Certifications are THE way to stay gainfully employed in tech...hands down.
But NOT because they really do anything for you, they are a quantifiable credential for HR and headhunters. HR is the first and most difficult task in the employment process. Certs are cheap and have a good ROI both in time and money outlay. Some are harder than others but I know guys working for code farms or support companies with nothing more than a couple of certs...no degree and no plans to get one.
Degrees are nice but the curriculum stays a bit behind unless you're at an expensive research university like MIT. Certs are always industry current and tells an employer you can do the job.
Employers need workers with practical experience, and in general WANT workers who have lots of experience with specific software. Colleges don't teach software suites, they teach theories.
I did an associate's in programming and I had several classmates who graduated from the local university with a CS degree. They all said the same thing: "I need actual skills because graduates from THIS school are taking most of the local jobs." They had 2 Java classes and a ton of theory where I had 4 java classes (and certification), 4.NET classes, 3 database classes, etc. All things being equal, the bachelor's degree gets trumped by the associate's/Java certification combination most of the time. BTW, I also have a 4-year degree in humanities so I'm not bashing the 4-year process at all, but recruiters always take the easy way out. They are in a volume business and need to fill the seats with tangible skills.
But as to the "shortage", I wonder how many people get out of college and just don't like the field anymore and take another direction (like me)?
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Certifications are THE way to stay gainfully employed in tech...hands down. But NOT because they really do anything for you, they are a quantifiable credential for HR and headhunters. HR is the first and most difficult task in the employment process. Certs are cheap and have a good ROI both in time and money outlay. Some are harder than others but I know guys working for code farms or support companies with nothing more than a couple of certs...no degree and no plans to get one. Degrees are nice but the curriculum stays a bit behind unless you're at an expensive research university like MIT. Certs are always industry current and tells an employer you can do the job.
Employers need workers with practical experience, and in general WANT workers who have lots of experience with specific software. Colleges don't teach software suites, they teach theories.
I did an associate's in programming and I had several classmates who graduated from the local university with a CS degree. They all said the same thing: "I need actual skills because graduates from THIS school are taking most of the local jobs." They had 2 Java classes and a ton of theory where I had 4 java classes (and certification), 4 .NET classes, 3 database classes, etc. All things being equal, the bachelor's degree gets trumped by the associate's/Java certification combination most of the time. BTW, I also have a 4-year degree in humanities so I'm not bashing the 4-year process at all, but recruiters always take the easy way out. They are in a volume business and need to fill the seats with tangible skills.
But as to the "shortage", I wonder how many people get out of college and just don't like the field anymore and take another direction (like me)?