Whos right???

I am trying my dam'est to figgure out a route to take for beginning a career in IT >< The computer science department head at my local community college swears to me that if I take the program they've put together (an associate of science in database management which is heavily weighted in oracle classes) I will have a good paying job waiting for me upon completion. >< However, speaking to a staff memeber at the University of Florida, I was given different advice. I was told that if I was going to go the associates route, I should just go for certification ( I think that is the whole idea behind the community college's associate of science degree in database management.) Further, she suggested, If I wanted any "real" job in IT, I needed to obtain a 4 year degree. ><
So, here I sit with no knowledge and contradictary information. Additionally, it wouldn't hurt for you to know a lil about my personal situation. I am a single father (with custody) of two mid-school-aged daughters. I run a business for myself inorder to support us all ( it doesn't pay much - I'm constantly juggling bills.) I am looking for the quickest route to a 30k - 35k a year salary with upward potential in the following years. Thanks for your help. Advice from this group is always carefully listened to and appreciated sincerely! Andy

Take the CERT, although it may be more expensive than an AS degree it's less time and tangible results. You can also forego the school and get your CERT directly from Oracle, but my experiences with Oracle is that they are expensive, especially when they refuse to quote you a price until you speak to their phone rep.

a DBA can probably expect a salary between 40k-60k. Another great thing about CERT's especially from Corps like Oracle is that they are just tests, that you can choose when to take the exams and you don't have to carve out time to sit in a Class.

You can start immediately by learnig SQL, as this is basically what the exams are about.

>>Further, she suggested, If I wanted any "real" job in IT, I needed to obtain a 4 year degree.
Well, that ain't true, imho. I've haven't got a degree, having never been to Uni, and I consider my IT job to be very "real" !

But your in England? Maybe it's different. I think
if I went up trying to get a job in IT or programming with no experience and degree (right now) I doubt I would get it.

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So, here I sit with no knowledge and contradictary information. Additionally, it wouldn't hurt for you to know a lil about my personal situation. I am a single father (with custody) of two mid-school-aged daughters.

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Well I hope you do make money. But how much do you
enjoy working IT? or just computers in general?

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I am trying my dam'est to figgure out a route to take for beginning a career in IT ><

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I have a friend and his wife is cisco and network + certified. She works for Tropicana here in FL and She makes damn good money. Shes been with the company just one year and had her first raise...$3.00 hr. Ive known people before i moved to tampa in st. louis that made between $60-80 grand a year. An associates degree would definitely help matters in case you wanted to switch shoes for a while. ANyways, i would look at everything, my whole options but getting an education is the best step you can take.
later,
cj

i think it depends on what you want to do.

if you want to learn and work in software development - get a degree - if its a good one you can get a job starting at 25K (GBP) a year, and then 30K+ with 1-2 years experienece.

if you want to configure routers or admin oracle then get certified - good money, but will it last ?

The hype about certifications is on its way down now because people are able to cheat on the exams to get the letters and don't know crap. Companies have been burned time after time by people with certs but no experience or knowledge of what the heck they're doing. Therfore, alot of companies are now looking at experience and degrees more than certs. At the very least, get your Associates degree although I suggest getting your Bachelor's.

I've got a bachelor's degree, over 2 yrs of exp., and couple of certs and it's still hard to find a new job. I'm also in a place that is terrible for the tech sector though.

I agree with Damon, and if you go the cert route, know what your doing and be able to prove it.

I wanted to thank those of you who replied to my post "Whos Right?" I had asked for career advice about becomming a database administrator. The adviced ranged from..."Don't worry about getting a degree, just get certified." to " too many people are cheating on certifications these days and companies realize this and are placing more value on a degree. Atleast get your associates" I truely appreciate all of the feed back. If there are any other opinions out there, let me hear them. Thanks!!!

i think any (smart) company would value a college degree, especially a masters, something to think about.

The certification will get almost worthless in a very little time, because new version of the software (Oracle) keeps coming out, and you'll have to constantly upgrade your certification, which is not the case with the degree.

Still, in your case (since you need to start earning bucks as soon as possible) , i'll advice getting the cert. first, and getting a job.

Then, get on the degree course and go for a full degree, which IMO is an essential for a permanent, promising career.

That way when you get out with a degree, you'll already have 4-5 years of exp. (on the basis of your cert. based job) and you'll get a really great job, then you might consider having some children.

I would have to say I would go the degree route. I currently work for a company where 99% of new hires have a degree. In addition, the company will pay for you to get a masters and some certifications. Plus the pay is really good (50-60K). Since you are needing to budget, have you looked into financial aid? There are a lot of opportunities. If you can't get any Grants, there are always low intrest loans(some of which you don't have to pay back until you graduate). Might be a thought if you decide to get a Bachelor degree. What ever you choose, I wish you the best of luck!!