BENEFITS OF AN HONOURS DEGREE IN COMPUTING

mick_mac

Hi I have recently returned to education and gained a pass degree in IT support in 2010 from CIT, since then I have had various short term positions (junior) in IT support related Jobs.
I am looking at studying for the Honours degree but I am not sure if it is worth the effort.
My main area of interest is network support, I have had 2 MCP's in the past and done the CCNA course but never sat the exam. some people say multi-national companies will give you a salary according to your degree level and that you salary will not progress beyond a certain level unless you have a honours degree or better- is this bull ?.
I was looking at studying for the CCNA or MCSA as a more practical and hands approach as opposed to the honours degree. I was also looking at doing an apprenticeship sheme as I find the hands-on expierence much more beneficial.
can anyone advise on best steps ?

Michael

krissovo

mick_mac wrote: »

some people say multi-national companies will give you a salary according to your degree level and that you salary will not progress beyond a certain level unless you have a honours degree or better- is this bull ?.

I am in a global top 5 IT outsourcing company without any degree, my salary is inline or higher than colleagues in the same or similar positions with degrees.

Trust me if you have the skills and experience you will progress and earn accordingly regardless of your education.

I am pie

For me a degree really serves as an invitation to an interview, however i know plenty of people who compensate for this with a good skill set. I think that you should get interviews based on your experience, i would then discuss with your potential employer your motivation pursued the vocational training rather 3rd level education route. Depends on the companies hiring policies but beyond your first role i don't put too much emphasis on academics when hiring people.

Good luck...ps, get along to a few your job fair and discuss this in front of employers, you'll come across as pro-active and leave a good impression.

Mr. Loverman

Just say you have a B.Sc in Computing on your CV. Don't mention it as only a pass degree, but have a back up story in your mind as to why you only got a pass degree just in case they ask (unlikely).

Once you get the job it'll never be brought up again and won't affect your future salary whatsoever.

mickman

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

Just say you have a B.Sc in Computing on your CV. Don't mention it as only a pass degree, but have a back up story in your mind as to why you only got a pass degree just in case they ask (unlikely).

Once you get the job it'll never be brought up again and won't affect your future salary whatsoever.

exactly!!! spot on.

mick_mac

thanks guys for that, found that really beneficial. The honours degree open to me is in IT management and is not really my cup of tea, I prefer doing the hands on practical problem solving side.
I think the course I was looking at would be beneficial if you were already working in IT and wished to go into management side, it is also ran by night but not for me at this point in my career.
I can't see the point of a new graduate having all this management "knowledge" when it is going to be a few years before they get any where near this side of things by which time you will have forgotten all of this "usefull" information.
As I say thanks again you have made me think again about committing to this course for a full 1 year duration, I think I will plug away at gaining CCNA and Microsoft exams and keep applying for jobs.
cheers

mickman

to further sway your decision :-)

i have exact same pass degree as you. working for 10 yrs. did cert first , hit hte workforce and went back to do pass degree at night. then worked for a few more yrs, decided to go back again to do honours degree at night and left after first few weeks. after being in the work force and doing the work , the course was just repition and time wasting. i couldnt hack being lectured by people who have never even seen most of the stuff they were rambling on about it so i left , moved job shortly after to a cloud computing company and decided to learn their product from top to bottom instead.

fret_wimp2

You dont need a degree to get into IT. I know lots of people who worked their way up and dont have a degree. two issues with this though:

1. It can be difficult to get another job. there are jobs out there that specify a min of a degree. The HR Person collecting CV's does not care about your experience. They know they need to tick the box that says degree and if you dont have one your cv goes in the bin. I have saw this first hand in a company i used to work for, where excellent candidates were rejected due to lack of a degree. Job spec said a degree is required, candidate had no degree

2. If you do get an interview, and you are great, but there is another guy who is equally as great, the degree could be the thing that nets him/her the job over you.


A pass degree is still a degree, so hype it up in an interview if necessary, dont mention its a pass degree, chances are you wont be questioned. if questioned, be honest , and let your experience work in your favor also.