network engineer/ college question

[-Cryptic-]

So I'm gonna be going to college next year and I totally lost on what to do. I want to do something in network engineer or server side IT job. Now my question is, is it better to go to a major university or am I wasting time and money when I can go to a techinical school to get the same degree?
The only reason I ask this is because I keep gettin mixed signals about what to do because I know a few people who work in the cicsco field and so forth who say that some of the major universities are a waste of time becuase you learn all that stuff on old out dated equipment and when you get into the real world you have no clue to what the hell is going on.

 

[Treyshadow]

The best 1-2 punch is a degree from a MAJOR university coupled with a CCIE. There is no disputing that this combination will garner a very fun and lucrative career that is over and above the average of a person with 1 or the other of these.

What I would do if I were you is study schoold during the spring and fall and Cert up in the Summer. That way you will have all the paper necessary when you exit college to get a job in the field of your choice (minus the real-world experience). However many and I mean MANY companies will prefer your college degree and the intangibles it brings to just a straight certification route. It makes it much easier to go into management later in your career which if you like it or not comes with the territory.

 

[da sponge]

yeah a college degree is important in many places - it'll allow you to move up and/or get your foot in the door more easily (retarded some of the time, but true).

The above recommendation is good. If you go for something like CS and then get your certs, you'll have a broad base + technical knowledge. At least that's what I'm doing (but I also lucked into a full time IT manager position while I do so ) You can probably get pretty far learning by book, maybe a course over the summer to prep for cert tests.

 

[onetwenty8k]

Where are you applying? I would look at the northeastern schools and Boston schools. RIT, RPI (for engineering), MIT, BU, WPI.

 

[Boscoh]

I wouldn't agree with saying that the best path involves a degree from a major university. There are lots of very talented students electing to go to smaller schools these days, and big companies like Cisco are starting to notice that. I would say that a big name may get you a little more wiggle room in an interview, but ultimately it's going to come down to your GPA, your experience (jobs, internships, and extracurricular activies), and just who you are as a person. One thing a major university will offer you is an extensive recruiting center. This would make it more likely that (if you're a good student) you'll get a lot of interviews.

I'd make it more general and say that the best path is a college degree in CS, Comp. Engineering, or Electrical Engineering. Minor in business. The stuff you learn in your minor will help you out a lot when you get to the real world. Whatever your major, make sure you do well in it. On a 4-point grade scale, you should be shooting for at least a 3.5 overall. Some schools will not even let you into your upper-level courses unless you have a certain GPA (I've seen it as high as 3.4). Take whatever internships you can get, help out at your school, join professional organizations (ACM, IEEE, ISSA), join a fraternity (including business and/or academic ones), do anything you can to be in a position of leadership in any organization. Subscribe to things like Newsweek, CIO magazine, Forbes, stuff like that. The people who will be interviewing and hiring you will be reading these things.

Certs are definitely important, but GOOD LUCK getting a CCIE before you get out of college. You'd need to get a really good job thats giving you great experience, and/or have a lot of money to plop down on a rack of equipment to study with. There are people out there who have gotten a CCIE with no experience, but they're "paper" CCIE's...even though they did the lab. Being able to pass the lab doesn't always mean you know what you're doing. If you have a CCIE with little to no experience, and you didn't go through an extensive formal training program to get it, you're going to be looked at as a noob anyways. I'd shoot for having your CCNA and CCDA, and being one or two certs into your CCNP by the time you finish school. Also...keep Application Networking, and Storage Networking in the back of your mind. These are likely to be almost as hot as voice over IP is right now, by the time you get out of school. VoIP and Security are the "it" place to be right now in networking. Come out of the gate being very well versed in most of the "standard" stuff (routing/switching, design, security basics, voice basics) and have a pretty good idea of what's hot in the industry when you start interviewing, and you'll be in pretty good shape.

Keep remembering, that there are thousands upon thousands of other college grads looking for the same kinds of jobs that you are. In a sea that big, you have to do some unique stuff to stand out.

[EDIT] I should clarify a couple of things: 1) When I say that many students are electing to go to smaller schools, I do NOT mean technical schools. I mean smaller universities. 2) Having said that, if you're going to spend the time, do it right and get a degree from a university. Tech schools are a waste of time and money as far as anything IT goes, in my opinion.

 

[Malk-a-mite]

am I wasting time and money when I can go to a techinical school to get the same degree?

A degree from a technical school is not the same as a degree from a college.

Gross oversimplification I know but, at the technical school you normally get a lot of theory and a fair bit of hands on work in the field you are studying. At a college (size usually doesn't matter) you get an almost silly amount of theory and a little bit of hands on work if you are lucky (depending on the major). But you also get a lot of other classes and the ability as mentioned above to take minors in business or basket weaving if you so choose.

Believe me, after more than a couple of years working professionally I finally went back to school to get my degree (BS in Network Technologies in case anyone was curious). Not having a degree will keep you out of many jobs that are part of larger businesses, having a ton of skills and couple of certs will get you jobs with hosting companies run by engineers (which can be incredibly cool jobs).

It's a tough decision to make but don't assume the choices are equal, and keep in mind that just about any job you'll end up landing in the future will be because of someone you know. Take advantage of every opportunatity you have to network with people (see Boscoh's post about professional orgs, and school groups) and grow your social and professional circles as much as you grow your knowledge.