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ryld 10-16-2005 11:57 PM

What To Do...Need Advice
 
I'm new to the forums, and to Linux, really. I'm kind of stuck on what to do. I know what I want to do for a living: network administration.

I'll be going to college in about a year, and I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'd like to stay in town so I don't have to move and pay outrageous living expenses, and there's two schools here. There's a tech school (Central Georgia Technical College) and a college (Georgia College and State University). I've been thinking of going to CGTC and getting a technical diploma in networking with Unix/Linux, but everyone I know (granted not into computers) is trying to get me to go to a "real" college. I'll be downloading SUSE Linux 10 in a few days to try and get a late headstart.

The real question, I guess, is what path do I pursue for the highest chance for landing a job in networking administration areas? Any thoughts, school recomendations, et cetera would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

RomanG 10-17-2005 04:53 AM

Yeah,.. I had the same problem.
And in my town there is no any place where I can study for Linux administrating..
Well... now I work as a 'help desk' in a company that is ia leading ISP in my town. Help people to connect to internet via dialup and help with troubles in IP-telephony (VoIP). I have a lot of free time and also I help to support 2 VoIP servers that run on Linux and alone administrate Linux server with IDS, Apache and MySQL running on it.
Books and manuals, and manuals again, books and manuals and Internet resources. That is all I had.
Yes, diploma is a good thing but knowledge is much better. I would be happy to come to US and study there in a specialized college.
Good luck!
:) :study: :)

archtoad6 10-17-2005 12:59 PM

General vs. Technical Education
 
I hope the folks lobbying for 'a "real" college' are doing so out of concern for your welfare, not some mindless predjudice.

To me the arguments in favor of the so-called "real" college have to do w/ your long-term employability. To the extent that the place(s) they recommend teach you to think, communicate, & how to learn you will have life-long skills. Today's narrow tech course may be obsolete next year.

How broad an education will you get? Some of the classes I hated the most at the time turned out to have the most life long value.

Consider the quality of the teaching not the scholarship. Universities & such tend to hire & promote based on criteria other than teaching skill. In skydiving we have a saying: "If the student fails to learn, the teacher has failed to teach." Unfortunately, not all teachers & institutions of "learning" see it this way. I doubt I will ever finish my degree because of intolerance for bad teaching & my refusal to pay good money for bad instruction.

If possible, find a place that will guarantee you quality of instuction. (But don't hold your breath while looking. :))

Consider the attitudes of the administration. How honorable are they? Do they keep their promises? Do they honor commitments their employees, especially guidance counsellors, make? I had a friend who took 10 years to complete his degree, & they changed the rules on him at least twice in ways that cost him more money to take additional courses that were not required when he matriculated. You may be planning to go full-time, but it's still important to know the integrity of the institution you are dealing with.

Consider the reputation of the school. Is there some cachet to its degree that will open future employment doors for you? Or vice versa.

I'm rambling, time to stop. Sorry if this is disjointed>

ilikejam 10-17-2005 04:23 PM

A little background first: I went to an old-school (pun intended) University for 4 years and came out with a less than excellent degree. I then went to a local college (probably equivalent to the 'tech school' mentioned in post #1) and got half way through a Cisco CCNA before the course folded from lack of students.

That said...

In the work market, experience is all. If your 'tech school' can get you real work experience, then I'd probably go there, and get all the time working with real hardware and software you can.

On the other hand, the education (maths and computing mainly) I got from my time at University has been useful to me personally. The way University courses are taught is very different to the way college courses are taught - you get a far better grounding in the fundamentals of your subject at University. This enables you to keep learning when you leave, and will probably make you even more enthusiastic about a subject you already like (assuming you have some geek in you to begin with).

Older (and therefore perceived to be better) Universities can, however, get away with treating their undergraduates with a fair amount of contempt, as they know that students will still come to them just to have a degree from a good Uni. If you can, talk to someone who's been to the institutions you're looking at, and see what they have to say.

Anyway, if you're absolutely sure you want to do network and Unix admin, then the tech school is probably a better fit, assuming there's a course which teaches this. You never know what you might find you enjoy if you go to Uni, though. I went in wanting to be a software developer, and came out wanting to be a Unix admin.

In short, I have no idea what you should do. I happened to have a good Uni within walking distance from my parents house, so it was a bit of a no-brainer for me. Whatever you do, work hard at it and don't mess it up. I did. It took me two and a half years to find an IT job with a degree that's barely worth the parchment it's written on.

Dave

archtoad6 10-18-2005 07:03 AM

Excellant reply Dave, now if you don't mind, a bit of explanation of what "college" & "Uni(versity)" mean in the UK. It's apparent we're running into the old "publc school" (UK) == "private school" (US) thing.

ryld, you might tell us more about what kind of institutions your prospective schools are, & esp. what kind of degrees they grant.

ilikejam 10-18-2005 10:51 AM

OK.

A University (Uni) in the UK is equivalent to a US College. They hand out degrees and Doctorates.

I'm not sure what the US equivalent of a UK College would be. UK Colleges tend to do more one-year courses, and hand out 'Certificates' and 'Diplomas'.

Dave

archtoad6 10-19-2005 07:30 AM

Thanks ilikejam.

ryld, any more Q's or comments?

One for you: How many years is CGTC & what kind of technical diploma would they give you?

Netizen 10-19-2005 07:23 PM

Heres my two cents...

Got to a 4 year school and get a degree in buisness administration or Information Systems. Do not think you need a computer degree to do network administration. The deal with Network Admin is everyone wants to do it. Your chances of getting a Net Admin job are slim, especially in todays ecomnomy. What you need is a broad degree that will help you get A job.

ilikejam was correct, real computer jobs pay more for experience than they do for degrees. Its about real world knowledge. The degree comes in hand mostly when you go after the senior jobs, and even then doesnt really mean all that much. The better you are at translating "tech talk" to layment terms the better. Lets face it, most computer "geeks" dont handle working with end users very well. That can go a long way and really set you apart of more knowledgeable people.

Now if you wanted to go into programming or something like that, go for a CS degree of something like it at a tech school.

But the most important thing you can do is get into the field. Even doing part time work or interning somewhere. And get out and network (not computer network, but people network). When you interview for the job, knowing someone at the company you are applying at is huge when 14 people with the same qualifications as you are interviewing for the same job. Also, do not expect to walk out of college with your degree and land that network admin job. Yes, it happens, but rarely. You have to pay your dues.

Good luck.

beeblequix 10-21-2005 05:03 PM

my .000002 cents:

*dittos* to the idea that it's REAL WORLD experience that counts over a degree.

Consider this --
My older brother has a degree in "information systems & technology". He really doesn't know that much, has no real world experience in 'come-pew-taz' and can't find a job. He interviews for jobs that would seem below his degree level and doesn't get those because of the degree the employers can't imagine him staying in that entry level position for long at all. Jobs above entry level DEMAND experience, not just the paper, so he's stuck with the cart before the horse so-to-speak. Kinda a vicious cycle really.

Me --> only an associate degree in basketweaving. However, I have a bunch of real world experience. 5 years on a mainframe. 1.5 as supervisor. Owing to my passion for computers I also tend to know a lot about hardware, and how to make the software do what I want. My passion also manged to lead me to being a major contributor on a MOD development team (TNM) and learned a bunch of cool stuff about making video games. I can handle any operating system and have years of, well, a LOT of them. I got so good I even had a company in my area build a computer named after me (and paid me money for it). From all that I have people who I don't know calling me begging to fix their system. I do it for $30/hr which is a great deal for them and for me it allows me to buy toys (or whatever...). I have people in IT with Masters Degrees contacting me about practically everything in terms of what to buy, how to set up...etc. So then, my geeky knowledge then catapulted me into my current position , running the ATM system on a Linux platform and quality testing for new products (just the quality testing alone is yielding a great appreciation from my co-workers). Best part was that the VP made the job for me -- zero competition.

I didn't want to brag about any of this and I'm sorry if I sounded that way at all. I think it's a good example of the degree-that-sounds-impressive-when-meeting-chicks vs. I-actually-have-a-good-job-in-the-George-Bush-economy. (jk)

ß

scheidel21 10-28-2005 02:29 AM

IT is all to true experience is where it really matters. I have an Associates degree in Computer Systems Technology. and am now about to finish my BS in Information Technology - Networking, but I don't have much experience. I am very knowledgable, but I don't often get looked at too closely de to the lack of experience, when I do Interview for the few positions I have been called about. I usually do a good job of impressing my knowledge upon them, however, I have been beat out for the position by those with more experience. I keep hoping to find an IT job, but ust like mentioned before I am in a bad cycle, too much experience and training for the entry level positions too much for the st above entry level. So for the time being I have to be content working as a contractor for a PC repair company, and working my regular job as an Emergency Medical Technician where I occasionally have to play in house computer tech.


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