Crossposting from SA
Which Came first the Cert, The Degree, or The Experience
This is a tough one as I have found a good amount of people in IT don't actually have a college degree or certs. Yes believe it or not you
can get a decent paying job just based off experience! It may take you a little longer to get there and you may have to work in the shit mill that is Help Desk, but after 2-3years and some Server/Network knowledge there isn't much keeping you from a Jr. Systems Admin.
So how should YOU do it?
School
AVOID SCHOOLS LIKE ITT TECH, ECPI, Pheonix, or any other online or not state school. Seriously these places are in it for one thing only, your money. I myself know people who have gone there and people who worked there, They will pass you regardless whatever, rack up a nice 80K loan, and then pop you into some Help Desk position at 30k/yr.
You are better going off to a Comunity College or State 4yr college getting at least a AAS and a cert or 2 then getting a Bachelors in IT at a pro profit school . This doesn't mean you won't learn anything it just means employers won't laugh you out of an interview, and you will have saved a load of time and money.
What degree to get?
This depends on the school, Some smaller colleges may only have you run through Programming Languages, others may space you out in what you do. You'll have to look at your course outline and really nit pick it to find out what is best for you. I went with an AAS as I didn't really want to do a 4yr and picked up a few certs(Working on VCAP-DCA/CCNA/S+) and am well off. You just need to find what part of IT interests you most and research it.
:qqsay: I am incapable of research, What degree is right for me?
It really depends on what you want to do, and how fast you want to get there.
Associate Degree If you are unsure about the IT field, but you know you want to go into it, check out you local Community College. Great part about a Community College is that there is a
very good chance you will get to meet people in the field, deal with teachers that work into the field, costs loads less, and
transfer your credits to a big name college later. While it may not see the most prestigious you will get out faster, and spend ~1/3rd the cost, and still be able able to transfer most all the credits. If you want to be a Technician-Jr. Systems/Net Admin this is probably the most practical degree for you.
Bachelors Great degree to avoid the tier 1 BS, also opens up a world of opportunities and will probably get you making a bit more cash at the end of the day. Great thing about a 4yr Degree is most state colleges offer some decent internships which will give you about 4yrs EXP + a degree which will get you a job most places. If you want to go into EE, or CE this is a minimum. If you are wanting to go into Engineering, Management, Teaching(below college level), or Administration, this is more practical than a AAS
Masters If you are going for this you more than likely know what you want to do. If you plan to go into IT you'll probably get thrown into a management spot, CE/EE's will really like the pay boost and how fast they get a job in this as long as they can keep a >3.5
That said, Schooling is great to inject you in the field it opens up internship opportunities, most employers will sub a degree for X years of EXP, gain the ability to work hands on with things, and will make you more comfortable with many different pieces of equipment.
Certs See this thread for more details
Certs are wonderful way to get a much better job if you already have EXP in the field or want to get noticed by more people for proving you know something! There are many kinds of certs
Vendor Specific Certs from MS, Cisco, Vmware, Red Hat; These tend to focus on Specific Products release by each company, ie getting an MS cert would not help you much in a Linux environment.
non-vendor specificCompTIA hold this spot, offering things like A+, Net+, S+ which basically give you a general understanding of concepts in each area, these are geared more toward entry level but don't think you shouldn't look into these, especially if you want to work for the Government where an A+/N+/S+ is pretty much needed for a spot.
Certs can land you a job faster, if you lack a degree or EXP, but you will want to look into CompTIA's offerings first, then follow up with a vendor specific. You also may want to consider grouping certs, A+ is a nice cert to have but it it is almost useless if you are going for a MCSE; on the other hand getting an A+ on a Microsoft Certified: Desktop Admin/Support may look a little more appealing to an HR/recruiter.
DoD standard
What does that have to do with anything? Basically if you want to work for a Government Org you'll need a S+, and a MS cert won't help
Entry level work
Now if you have been fooling with a computer for any given length of time, and you know the basics something like HellDesk, or Bench Tech may be right up your ally! These probably aren't the most fun jobs out their but at least they are jobs with exp.
Other things you may want to consider
1. Do some Labs, fire up a virtual machine and build a Server/client network, play with a linux distro learn some commands, fiddle with your router some.
2. Talk to some people in the field, I don't know to many people who will turn you down for asking them to gloat about themselves
3. Buy a book, it won't bite you and worst case is you get a cure for your insomnia
4. Just because you have a degree/cert/EXP doesn't mean you will get the job instantly
xperience).
I WANT TO MAKE A SHITLOAD OF MONEY AND FAST! War For Profit thread has what you need, Clean Criminal Record? Got a Security+? Got time to fly around the world and live for 12 months sometimes making low to mid 6 figures? You may want to look into it. I plan to move out to Germany for 4 years, I got quoted 130k/yr+signing+completion living on base food free(or some very cheap plan, doing what looks like Network tech in Germany. in reference to your last question.
