No one can give you a perfect, fool-proof formula for succeeding in the IT services industry. Such a formula simply doesn't exist. That being said, I can offer some thoughts on the subject from someone who is currently a Sys Admin, who went to college but didn't graduate and who has man certs.
First things first, as has probably been said to you many times over, college degrees have become terribly important in the job market. An old saying going around when I was in college was that you could have a degree in underwater basket weaving and get a job. It simply didn't matter what your degree was in, so long as you had the piece of paper. That may have changed a bit, but the principle is still the same. A college degree tells prospective employers that you are trainable. Whether you learned what your degree says you are supposed to have learned (which is often not the case), you graduated, so you can be trained.
Unfortunately, there are still a very few major accredited universities/colleges that offer courses related to pure system administration. Often all technology is wrapped up in a "Computer Science/Engineering" lable, which is a disservice to the industry and those of us who find ourselves drawn to administration over hardware design and software development. All is not lost, however, as this trend is beginning to reverse itself.
On the other hand, if you truly want to learn the skills necessary to administer network systems, and you want some recognition of your education, certifications are a great way to show what you know. Generally they are admin specific, involve training that is comprehensive and useful, and are accepted by most employers. Certifications do have a downside; Hundreds of certs are in existance now, all for catering to very specific software or hardware, and all requiring a certain level of expense in obtaining them.
In short, the decision simply has to be your own. However, do not discount either method (or a combination of college and certification) before you explore them. Personally I have found that college was for me a growing experience, making me a more well rounded person, teaching me to think critically and creatively and to problem solve in unknown or unusual circumstances. Not all of the courses directly related to my chosen profession (in fact, very few had any relevance at all to system administration, which is perhaps why I never finished). However, the experience itself was well worth the time and money I spent. I learned much about myself and others (and how to work with them). Certifications and work experience filled in the gaps. I would definitely encourage you to begin working in the field as soon as possible, and to do as much diverse work as possible. You never know when that year you spent maintaining domino servers in a Netware 4 environment will come in handy. I would suggest a position in a consulting/services firm, or even a retail repair shop if you need to grow or brush up your hardware repair skills. Don't be afraid to take lesser paying jobs at the beginning to build up your skills. There is no shame in being a minimum wage screwdriver jockey for a few years so that down the road you will be more marketable. When all is said and done, it is all about making you a skilled, marketable professional.
Good luck.
P.
He's dead Jim. You get his wallet while I distract Spock.
I think in the wake of recent events with CARP, the DMCA, RIAA et al, and now this lovely piece of corporate lobby tripe, it is high time that a larger number of us found our voice and spoke out against the things that are going on around us. It is all well and good to say that "they will see my displeasure in my next vote", but to be perfectly honest with ourselves, how often do you think that legislators actually wonder about "what John Q. Slashdotter is thinking"?
My dad always said, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" and it is in a large part very true. Those who speak out, repeatedly and loudly, for their rights, their freedoms, those are the people who get what they want. In other words, WRITE your Representatives and your Senators. Call them. Email them. REPEAT. Then repeat again and again and again, until they hear you and do what you want just to shut you the hell up. Make use of the system.
If everyone who reads this article were as persistant and adamant about Privacy Rights as the corporate lobbies are about having NO privacy rights for consumers, then I am sure that those money grubbing pricks would have a fight on their hands. As is now, the public is a push over on the scale of McFly. Time to tell Biff to get his damn hands off my privacy.
Then return all of your products and don't ever buy from that company again. It's as simple as that. Each and every manufacturer that treats you unfairly should be avoided in the future.
At some point, they'll all screw you and you won't be buying any equipment that you don't understand, and everyone will be happy. As a former Tech Support Rep, it really pisses me off that people complain about this shit. Really, now people, if you don't want to understand the technology, you are never going to be able to use it to it's fullest potential. It all goes back to the well know "Magic Box" problem. "If you think of your as a magical box that will do whatever you want/need it to do for you, without any effort, knowledge or study on your part, you don't deserve to own." This discussion will go away when the general public (that vile, despicable mob of generally sane individuals who lose all redeeming quality when they walk into a computer store) finally grows up and realizes that the "I don't have to understand it, I'm paying you to do my understanding for me" attitude doesn't work with this stuff.
Take your car to Jiffy lube, you deserve it if they put the wrong kind of oil/filter in. You could have avoided the problem by doing your own oil change or at least learning enough about the car to watch them and know whether the grease monkey in the pit is doing stuff right. Stop bitching and take some personal responsibility for your own shortcomings.
When are corporations going to learn that simply tagging a fontsize.05 addendum in legaleze to the EULA which authorizes such practices is not an ethically viable way to do business? EULAs were originally meant to protect the authors of the software from exploitation and lawsuit. Now they've become something that I'm almost afraid to even read. Who knows how many unethical and rather frightening schemes I'v subjected myself to in recent years?
Slashdot Mirror
No one can give you a perfect, fool-proof formula for succeeding in the IT services industry. Such a formula simply doesn't exist. That being said, I can offer some thoughts on the subject from someone who is currently a Sys Admin, who went to college but didn't graduate and who has man certs.
First things first, as has probably been said to you many times over, college degrees have become terribly important in the job market. An old saying going around when I was in college was that you could have a degree in underwater basket weaving and get a job. It simply didn't matter what your degree was in, so long as you had the piece of paper. That may have changed a bit, but the principle is still the same. A college degree tells prospective employers that you are trainable. Whether you learned what your degree says you are supposed to have learned (which is often not the case), you graduated, so you can be trained.
Unfortunately, there are still a very few major accredited universities/colleges that offer courses related to pure system administration. Often all technology is wrapped up in a "Computer Science/Engineering" lable, which is a disservice to the industry and those of us who find ourselves drawn to administration over hardware design and software development. All is not lost, however, as this trend is beginning to reverse itself.
On the other hand, if you truly want to learn the skills necessary to administer network systems, and you want some recognition of your education, certifications are a great way to show what you know. Generally they are admin specific, involve training that is comprehensive and useful, and are accepted by most employers. Certifications do have a downside; Hundreds of certs are in existance now, all for catering to very specific software or hardware, and all requiring a certain level of expense in obtaining them.
In short, the decision simply has to be your own. However, do not discount either method (or a combination of college and certification) before you explore them. Personally I have found that college was for me a growing experience, making me a more well rounded person, teaching me to think critically and creatively and to problem solve in unknown or unusual circumstances. Not all of the courses directly related to my chosen profession (in fact, very few had any relevance at all to system administration, which is perhaps why I never finished). However, the experience itself was well worth the time and money I spent. I learned much about myself and others (and how to work with them). Certifications and work experience filled in the gaps. I would definitely encourage you to begin working in the field as soon as possible, and to do as much diverse work as possible. You never know when that year you spent maintaining domino servers in a Netware 4 environment will come in handy. I would suggest a position in a consulting/services firm, or even a retail repair shop if you need to grow or brush up your hardware repair skills. Don't be afraid to take lesser paying jobs at the beginning to build up your skills. There is no shame in being a minimum wage screwdriver jockey for a few years so that down the road you will be more marketable. When all is said and done, it is all about making you a skilled, marketable professional.
Good luck.
P.
He's dead Jim. You get his wallet while I distract Spock.
I think in the wake of recent events with CARP, the DMCA, RIAA et al, and now this lovely piece of corporate lobby tripe, it is high time that a larger number of us found our voice and spoke out against the things that are going on around us. It is all well and good to say that "they will see my displeasure in my next vote", but to be perfectly honest with ourselves, how often do you think that legislators actually wonder about "what John Q. Slashdotter is thinking"?
My dad always said, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil" and it is in a large part very true. Those who speak out, repeatedly and loudly, for their rights, their freedoms, those are the people who get what they want. In other words, WRITE your Representatives and your Senators. Call them. Email them. REPEAT. Then repeat again and again and again, until they hear you and do what you want just to shut you the hell up. Make use of the system.
If everyone who reads this article were as persistant and adamant about Privacy Rights as the corporate lobbies are about having NO privacy rights for consumers, then I am sure that those money grubbing pricks would have a fight on their hands. As is now, the public is a push over on the scale of McFly. Time to tell Biff to get his damn hands off my privacy.
Then return all of your products and don't ever buy from that company again. It's as simple as that. Each and every manufacturer that treats you unfairly should be avoided in the future. At some point, they'll all screw you and you won't be buying any equipment that you don't understand, and everyone will be happy. As a former Tech Support Rep, it really pisses me off that people complain about this shit. Really, now people, if you don't want to understand the technology, you are never going to be able to use it to it's fullest potential. It all goes back to the well know "Magic Box" problem. "If you think of your as a magical box that will do whatever you want/need it to do for you, without any effort, knowledge or study on your part, you don't deserve to own ." This discussion will go away when the general public (that vile, despicable mob of generally sane individuals who lose all redeeming quality when they walk into a computer store) finally grows up and realizes that the "I don't have to understand it, I'm paying you to do my understanding for me" attitude doesn't work with this stuff.
Take your car to Jiffy lube, you deserve it if they put the wrong kind of oil/filter in. You could have avoided the problem by doing your own oil change or at least learning enough about the car to watch them and know whether the grease monkey in the pit is doing stuff right. Stop bitching and take some personal responsibility for your own shortcomings.
When are corporations going to learn that simply tagging a fontsize .05 addendum in legaleze to the EULA which authorizes such practices is not an ethically viable way to do business? EULAs were originally meant to protect the authors of the software from exploitation and lawsuit. Now they've become something that I'm almost afraid to even read. Who knows how many unethical and rather frightening schemes I'v subjected myself to in recent years?