I can certainly give you my perspective and experience eleven years after I was in your position.
I started college and dropped out quickly. I found some crappy jobs to pay the bills and eventually ended up working customer service for Big Brown. After a few years they worked me into a technology position supporting shipping systems. For the last six years I have been doing support work and each new job has given me more money.
I did the certification thing a few years ago. From the heart, take this advice: If you want a cert, learn the material on your own and take the tests when you are ready. Don't waste your money on a cert program unless you can find oodles of people to swear for the integrity of the institution.
I have been unemployed for over ten months now since accepting a voluntary layoff from my last company. The job market sucks. Even with six years of progressive repsonsibility and experience and a cert to go with it, I can't find a job. After a few months I went back to school and finished my Associates Degree. It may be coincidence, but I am getting more calls for interviews now.
These are my suggestions: 1) The job market sucks. Go to school to fill the time until it gets better. Go to a two-year college if you aren't sure what you want to do. Get your basics out of the way, get the AA--you'll have a degree, you won't waste a bunch of money, the job market should be better and you can make a decision where to go from there.
2) If you decide to continue to a four-year college, for God's sake, get a degree in something you are interested in, not just what's going to get you a job. Doing so will keep you motivated through school and you'll come out of it feeling like you learned more.
3) The experience of college can be worth far more than the education itself. You basically have a four-year pass to be completely irresponsible and stupid and no one asks any questions. But get the work done, and keep in touch with the friends you make.
4) While you're in school, get a job doing the kind of work you think you are interested in. Then you'll see if you really like it. If you do, you'll have hands-on experience when you leave school. If you don't, you'll still have time to find another option.
That's my two cents. There are all sorts of ways to experiment and find out which way you want to go. You will likely find yourself going a completely different direction than you anticipated.
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I can certainly give you my perspective and experience eleven years after I was in your position. I started college and dropped out quickly. I found some crappy jobs to pay the bills and eventually ended up working customer service for Big Brown. After a few years they worked me into a technology position supporting shipping systems. For the last six years I have been doing support work and each new job has given me more money. I did the certification thing a few years ago. From the heart, take this advice: If you want a cert, learn the material on your own and take the tests when you are ready. Don't waste your money on a cert program unless you can find oodles of people to swear for the integrity of the institution. I have been unemployed for over ten months now since accepting a voluntary layoff from my last company. The job market sucks. Even with six years of progressive repsonsibility and experience and a cert to go with it, I can't find a job. After a few months I went back to school and finished my Associates Degree. It may be coincidence, but I am getting more calls for interviews now. These are my suggestions: 1) The job market sucks. Go to school to fill the time until it gets better. Go to a two-year college if you aren't sure what you want to do. Get your basics out of the way, get the AA--you'll have a degree, you won't waste a bunch of money, the job market should be better and you can make a decision where to go from there. 2) If you decide to continue to a four-year college, for God's sake, get a degree in something you are interested in, not just what's going to get you a job. Doing so will keep you motivated through school and you'll come out of it feeling like you learned more. 3) The experience of college can be worth far more than the education itself. You basically have a four-year pass to be completely irresponsible and stupid and no one asks any questions. But get the work done, and keep in touch with the friends you make. 4) While you're in school, get a job doing the kind of work you think you are interested in. Then you'll see if you really like it. If you do, you'll have hands-on experience when you leave school. If you don't, you'll still have time to find another option. That's my two cents. There are all sorts of ways to experiment and find out which way you want to go. You will likely find yourself going a completely different direction than you anticipated.