What do employers think of self 'designed' degrees?

[IndyColtsFan]

I can see a larger company using that logic.

Then my question is ... should I attempt a self-made degree like the one I linked at the U of M? Would Candidate #1 have held his grounds if he had a 4 year degree like that? Or would your uppers/HR said no to it? Would he have been better off with at least an associates under his belt?

If Candidate #1 even had a 4 year degree in basket weaving, he would've been hired. No one cared what his major was, only that he had a degree. He may have even had an AS degree (don't remember 100% for sure), but they wanted a BS or BA.

Thanks for the info Indy, very helpful.

If I go this route, it's going to take 3-4 years to complete, and 25k-30k~.

Do you have tuition reimbursement at your current position? If not, if you're looking to move on from your current company, if might be a good strategy to look for a company that has tuition reimbursement, get hired, and then take advantage of that.

 

[Joemonkey]

I have no degree at all and it didn't stop me from getting the four main IT jobs I have held. Hell, for my first two I didn't even have my MCSE! I had a bunch of credits and had tuition reimbursement so I started going back to school to try and get a cake degree (workforce leadership, can take work experience and certs and give you credit for it) but the first 2 classes I took required so much bullshit and doing shit with APA citations and SO MUCH STUFF THAT ISN'T EVEN USED IN THE REAL WORLD I didn't take any more classes.

I'm good at what I do (SMS/SCCM admin, AD/group policy stuff, imaging, software repackaging, script writing, etc.) and have some certs and experience that could lend me to do nearly anything (VOIP, server backend stuff, exchange administration, etc.) and really have no desire to ever be a manager, so why should I retroactively get a degree?

I suppose if my manager says "get a degree because the business wants you to and you'll get a raise" then I'd do it...

 

[ViviTheMage]

They do have tuition reimbursement, but it's very low amount... $2,500 per year, and they have to be related towards my current job...which would be doable for a lot of courses if I went this route, but $2,500 would barely cover 2 courses @ $345 a credit. It's better then nothing though, that's for sure.

From what I can tell the degree would be labeled :
Inter-College Program B.S.

I assume they'd throw on a fancy name of what major I work towards? I think at the very least, I should attend one of the ICP session at the U.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I have no degree at all and it didn't stop me from getting the four main IT jobs I have held. Hell, for my first two I didn't even have my MCSE! I had a bunch of credits and had tuition reimbursement so I started going back to school to try and get a cake degree (workforce leadership, can take work experience and certs and give you credit for it) but the first 2 classes I took required so much bullshit and doing shit with APA citations and SO MUCH STUFF THAT ISN'T EVEN USED IN THE REAL WORLD I didn't take any more classes.

I'm good at what I do (SMS/SCCM admin, AD/group policy stuff, imaging, software repackaging, script writing, etc.) and have some certs and experience that could lend me to do nearly anything (VOIP, server backend stuff, exchange administration, etc.) and really have no desire to ever be a manager, so why should I retroactively get a degree?

I suppose if my manager says "get a degree because the business wants you to and you'll get a raise" then I'd do it...

Interesting, you do basically what I do..but throw in some vmware/netapp stuff.

Also wondering if I want to do this for another 40 years, LOL....I am 23.

 

[invidia]

Most Federal agencies will ask for copies of your transcripts. Even with a few years of experience, a degree is usually required. Some people need to realize that even if they may think degrees are useless, employers do not. Employers only care what they want and not what you want.

 

[Uhtrinity]

What'd it cost you to complete your 4 year, after your associates? How long? Feel like you learned anything useful?

A little over 2 years at ~$5k a year, though I could have done it faster. That is based on $2700 per 6 months, and you are only limited by what you can finish each 6 months.
Check out the http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/ forum, there are people there who have done 20, 30, or even 40 credits in 6 months based on prior experience. ie. if you can pass the exam you get the credit. In my best term I only finished 24 credits and had a few where I did 18. The Masters program I am in now is costing the same. I'm on track to finish each 2 credit grad class a month, which should allow me to finish just shy of 18 months.

As far as transfers, most gen eds will transfer as will technical certifications if you have them. If not tuition includes test prep and vouchers for those certifications.

When I completed the IT program I left with my MCSA, A+, Network+, Security+, Project+, and a handful of misc CIW certs as well as getting the BS degree.

edit: Transferable certs
http://www.wgu.edu/admissions/it_certifications

 

[ViviTheMage]

Are your courses transferable Uhytinity? If you were to go to a Unni locally? Are you taking your Masters online at wgu as well?

 

[Uhtrinity]

Are your courses transferable Uhytinity? If you were to go to a Unni locally? Are you taking your Masters online at wgu as well?

I had about 5 years of misc University already, so all my generals transferred. The courses I did have to take were related to critical thinking, business, and IT. Btw, that 5 years is why I stopped that BAT degree ... .I still had 3 years to go.

 

[hanoverphist]

If Candidate #1 even had a 4 year degree in basket weaving, he would've been hired. No one cared what his major was, only that he had a degree. He may have even had an AS degree (don't remember 100% for sure), but they wanted a BS or BA.

my ex was passed up 3 times for a management position in a large company due to not having a degree. the last girl that got the job she was pretty much the best at (in regards to her office/ position) had a degree from some small college in sandwich making. they used to make fun of her being a grad of McDonalds University. she was a moron too, but played the politics very well. 10 years later, that chick has long since been fired for banging a VP, and my ex is still in pretty much the same spot. indispensable, fairly paid but not ever moving up. i used to try to get her to go to school and get a degree, but she still hasnt done it. she still bitches about idiots getting promoted and her not. she just doesnt get it.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I had about 5 years of misc University already, so all my generals transferred. The courses I did have to take were related to critical thinking, business, and IT. Btw, that 5 years is why I stopped that BAT degree ... .I still had 3 years to go.

Otherway around, can you move credits from WGU to another uni?

Are you taking your masters at WGU?

Anyone else have anything to say about WGU?

 

[Uhtrinity]

Otherway around, can you move credits from WGU to another uni?

Are you taking your masters at WGU?

Anyone else have anything to say about WGU?

Yes, my m.ed program is through WGU. There are also people in the tech forums who finished or who are finishing their WGU BS so they can start a Masters program elsewhere.

Again, check out http://www.techexams.net/forums/ for independent opinions from other tech professionals.

 

[kami333]

Otherway around, can you move credits from WGU to another uni?

Are you taking your masters at WGU?

Anyone else have anything to say about WGU?

I know the University of Utah will accept some WGU credits, but only those that you took classes for and usually not towards your major.

 

[dfuze]

Especially with your company paying a portion of the schooling I would say it's a very good reason to go for the 4 year degree. Too bad they don't cover more though, I had sticker shock myself when I saw how much my credits were per class, glad they covered it all.

 

[bignateyk]

Especially with your company paying a portion of the schooling I would say it's a very good reason to go for the 4 year degree. Too bad they don't cover more though, I had sticker shock myself when I saw how much my credits were per class, glad they covered it all.

I work FOR a university and they only cover 75% tuition. Still costs me $300/credit even after the discount.

 

[kami333]

I work FOR a university and they only cover 75% tuition. Still costs me $300/credit even after the discount.

Yikes.

The university I worked for only covered 50%, but tuition was cheap so it worked out to be about $100-200/credit.

 

[dfuze]

I work FOR a university and they only cover 75% tuition. Still costs me $300/credit even after the discount.

75%, that's it? That stinks. My brother does security for a university and is staying there so his kids will go for free. Guess it's just luck of the draw for which one to work at.

 

[Joemonkey]

my ex was passed up 3 times for a management position in a large company due to not having a degree. the last girl that got the job she was pretty much the best at (in regards to her office/ position) had a degree from some small college in sandwich making. they used to make fun of her being a grad of McDonalds University. she was a moron too, but played the politics very well. 10 years later, that chick has long since been fired for banging a VP, and my ex is still in pretty much the same spot. indispensable, fairly paid but not ever moving up. i used to try to get her to go to school and get a degree, but she still hasnt done it. she still bitches about idiots getting promoted and her not. she just doesnt get it.

wow all the more reason for me to NOT get a degree, I don't ever want to have to manage people or budgets, just keep giving me cost of living raises and making up more promotional titles to pop a 10% raise in there now and then.

 

[ViviTheMage]

wow all the more reason for me to NOT get a degree, I don't ever want to have to manage people or budgets, just keep giving me cost of living raises and making up more promotional titles to pop a 10% raise in there now and then.

Nothing wrong with this, but I want to move up, I like owning my company, and if I could get my hands into more things at something larger, the better .

 

[IndyColtsFan]

my ex was passed up 3 times for a management position in a large company due to not having a degree. the last girl that got the job she was pretty much the best at (in regards to her office/ position) had a degree from some small college in sandwich making. they used to make fun of her being a grad of McDonalds University. she was a moron too, but played the politics very well. 10 years later, that chick has long since been fired for banging a VP, and my ex is still in pretty much the same spot. indispensable, fairly paid but not ever moving up. i used to try to get her to go to school and get a degree, but she still hasnt done it. she still bitches about idiots getting promoted and her not. she just doesnt get it.

You're right, and that's why I am considering an MBA. Not because I want one or because I think it I will learn so much that will benefit me. I'm considering it because that is just another checkbox to check off and if I can get it essentially for free, I'll just be investing my time.

Ironically, my company requires a degree but my former boss here did not have one. They are "forcing" her to get it, but AFAIK, she has not completed it yet. This is a person making six figures per year and who is, quite frankly, clueless and has no business being a director.

Contrast that to me -- about 15 years of experience in various IT roles (including a short stint as a manager), and I can't move back into management to save my life. For one, the opportunities aren't there. For two, the few opportunities I see have ridiculous requirements. It is pretty demoralizing when you work for people who have less knowledge and qualifications than you yet they make a ton more than you and you end up doing all the work.

Yes, you can move into management without a degree. What it amounts to, though, is that you just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I know there are a few current or former "IT Directors" here on AT without degrees and if they read this, they'll come here and tell me I'm wrong and have all sorts of stories. That's fine, but they're full of it. They were in the right place at the right time, and that's how they got their jobs. I'm not saying they're not good at what they do, nor am I saying they didn't deserve their jobs, but they're likely not going to move to another management position in a different company without a degree unless/until they have TONS of experience and have impressive, documented achievements to back it up. I think it is smarter to get the degree and have that to back you up. It is an insurance policy. Right or wrong, that's what most companies look for these days.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I work FOR a university and they only cover 75% tuition. Still costs me $300/credit even after the discount.

I made a mistake at my last job. They paid 75% of your tuition/books and when you graduated, reimbursed you the remaining 25%. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

wow all the more reason for me to NOT get a degree, I don't ever want to have to manage people or budgets, just keep giving me cost of living raises and making up more promotional titles to pop a 10% raise in there now and then.

The problem you might have is getting another job, particularly in a bad economy when companies can up their requirements and still get tons of people applying for every position. As I mentioned previously, my prior company (Fortune 500) required a degree and this company (a very well known organization nationally) also requires one.

I have a degree and was only a manager for a short time. I'd like to get back into management soon. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 40 and am getting tired of the technical treadmill. I like to play with computers as a hobby because it is fun, but doing it for a living gets old quickly. I'd rather move into a position where I can plot strategy, manage budgets, and not have to learn new products every couple of years.

 

[Joemonkey]

The problem you might have is getting another job, particularly in a bad economy when companies can up their requirements and still get tons of people applying for every position. As I mentioned previously, my prior company (Fortune 500) required a degree and this company (a very well known organization nationally) also requires one.

I have a degree and was only a manager for a short time. I'd like to get back into management soon. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 40 and am getting tired of the technical treadmill. I like to play with computers as a hobby because it is fun, but doing it for a living gets old quickly. I'd rather move into a position where I can plot strategy, manage budgets, and not have to learn new products every couple of years.

I think it's silly that some places "require a degree" when it seems like anyone can get "a degree" with enough time and money. I know I've sure met my fair of idiots with a degree. Also, I wonder if there is a chart somewhere that shows the percentage of people working in the field their degree is in? Then again, most of the stuff I do on a daily basis I would imagine only a small percentage have the mental capacity to comprehend, same as specialist doctors or actuarys.

As far as trouble finding a job, I'm fortunate enough to have never had that problem. I'm in my 4th IT job, only leaving to go to something better. When I went from my 1st to 2nd, it was to cut down on commute time and I had a kid so wanted to be closer to home. No issues getting hired w/ my A+ and experience, plus it was about a 30% pay increase. Two years at 2nd job, I got my MCSE, added it to my resume, was headhunted, got hired on my 3rd job with about a 35% pay increase from my 2nd job. Two years at 3rd job, met some guys through a local HDI chapter, they told me about a position they had open that was less work than what I was doing at higher pay with more opportunities, and while it was only really a 8% pay increase the benefits are much better.

I guess I'm just lucky that I really know my shit and have proven it when required.

Some people don't like the idea of having to support new OS's when they come out, new drivers, security patches, new software, iterations of backend tools, but I still like doing all that at the age of 32. Hell, I get excited when new software comes in and I get to tweak it and repackage it and send it out.

 

[ViviTheMage]

The problem you might have is getting another job, particularly in a bad economy when companies can up their requirements and still get tons of people applying for every position. As I mentioned previously, my prior company (Fortune 500) required a degree and this company (a very well known organization nationally) also requires one.

I have a degree and was only a manager for a short time. I'd like to get back into management soon. I don't know how old you are, but I'm 40 and am getting tired of the technical treadmill. I like to play with computers as a hobby because it is fun, but doing it for a living gets old quickly. I'd rather move into a position where I can plot strategy, manage budgets, and not have to learn new products every couple of years.

I love new tech, but that is where I want to be ... strategy/budgets/etc...the business side of things. I am really good at learning new things, implementing them, and maintaining them, but I feel it will get old, and will want to advance.

What do you think about the online school - WGU? Do you think it will be OK to have? Or will employers look down at it?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I think it's silly that some places "require a degree" when it seems like anyone can get "a degree" with enough time and money. I know I've sure met my fair of idiots with a degree.

I don't disagree with you, but I don't make the rules unfortunately. The company I work for now is heavily involved with higher education, so I can understand them requiring degrees for just about everyone. But other companies? I don't really understand it. I don't think a network admin with a degree in medieval history is any more valuable than a network admin without that degree.

Also, I wonder if there is a chart somewhere that shows the percentage of people working in the field their degree is in? Then again, most of the stuff I do on a daily basis I would imagine only a small percentage have the mental capacity to comprehend, same as specialist doctors or actuarys.

I don't work in my degree field. In fact, my degree field is far beyond my current job. I have a degree in EE and used to design hardware in grad school. EE >> IT in terms of technical skills, but I just lost interest. Recently, though, I'm starting to gain interest in it again. Maybe I'll pick it up as a hobby.

As far as trouble finding a job, I'm fortunate enough to have never had that problem. I'm in my 4th IT job, only leaving to go to something better. When I went from my 1st to 2nd, it was to cut down on commute time and I had a kid so wanted to be closer to home. No issues getting hired w/ my A+ and experience, plus it was about a 30% pay increase. Two years at 2nd job, I got my MCSE, added it to my resume, was headhunted, got hired on my 3rd job with about a 35% pay increase from my 2nd job. Two years at 3rd job, met some guys through a local HDI chapter, they told me about a position they had open that was less work than what I was doing at higher pay with more opportunities, and while it was only really a 8% pay increase the benefits are much better.

I guess I'm just lucky that I really know my shit and have proven it when required.

YMMV. Every IT job I see posted at my career level requires a degree.

Some people don't like the idea of having to support new OS's when they come out, new drivers, security patches, new software, iterations of backend tools, but I still like doing all that at the age of 32. Hell, I get excited when new software comes in and I get to tweak it and repackage it and send it out.

I work at a place that would be considered leading edge in technology. On one hand, that's good because you get to play with new stuff. On the other hand, it sucks because you often move too fast. In our case, we have everything (email, phone system, fax, etc) so tightly integrated that now, it is a REAL pain to support it all. Office 2010? Great! Oh, wait a minute -- our VOIP plug-ins aren't certified. Oh yeah, and our email archiving plug-ins won't work, either. There goes that plan!

Fortunately, I don't have to deal with it anymore but when I did, it got kind of old. We didn't upgrade for rational, well-thought-out business reasons, and THAT was the problem I had. My last job was at the other end of the extreme -- you had to make your case 10 times before they'd spend a dime. Still, though, I'd say I enjoyed it more, as I was the lead architect on our global Active Directory rollout. That was the best project I've ever worked on in my entire career. You haven't lived until you deploy AD to 40+ major sites around the globe with some having circuits as small as 64K.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I love new tech, but that is where I want to be ... strategy/budgets/etc...the business side of things. I am really good at learning new things, implementing them, and maintaining them, but I feel it will get old, and will want to advance.

What do you think about the online school - WGU? Do you think it will be OK to have? Or will employers look down at it?

I don't know much about them to be honest. I think it would depend on the employer. I don't think most look down on online degrees these days to be honest. Again, it seems to be more of a checkbox than anything.