I’ve been looking around my college catalog and I’ve noticed something. I’m currently going for a Computer Information Systems certification and an Associate of Applied Science in Technology degree.
However if I strategically pick my electives and take a couple extra I’d also only be a couple classes away from either a Database Programmer Certification or a Web Page Design Certification.
Basically I’d need 6 extra classes (at a total of 16 extra credit hours so about 1 to 1.5 extra semesters.) and I could have three certifications instead of one.
I made a map of it I could post if anyone’s interested.
What I want to do is get a good paying job, continue to live like I’m ghetto poor (except with a nice car and better food), save up, and finish a Bachelors degree at a 4 year school with no loans. Something in Computer Science maybe Software Engineering. Then maybe go for a masters and then possibly a doctorate. Depending when my ambition runs out.
Dr. Tao in da house yo?
Would the extra certs be worth it in the long run? I wouldn’t run into the risk of being overqualified would I? I really think the extra skills would be useful.
Any gotchas? It seems too easy.
I’m gonna print my map out and talk to the guidance councilor tomorrow and see what he thinks.
I’m doing my Associates on FAFSA money so any chance they might object to the extra certs?
It’s not at all clear to me that the extra certificates will be at all valuable once you get the bachelor’s. If the classes you’ll take to get them can knock some time or cost off the four year degree, then yeah, I’d go for it, but otherwise you’d probably be better off just getting your BS.
Well that’s the thing. I’m planning for the years before I have the Bachelors. Like how to eat, pay tuition and not be a hobo and stuff. Plus I live in Michigan so every edge helps I think.
Getting out of Michigan will do you more good than getting another certificate.
Also, what is the probability that those electives will actually be scheduled so that you can take them all? A catalog often contains classes not offered every semester. Also, classes are often scheduled at conflicting times.
I think you are over-prioritizing getting out of school with no loans. Don’t go crazy with the loans and pile credit card debt on top of them, but it’s a lot easier to earn money after you get your degree than before.
I’d say get your certificates, get a job in another state with a better economy (you’ve only got what, 49 to choose from?), work for a year to save some money and get in-state residency, then finish up that bachelors, even if it takes a few loans.
In my experience, companies looking to hire students with a B.S.C.S have no interest in certifications.
I’m working on an M.S. in Computer Science now, and I can tell you that in all the interviews I’ve had, employers did not really care about certifications. They were more concerned with my coursework and internship experience.
It would be hard to back this up, but I have a feeling that IT certifications are very specific to employers and even positions within a company. In other words, it would be hard to proactively determine what certification you should get unless you know exactly what kind of job responsibilities you would have.
I would first consider what kind of job you want, then figure out how much school that will require. One reason why I have decided not to get a doctorate is that it may make me overqualified for the career I want. (Although most people that I talk to aren’t quite so convinced.)
Would the extra courses contribute at all towards finishing your bachelor’s? Do you feel that the two extra certifications would get you a significantly better job until you finish your bachelor’s?
I think some of the classes would transfer as prerequisites on the bachelors, and the certificates would definitely make me more flexible while going through college. The prerequisites would a chance to refine some useful skills anyway.
The guidance councilor didn’t see any problem with it. He wanted to talk it over with another councilor just incase though. People don’t usually get multiple certificates. He really seemed to like the idea. if I manage my classes right I think I do it in the amount of time people normally take for one certificate. That would look make me look hella productive on my resume maybe.
Plus it’d be a nice ego boost. I have a long ancestry of people who never finished or went beyond high school. 3 certs might be meaningless in bachelor’s land but they’d be a great moral boost now.
Plus computer classes are easy 4.0s so it’d boost my GPA pretty high to compensate for the classes that aren’t easy 4.0s. Harriet the Spry. Yea moving out of Michigan is always good career advice but I don’t want to give up on the state quite yet.
