program I spent much less time sitting around daydreaming while a professor droned on at the front of the room.