The Great IT Degree Rip Off

Every year I get a large number of e-mails from students
studying either a degree in IT or a Masters degree. Here is
the latest message I received:

"I was one of those people who was basically tricked into a
2 year 40k degree and very little hands on experience. I am
now working as an Enterprise support specialist. This is my
first career related job just out of school. I know I must
put in my time on the front line trenches and it is helping
me to get a thick skin to the I.T. stress.

What I need to know is this...With a CCNA, and my current
pursuits of a B.A. in network security, which I will finish
my degree in 2011. Will I be able to find a decent job
paying over 40k with out 5 years of experience?"

A couple of things first. The colleges do not 'trick'
people into studying with them but I do feel that there is
a lot of misleading information about higher education and
its relevance to the IT industry.

I have no axe to grind here. I do have a lot of experience
in the IT industry and spend a lot of time with IT managers
and technical directors. Here is what I have found.

Can You Use an IT Degree?

A degree in IT is next to useless if you want to use it to
gain employment as an IT engineer. It qualifies you for
nothing whatsoever and proves only that you can study for
exams.

Why do you think most Universities are now offering Cisco
CCNA training as part of their 3 year course? Because you
will come out with at least something useful, this is why.

Degrees are useful if you want to be a company executive
but even now they are dated because the traditional
career development plan for graduates has been left in
tatters by massive changes in the way companies operate.
They simply cannot take on unskilled workers and train
them up for several years because in several years, there
is a reasonable chance that the company itself will no
longer exist!

Do you know what I see most students do when they pass
a BSc in computing or networking but cant' find a job?
You guessed it, they pay £10k to study for a masters
degree presuming that if something doesn't work, keep
doing more of it! Einstein said that this is the definition
of insanity.

My Two Cents

Here is my personal option of degrees in IT. Forget about
them and do something useful instead. You will save 3 years
of you precious life, tens of thousands of dollars or
pounds in fees and in those three years you will have
earned a ton of money (plus have three years experience
behind you).

3 years of an IT degree = £30k debt and no job
3 years of average CCNA salary = £90k

It is your life and all I want to do is help you take a
step back and ask yourself what you want, why you want it
and where do you want to be in 3 years time? If you still
feel that a degree is going to get your somewhere in life
then crack on and do it, I wish you all the best with it.
I have one myself in fact, the certificate is in my attic
somewhere in a folder.

Hope it helps.

Paul