Hi all, I've noticed a lot of discussion in this forum about vendor-specific certifications. So what do you think about the benefits of taking a Masters degree in IT (in terms of career advancement)? I'm doing my Masters of IT and I'm working full-time at the same time, and I think it's great as well. In my opinion, vendor-specific certifications can help you find a job quicker, but in the long run, Postgraduate study will help you stand out and increase your chances of getting promotion and moving to management level. Anyone wants to share their thoughts/experience with me about this topic?
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Masters Degree Vs. Certification
Started by
amanda
, Apr 05 2004 01:35 PM
70 replies to this topic
#2
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Posted 05 April 2004 - 01:54 PM
A master's degree is definelty the way you want to go in order to jump into a managerial type role or just to advance your career. There really can be no comparrison made between the 2 because you can't just study for a week and get a master's degree. Having a MD shows that you worked hard and went above and beyond.
#3
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Posted 05 April 2004 - 01:58 PM
A masters degree is forever. Certs come and go. Go with the degree. It is also a good barginning chip.
#4
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 12:27 AM
masters is definitely the way to go as far as career advancement is concerned. The certs will just get you into the door. Look for places that pay for college courses. That's the key to success and saves pocket money!
#5
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 12:28 AM
masters is definitely the way to go as far as career advancement is concerned. The certs will just get you into the door. Look for places that pay for college courses. That's the key to success and saves pocket money!
#6
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 03:32 AM
Masters Degree shows that you have put much time and effort into your studies and that you have the proficiency to learn and understand the material at hand. As you get older this is the route you should take should you be looking at Upper Management placement. AA is good for Techie type of jobs, BA is good for Manager type of jobs and MA is good for Director type of jobs.
#7
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 07:43 AM
I agree, certs will give you the quick know how to do techie jobs. In the long term you will eventually get tired of allways learning new and want managment and then masters would be your ace in the hole.
#8
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 07:54 AM
I don't know about you guys but management doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me. Maybe this is because I'm still pretty young, but I got into this industry because I love technology. I have seen quite a few posts from people saying that management is the place to be, but I don't want to be "the boss", I just want to have fun working on the new, cool stuff. I guess maybe later in my career I will be more inclined toward management.
#9
UseJAPforprivacy
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 09:00 AM
I don't know about you guys but management doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me. Maybe this is because I'm still pretty young, but I got into this industry because I love technology. I have seen quite a few posts from people saying that management is the place to be, but I don't want to be "the boss", I just want to have fun working on the new, cool stuff. I guess maybe later in my career I will be more inclined toward management.
I think we're all in it because of the technology, but you'll find that you'll be exposed to more of it from the management side, because you'll be deciding how to plan and implement it--across different divisions/organizations. Management of Information Technology doesn't line up well to the traditional concept of "Management"...
#10
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 09:34 AM
Good to know UseJAP, traditional management has such a bad rep and thats not what I want.
#11
amanda
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 10:33 AM
Thank you guys for sharing your thoughts!
#12
ejw50
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 12:40 PM
As everybody has already said, any cert you get is outdated in 3 years. An MS or Ph.D. is forever.
Management is fun, but don't go management too early!! Management is nice in that you can make the rules and make more money. BUT, the downside is that managers don't keep up their technical skills as well. When cuts come (and they will come), who do you keep? The technical guy who makes everything run or the manager? Make sure you have built up a large bank of technical skills so that you are still useful. This phenomena happens in all fields, BTW.
Management is fun, but don't go management too early!! Management is nice in that you can make the rules and make more money. BUT, the downside is that managers don't keep up their technical skills as well. When cuts come (and they will come), who do you keep? The technical guy who makes everything run or the manager? Make sure you have built up a large bank of technical skills so that you are still useful. This phenomena happens in all fields, BTW.
#13
beta611
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 12:56 PM
if you are going to get a masters, then get a MBA then your pmp pmi certs. then you can be one of the guys tell us techies how to run the show 
#14
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Posted 06 April 2004 - 10:44 PM
I think management should be after technical skills.
#15
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Posted 07 April 2004 - 02:47 AM
well i agree with most of the people here, but think that your wording is a little off. a MD is not forever, yea you keep it forever but the usually little you learn in school (compared to hands on) is gone in a few years like a cert. you just need that piece of paper thats all. its a hard field because everything is always changing and you need to learn new things from time to time that no cert or degree makes a difference
but if you want a job you need to goto school
but if you want a job you need to goto school
#16
zelja
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Posted 08 April 2004 - 01:29 AM
MS is for life - certs are mostly good for 3 years - so the decision is clear....
#17
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Posted 08 April 2004 - 05:38 PM
I have an MS (not IT) and it earned me a job (as well as a paid education) in the IT field.
I've achieved MCSE (& MCSE) to expand my Microsoft specific knowledge which is needed in my day-to-day work.
I've achieved MCSE (& MCSE) to expand my Microsoft specific knowledge which is needed in my day-to-day work.
#18
rakshitj
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Posted 08 April 2004 - 08:20 PM
Hi
According to me first masters degree will be considered if any 1 goes for JOB.
Certification are secondary and they have to be recertificated after some years.
but master degree will be there for lifetme.
Master degree + certification = Good and bright future.
According to me first masters degree will be considered if any 1 goes for JOB.
Certification are secondary and they have to be recertificated after some years.
but master degree will be there for lifetme.
Master degree + certification = Good and bright future.
#19
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Posted 09 April 2004 - 02:23 AM
Whether you have an Associates, Bachelor, Master, or a PHD, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CONSTANTLY UPGRADE OR RECERTIFIED EVERY DARN THREE YEARS. THIS SHOULDN'T BE A COMPARISON ISSUE!
This is what you look like every three years when it time to recertify
This is what you look like when you graduate with your Master'
This is what you look like when you you get that sign-on Bonus w/MD
and beat out a certified person of a job
This is what the girls look like when you get that new car ride
This is what you look like every three years when it time to recertify
This is what you look like when you graduate with your Master'
This is what you look like when you you get that sign-on Bonus w/MD
and beat out a certified person of a job
This is what the girls look like when you get that new car ride
#20
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Posted 10 April 2004 - 03:21 PM
As told above, definetely a Master's weighs more than certifications and there should exist no comparison between the two as they are not good entities to be compared. But it is important to observe that certifications get you more near to the job when combined with master's degree and both stand at there own importance.
#21
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Posted 11 April 2004 - 12:13 AM
Also, there is no real reason why you can't get both. If you work hard and are willing to pay the price, it can be done.
#22
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Posted 11 April 2004 - 01:23 AM
You need more time+study+commitment+money for degree, and if u can do it then im sure you can get certified at the same time. So I agree getting both is better.
#23
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Posted 11 April 2004 - 03:50 AM
Everyone is in agreement here that a degree carries more weight than just certs alone. I have a Master's of Science degree, although not in IT but it has carried me along way in a very accelerated pace since switiching over to the IT field.
I have chosen to certify in both vendor-neutral and vendor-specific certifications to increase my market value for my current employer and future employment. As many of you have pointed out, it also depends on where you want to go in your IT careers. I for one have chosen a management tract but I still keep up to date with the technology side by continuing to study and update my certs. As an IT Project Manager, I get the satisfaction of both worlds: management and technology since I have to be knowledgeable enough to understand and speak the language of the technology experts in my project teams: DBA, network engineers, developers, architects, etc.
Currently I am also pursuing a part-time MBA with some help from my employer. Without my previous degree, my employer would not have considered this. This is just to prove a point that employers place a very high value on a degree, whatever it may be, and years of experience plus certs gives you a winning combination and edge over your competition for that dream job.
I have chosen to certify in both vendor-neutral and vendor-specific certifications to increase my market value for my current employer and future employment. As many of you have pointed out, it also depends on where you want to go in your IT careers. I for one have chosen a management tract but I still keep up to date with the technology side by continuing to study and update my certs. As an IT Project Manager, I get the satisfaction of both worlds: management and technology since I have to be knowledgeable enough to understand and speak the language of the technology experts in my project teams: DBA, network engineers, developers, architects, etc.
Currently I am also pursuing a part-time MBA with some help from my employer. Without my previous degree, my employer would not have considered this. This is just to prove a point that employers place a very high value on a degree, whatever it may be, and years of experience plus certs gives you a winning combination and edge over your competition for that dream job.
#24
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Posted 11 April 2004 - 07:11 PM
Certification is most likely to get you a job as technical staff even up to a project manager position depending on your experience and it actually shows that you can be productive right at the beginning without much of additional training, thus cost saving for the co.
On the other hand with a Master’s degree you’d have lots of abstract knowledge about IT in general but probably no practical working know-how, master degree shows your ability and willingness to learn specially if you are doing it in parallel with a full time job.
So I do not think you should neglect any of the two, you’d be the perfect candidate for the job if are certified and have an IT degree.
Omega
On the other hand with a Master’s degree you’d have lots of abstract knowledge about IT in general but probably no practical working know-how, master degree shows your ability and willingness to learn specially if you are doing it in parallel with a full time job.
So I do not think you should neglect any of the two, you’d be the perfect candidate for the job if are certified and have an IT degree.
Omega
#25
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Posted 11 April 2004 - 09:27 PM
The degree is better, but keeping current is critical so keep up-to-date with recent certifications and demonstrate your ability to continue learning. Some of us have degrees in other fields and don't have the time/inclination/money to go back to the academic world, so we depend on the certs. A degree gives you the advantage.
#26
bobus1964
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Posted 12 April 2004 - 05:00 AM
My college diploma (not in IT) seems to be worth more to employers in the long run at times.
Considering you can't use a braindump to get one, they view it as more of a comittment to bettering your education.
Combine that with a cert or 2 though, and you have a competitive edge when looking to get a job or advance....
Considering you can't use a braindump to get one, they view it as more of a comittment to bettering your education.
Combine that with a cert or 2 though, and you have a competitive edge when looking to get a job or advance....
#27
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Posted 14 April 2004 - 12:44 AM
of course master digree is better than certification, any one can get certified with any product, but not any one can take the master digree.
wishes you the best
nabeel
wishes you the best
nabeel
#28
ejw50
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Posted 14 April 2004 - 10:29 PM
The other thing about MS (or BS) is that it is a GREAT opportunity to get experience. Most people have problem getting jobs, not because of their lack of certs, but because of their lack of experience. Almost all colleges have intern programs for students who want to be part of the Unix or Security team. You can get these jobs with little or no experience, and it really one of the only place you can get experience so easily.
#29
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Posted 24 April 2004 - 06:40 AM
The degree will get you into the door, but your certs will keep you there. A lot of people with college degrees in IT lost their jobs in this last slump because they did not keep current with the technology. Try to get both and keep current with the certs.
#30
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Posted 25 April 2004 - 04:22 AM
um damn...i'm in trouble...
hmm i really don't know...what to wish for my birthday in july, a nice pair of gloves for winter sports, or a mercedes cabrio.
A.
hmm i really don't know...what to wish for my birthday in july, a nice pair of gloves for winter sports, or a mercedes cabrio.
A.
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