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phas3

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,131
22
Okay so before I get into the nitty gritty here's a little background about me. I'm 25 years old, after high school I joined the Marine Corps did 4 years and got out to start going to school. I got out in 2009 and since then I've been on the path to getting a Bachelors in Business. I will be at the end of that path next winter. Right now I'm a full time student working for AT&T as a Uverse Technician. I meet a lot of people in my job, Uverse Technicians(Premises Technician) are essentially the face of AT&T.

The other day I met someone that works for a company called Mandiant (information security company) and we got to talking about the IT world, how he got where he is now. I've always had a keen interest in IT. We had a good conversation about it and it totally had me thinking twice about my educational path.

Now as mentioned before I'm a little over half way with my Bachelors in Business but I was thinking of switching over to Information Technology and just getting an Associates and working on my certifications in the IT world and eventually getting a Bachelors in IT.

OR I can keep on track with my BA in Business and at the same time take side classes to get an Associates in Information Technology since I've already got all my general education courses done and would just need to take the core classes for IT.

Would like your opinion on what path should I take?
 

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
Okay so before I get into the nitty gritty here's a little background about me. I'm 25 years old, after high school I joined the Marine Corps did 4 years and got out to start going to school. I got out in 2009 and since then I've been on the path to getting a Bachelors in Business. I will be at the end of that path next winter. Right now I'm a full time student working for AT&T as a Uverse Technician. I meet a lot of people in my job, Uverse Technicians(Premises Technician) are essentially the face of AT&T.

The other day I met someone that works for a company called Mandiant (information security company) and we got to talking about the IT world, how he got where he is now. I've always had a keen interest in IT. We had a good conversation about it and it totally had me thinking twice about my educational path.

Now as mentioned before I'm a little over half way with my Bachelors in Business but I was thinking of switching over to Information Technology and just getting an Associates and working on my certifications in the IT world and eventually getting a Bachelors in IT.

OR I can keep on track with my BA in Business and at the same time take side classes to get an Associates in Information Technology since I've already got all my general education courses done and would just need to take the core classes for IT.

Would like your opinion on what path should I take?

Both seem kind of generic. I think job security wise IT would be better since you would actually be trained to do something, and if you like it, all the better.
 

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
I would say go for the 4 year degree. As bad as it sound sthe 4 year degree opens more doors to get what you want to do than a 2 year degree.
 

phas3

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,131
22
I agree

Many positions now, and in the future, require a 4 year degree. Not to mention, most managerial positions require often a BS or even a grad degree.

But what if I really want to have a career in the IT world, should I go with the last option BA in Bachelors and an Associates in IT + Certs?

I'm turning 26 next month and I just feel like I'm so late to everything, and now I'm at a crossroad where I don't know which educational path I want to take...
 

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
But what if I really want to have a career in the IT world, should I go with the last option BA in Bachelors and an Associates in IT + Certs?

I'm turning 26 next month and I just feel like I'm so late to everything, and now I'm at a crossroad where I don't know which educational path I want to take...

Wouldn't worry about the age. It literally doesn't matter at all except your state of mind.

If you can do the BA and IT, go for it. But the question here is how do those two degrees compliment each other? Do they? Have you considered switching to be a computer science major?

I may be wrong, but I'm generally not a fan of just a generic degree in bizznezz. What quantifiable skills does such a degree give you? You've probably learned more about managment in the military than you will learn in school. That degree could be a great compliment to something, or perhaps an MBA, but idk about just a straight bizznezz degree.
 

JoshMKB24

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2013
520
44
Midwest
Go for the Associates in IT. I have a bachelor's in business and any business/marketing degree is pretty worthless. I more or less got it, just to have a degree. Anything business wise you will get based on your personality and work ethic, I can't think of 1 thing I learned in school that I have really applied to what I do now.

I guess a lot of it depends on your financial situation. If you are going to have lots of student loans then I'd get out now. In my case, my parents paid for it all so I just stuck with it. I minored in Sociology as well. The only 4 year degrees I feel are really worthwhile are ones that you have a specific skill set......like law, accounting, or medicine.
 

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
Go for the Associates in IT. I have a bachelor's in business and any business/marketing degree is pretty worthless. I more or less got it, just to have a degree. Anything business wise you will get based on your personality and work ethic, I can't think of 1 thing I learned in school that I have really applied to what I do now.

Yeah that's kind of what my suspicion is.

Unless you go to a very, very top tier business school
 

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
But what if I really want to have a career in the IT world, should I go with the last option BA in Bachelors and an Associates in IT + Certs?

I'm turning 26 next month and I just feel like I'm so late to everything, and now I'm at a crossroad where I don't know which educational path I want to take...

Age is not a big of an issue as you think it is.

Also the Bachelors in business is a great degree that to me function as a multiplier on something else. Worthless on its own but great when paired with something else but you want to get into IT so it can work pretty well with it and give you a good understanding of a lot that goes on in IT that many pure IT guys do not know or have to learn later.

I personally have 2 Bachelors that in 90-99% of the time are not complimentary of each other. I got lucky the company I work for works for the industry my first degree is in but other than having an extra understanding of construction completely worthless to me and my CS degree.

I turn 30 this year and at that point I will have about 1 year under my belt in as a software developer.
 

JoshMKB24

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2013
520
44
Midwest
Yeah that's kind of what my suspicion is.

Unless you go to a very, very top tier business school

Even top top top tier business school degrees aren't worth much if you're a POS :D

I'm debating about doing a Master's degree now just because........like you said a business degree is pretty much worthless besides saying you have a degree. It allows you to skip working up from the very bottom, instead you might start like 2 levels above the bottom level haha
 

phas3

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,131
22
thanks for the replies everyone, I've got the GI Bill so the Veterans Association is paying for my education.

Now if I continue on getting my BA in Business and get an Associates in Information Technology + Certifications would I have a better chance than someone with a BA in IT trying to get a job in the IT World?
 

eric/

Guest
Sep 19, 2011
1,681
20
Ohio, United States
thanks for the replies everyone, I've got the GI Bill so the Veterans Association is paying for my education.

Now if I continue on getting my BA in Business and get an Associates in Information Technology + Certifications would I have a better chance than someone with a BA in IT trying to get a job in the IT World?

All else equal, yes because you also have a BA. But what you really need to consider is getting degrees that compliment each other, or look into computer science or electrical engineering even.
 

phas3

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,131
22
All else equal, yes because you also have a BA. But what you really need to consider is getting degrees that compliment each other, or look into computer science or electrical engineering even.


But I absolutely hate math lol
 

Macky-Mac

macrumors 68040
May 18, 2004
3,488
2,531
thanks for the replies everyone, I've got the GI Bill so the Veterans Association is paying for my education.

Now if I continue on getting my BA in Business and get an Associates in Information Technology + Certifications would I have a better chance than someone with a BA in IT trying to get a job in the IT World?

When you're starting out and looking for a job in IT, your Associates in IT will leave you at a disadvantage against other job hunters with a BS in IT.
 

JoshMKB24

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2013
520
44
Midwest
I don't think there is a way around math........I hate math as well, but I still couldn't avoid taking statistics and some accounting courses as well. Both are fairly easy numbers wise, its just getting all the #s to work out that sucks!
 
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