Education, Career, and the IT field

[Evermind]

Greetings,
first post on this forum, long time "reader" though i never bothered to create a account until now. I have a general question regarding.. well... the course of my education. Opinions wanted. I know experience is king in the land of IT, but education has to be a close second.
I've now slaved away at year at a local cable provider in the technical support department. Probably the farthest reaches of IT...

Other than that year of work experience my education includes a B.S. in Economics, a near minor in Computer information Systems... and a slew of crappy retail jobs while pursuing my undergraduate degree. So ive been thinking of going back and pursuing a Masters... or not.

Would it be worth it to pursue a degree such as a Masters of applied Science in Information Technology Management? Or just go back and get a second bachelors? Such as a computer science b.s. or something close? Ultimate goal being systems administration or something similar.

Opinions wanted! Thanks for any input.

 

[xaeniac]

I would go for the master's degree unless you are looking to get into coding. In the case of coding you need to go get a bachelor's degree. A master's degree never hurts, but try to get internships to back up that education.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

The best bang for your buck would be some certs and taking on increased responsibilities at your current position to gain experience in those cert areas. A Master's degree isn't a bad idea as long as your company pays. If they don't pay, don't do it until you land at a company that will.

 

[Doppel]

Strangely enough I had a dream last night. I have a bachelor's degree, and in my dream I had thought about getting a second and realized it's the last thing I'd ever want to do, what a waste of time really as there is so much damn fluff in a bachelor's. If you can do the masters go for it.

Experience is of infinite value but like you said if you don't have it you don't have it.

However, if your income is not good now I'd be cautious about spending yet more time and debt in schooling unless you have a near-definite path forward after.

Damn it, were you in my head last night?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Strangely enough I had a dream last night. I have a bachelor's degree, and in my dream I had thought about getting a second and realized it's the last thing I'd ever want to do, what a waste of time really as there is so much damn fluff in a bachelor's. If you can do the masters go for it.

Experience is of infinite value but like you said if you don't have it you don't have it.

However, if your income is not good now I'd be cautious about spending yet more time and debt in schooling unless you have a near-definite path forward after.

Damn it, were you in my head last night?

IMO, you should never pay for a Master's degree except for in rare circumstances. Many companies will pay much or all of the cost and that's the route people should pursue IMO. I've seen too many people burned by school loan debt.

 

[ReggieDunlap]

IMO practical experience is much more valuable in the working environment than the degree. The Masters could be beneficial if you aspire to a CIO or CSO position mainly because of the administrative aspect to the work. That being said, I agree with Indy, don't pay for that yourself, but use your company (if they do) to pay for the education. At worst, they'll want you to sign a pro-rated agreement that says if you leave before x period of time, you are liable to repay x% of the cost of the Masters education.

If you just want to get deeper into IT, find the areas you like, try to get some internships or practical experience and then work towards certs in those areas. 5 years experience with MS/Linux/Unix System administration with scripting experience will carry far more weight than a degree.

And in this day and age, at least here in Italy, a sys admin is expected to do EVERYTHING: desktop/end user support, server support (multi-platform), router/switch/firewall networking support, PBX, cabling etc.....