Finding a Decent Online Information Technology Degree

Now I have looked for a decent online education for a long time. I do this not because I am over 30 with 3 kids or something to that effect, but rather because of the only thing me and “working adults” have in common: We both have a 40+ hour a week  jobs and need a degree really badly but don’t have the time!

Still for a young 21-year-old looking for a good college I have heard the classic “Oh, you have plenty of time!” and “Are you sure you can concentrate at that age?” or “Just go full-time and worry about work later.”

Well my answer to these questions are 1) No, I will NEVER have time to procrastinate. 2) I am mature enough not to act like an idiot. What you acted like when you where twenty is the way I acted when I was fourteen. 3) Really? So are you going to pay for my car while I’m in school? Should I give up my apartment full of nice things to move into a small dorm room with an absolute stranger? No thanks.

Soapbox aside, I have thought about going part-time at a brick-and-mortar college but the only school with an accredited B.S. Information Technology program is on the other side of the state, and the local community college only has an Applied Associates of Information Technology with no bachelors option. Sure they would give me 18 credits for my IT certifications but wavered credits would not transfer to another university that has a B.S. IT program so that is pretty useless. Since I can’t drop my life now to go to a four-year college I have turned to online degrees as the answer.

Like I said before I have done a lot of research on the subject of online degrees and I will share what I have found relevant. The first thing you have to know about online degrees is:

Accreditation

Is the program Regionally accredited? Avoid Nationally accredited colleges as their programs are seen as less rigorous than a Regionally accredited college and credits will not transfer from a national to a regional.

Credits

Will the credits transfer? Do the classes even have credits? There are some schools that offer degrees based off of their own credit models. My advice is to steer clear of any college that does not have transferable credits.

Affordability

Some schools will charge ridiculous amounts of money for a sub-par education. This goes back to my first to points if the degree is not accredited and the credits don’t transfer it is definitely a bad buy.

Marketability

I have long known of the stigma that online degrees carry and am overly conscious of how they are viewed by potential employers so I turned to an expert. I contacted a head hunter (they don’t like to be called this by the way) who works for a very reputable job placement agency and his opinion is that as long as your degree is accredited then it simply does not matter where/how you got it.

Reputation

To me this is very important. I want a very good program from a reputable college and I would hate to settle for anything less. ITT Tech has bad rep, MIT has a very good one. You should make the same distinctions with online programs that you would traditional schools.

That’s all I got for now, look out for my next post which will show the best online choices as of 2011.  I will also tell you which one I picked!

Got a better Job!

Well nothing sucks worse than being outsourced. I guess this is every IT persons worse case scenario, but it happened to me and that’s what I had to deal with…for half an hour at least! Yes, I was (in an ironic twist) fired and then re-hired in less than an hour.

I now work for PathForwardIT and I have never been happier!  Paid more, surrounded by experts and constantly exposed to/trained in the latest technologies! Now I am part of an aggressively expanding company that provides quality IT services all over the country.

This is without a doubt the best job I have ever held! I had a list of problems with my old position (Mostly the lack of room for promotion, and older IT workers getting in the way of progress) but the new team is addressing issues that I have long since voiced. It is awesome to be apart of a real IT department that is properly directed!

CompTIA TESTS of 2010

Well it’s the end of the year and I must say that I feel glad to have my A+, NET+ and SEC+ before the December 31, 2010 deadline.  I am now certified for life and do not have to worry about taking CE or paying $75 renewal fees for entry level Certifications.  I would have gotten them out of the way sooner, but I have been paying out  most of my income to reduce some of my bills. Starting 1/1/2011, I will be able  to save $1000 a month! Hows that for a new years resolution??!!

Anyway my over all impression of CompTIA exams is thus:

“I think they are vague and uninteresting.”

I ‘m not trying to be negative I just had a higher expectation for these “Vendor neutral” tests because in my “Vendor Specific”  Cisco exams I actually had to know how stuff works and how to make them work when they are broken.  If I had never even touched a router or a switch and read up for/passed the Net+, I am sure I could tell you all sorts of poetry on networking technologies,  but if you asked me to set something up for your network I would be clueless!! Because in CompTIA you don’t need to do anything more than answer A, B, C, or D, That’s all.   Nothing mega-wrong with that, but it’s not real world.

With all that out of the way I can now say that I am pleased to have obtained these certs and would recommend them to ANYONE who wishes to start out in I.T. (But only as a start!) I feel relieved to have gotten them in such a short amount of time.

Well I anticipate all sorts of excitement in 2011, so happy new year and happy arbitrary American holiday!  (A+ for Halloween, NET+ for Thanksgiving & SEC+ for Christmas.)

Passed Security+ Exam

 

On 12/11/2010 I have passed the Security+ exam with an  822 out of 900  with a required 750 to pass.  The number of technical questions I received were far out weighted by those about Organizational procedures. I thought I was going to fail or at least get lower marks because I have no idea what they wanted half the time. Almost every question was vague and most started with “Choose the BEST way for X”, I got to tell ya I am starting to dislike CompTIA  exams.

All I did was read a thirty dollar book to pass SEC+.

Passed Network+ Exam

 

On 11/6/10 I passed the network+ exam. I am a little disappointed because it was not as technical as I expected it to be.

I thought  it would be similar to the CCENT with in-depth networking questions and diagrams, however, it merely skimmed the surface of Collision domains, various network devices, and  a little bit on the OSI model.  What gave me pause was their obsession with terminology, such as MDF, IDF, and Vertical/horizontal cross-connects. I am not really interested  in pretty words when it comes down to taking an exam. I want to be tested by my technical ability, not  memorization skills!

Passed 220-701 A+ Essentials (2009 Edition) GOT MY A+

On 10/23/2010 I passed the A+ Essentials exam and became A+ certified.

PASSING SCORE: 674/900    MY SCORE: 800

It felt like the exact same exam as the Practical. Questions were basically the same so no real need for detail.  I  am happy that I got my A+ before CompTIA’s January 1, 2011 deadline, but I am not ready to celebrate till I get the NETWORK+ and SECURITY+ as well. I don’t want to have to re-new entry level  certifications every three years.

I got a Helpdesk Job!

I am now a Computer Technician!

So I am three months into my new job at a Company in the healthcare industry. It’s a medium-sized practice that has eight remote locates and owns a small heart clinic.  My job is about 55% over the phone and I spend my time addressing tickets. We have way too many Terminal servers and printers, the PC’s and Thin Clients are antiquated and the network is poorly documented. Seriously it looks like a drunk guy designed the network, we have two domains and two different EMR systems, and our tape backups are not reliable. There is literally one hundred things I could complain about but I am not upset because this is the perfect chance to build up my experience!

I suppose it is not too bad even though I was going for a networking job (hence the CCNA!!!) but as it turns out a certification is worthless without experience! I was passed over for a $40,000 a year Jr. Network Admin job for another candidate because even though we both had CCNA’s he had more EXP… Now that I think about it, I wonder why they even called me back for a second interview when all I had was a single year of Laptop repair on my résumé????? Must have been the suit

Passed 220-702 A+ Practical Application (2009 Edition)

Well I can’t say that the test was all that hard.  For a guy who has a STRONG background in networking and a PC enthusiast /hobbyist who spends half  his check on Newegg, I can honestly say the greatest challenge was Windows NT/2000 Dir structures.  Not that the questions were hard, I just didn’t know too much about windows 2000 and below.  It also helps to know your Command line. The all obvious IPCONFIG along with MSCONFIG, CHKDSK, DEFRAG, XCOPY, FORMAT, PING TRACERT, NSLOOKUP, EDIT, SFC, It’s all on the objectives.

Just download the objectives from CompTIA’s website and lightly cover everything on the list. Then go to your local Barnes & Nobles and buy the Total Seminars’s  “A+ Passport”  book for $30.  A quick run-through of the practice questions on the CD will help determine your weaknesses.  So for a thirty dollar book (with CD) and the Objectives/Google you can have all the prep you need for the CompTIA  A+

DATE: 9/25/10

PASSING SCORE: 700/900   MY SCORE: 814

Network Security Books

Network security is an interesting read. I really enjoyed books like Cryptography for Dummies by Chey Cobb and Secrets and Lies by Bruce Schneier, the creator of the blowfish cipher. I also bought the CCNA Security Official Exam guide and it covers a lot of subject area such as: Basic network security, AAA, firewalls, VOIP, IDS/IPS, DMZ’s, VPN’s and so much more!

CCENT/CCNA Study Checklist

From my own personal experience I have put together a good study plan for the CCENT and CCNA exams.Follow this list and  you shouldn’t have any problems!

CCENT

Watch the ICND1 CBT nuggets (As many times as you need)

Read the CCENT Exam Cram

Buy some equipment for practice (Try Ciscoland.net for some good labs)

Research TCP/IP, Routers, Switches, and the OSI model.

CCNA

ICND2 CBT Nuggets (Over & over)

Todd Lammle’s CCNA study guide sixth edition

CCNA Exam Cram

Buy practice Equipment (You should already have some at this point)

Follow this list and you will do fine on the tests.