Getting an Undergrad IT Certificate from an Online College

[EchoedTruth]

Hey all,

I am aiming to get a Computer Information Management undergraduate certificate from Ashworth College ( ashworthcollege.edu ) as I want something on my resume that shows I have some IT education experience (I already have significant but not very long work history in IT). I'm just looking for opinions on this. Would having that cert on my resume help in y'alls opinion? Or would it look bad as it is from an online school? Not sure what route to take as I want "some" formal IT education to list, but I'm not about signing up for another undergrad degree (already have an AB from UGA).

Thanks!

[Prince]

reach for the sky DEVRY

[Peatree]

Get what ever basic degree you can that will get you a job in the type of company you want a career.

I know several people that have a four year degree, hell some even have a MBA, that cannot find a job. They spent to much time getting their degree and not focusing on working your way up in a company.

Get a degree, hell even a cert if it gets you the job, then prove yourself by working hard, using off hours to further your education and work your way up.

[Swish]

using off hours to further your education and work your way up.

Great advice, wish I'd done it that way.

[Peatree]

Great advice, wish I'd done it that way.

Agreed! I started with a 2 yr degree from ITT which landed me my first real "job" in Austin (company known as National Instruments).

Now 20 years later I have earned/maintain several more certs, my bachelors, and thinking about earning my MBA as well. Still working in same field, but much higher up and even better compensation.

[EchoedTruth]

Get what ever basic degree you can that will get you a job in the type of company you want a career.

I know several people that have a four year degree, hell some even have a MBA, that cannot find a job. They spent to much time getting their degree and not focusing on working your way up in a company.

Get a degree, hell even a cert if it gets you the job, then prove yourself by working hard, using off hours to further your education and work your way up.

Thanks for the advice! As stated in the OP, I already have a 4 year bachelor's degree from UGA. I'm just looking to put some education on my resume that is computer-affiliated, to back up my work experience. (I'm a sociology major that was planning on law school but fuck that, my roommate was doing law and it was :( ). I was mainly wondering what people think about the for-profit, online schools like Ashworth, ITT, etc.. I see some saying its a waste of money, and some saying it helps. If it matters, this isn't for a degree, just taking 5 classes which in turn give me a "Computer Information Management undergraduate certificate".

[Peatree]

UGA? There's your problem. Should have gone to TCU!

[EchoedTruth]

UGA? There's your problem. Should have gone to TCU!

................................ lol

[Klendathu]

IMHO, for IT, the degree is what a company will look at when they need to fill an entry level position and you have no experience to put on your resume. If you can get a job in the field without the degree, save yourself the tuition money. Not dissing the degree, but you can get somewhere without it, and paying back student loans can be a real bitch. Stick with it, maybe cop a cert here and there, you'll do ok. Experience is the key, though. I'd rather hire someone who can show me, for example, router configs and WAN stuff on a paper napkin than some jerkface with a Bachelor's and a CCNA who doesn't know shit from shinola.

[EchoedTruth]

IMHO, for IT, the degree is what a company will look at when they need to fill an entry level position and you have no experience to put on your resume. If you can get a job in the field without the degree, save yourself the tuition money. Not dissing the degree, but you can get somewhere without it, and paying back student loans can be a real bitch. Stick with it, maybe cop a cert here and there, you'll do ok. Experience is the key, though. I'd rather hire someone who can show me, for example, router configs and WAN stuff on a paper napkin than some jerkface with a Bachelor's and a CCNA who doesn't know shit from shinola.

Yea that's what I figured/believe as well. From my perspective though - an employer might see my two degrees in Sociology (Associates & Bachelors) and be like... well where did he learn IT stuff? So even though I have work history as an IT guy, I figured it would help just to have "some" sort of formal education. In this case a cheap (~$1000) certificate in computer information management.

[Ocura]

Wow, same boat but different courses. Also signing on with Ashworth. For myself it is to update my higschool edu first off to have the pre-req's for the college courses I want (almost 40, going back to school. Need major refreshers before I hit college!).

[Spacebar]

Another thing you could consider is https://www.coursera.org/ .

You can take courses online for free from universities all around the world, including some Ivy League universities in the US. I suppose it is still unclear how employers will respond to it, but it seems that the amount of effort being put into the project is growing. Might check out their "signature track" also. It allows ways to have your courses officially recognized.

Some IT courses:

https://www.coursera.org/courses?category=cs-systems

and

https://www.coursera.org/courses?category=cs-programming

Again, it might not be the best idea for now since it is still unclear how employers will respond to those taking courses from there. Then again, it could be worth checking out since it is, for the most part, free.

[purist 5.2]

this thread is full of terrible advice

not going to do a research project for you, but for-profit schooling is a scam and 2 seconds of cursory googling will demonstrate irrefutably how awful job prospects are with a for-profit school toilet paper degree

[EchoedTruth]

this thread is full of terrible advice

not going to do a research project for you, but for-profit schooling is a scam and 2 seconds of cursory googling will demonstrate irrefutably how awful job prospects are with a for-profit school toilet paper degree

I appreciate the input, but if you read the OP, I'm not getting a degree from there. I already have 2 degrees, just not in the IT field. I figured having a cert that says I studied computer stuff would help clarify I know what I'm doing with prospective employers.

[EchoedTruth]

Another thing you could consider is https://www.coursera.org/ .

You can take courses online for free from universities all around the world, including some Ivy League universities in the US. I suppose it is still unclear how employers will respond to it, but it seems that the amount of effort being put into the project is growing. Might check out their "signature track" also. It allows ways to have your courses officially recognized.

Some IT courses:

https://www.coursera.org/courses?category=cs-systems

and

https://www.coursera.org/courses?category=cs-programming

Again, it might not be the best idea for now since it is still unclear how employers will respond to those taking courses from there. Then again, it could be worth checking out since it is, for the most part, free.

Great tip, thank you!