Thread: Job Seeking

Originally Posted by Phyrelight

That depends on the school and the program (yes devry is crap). When I finished my BS in CIS I had 3 job choices when I graduated and non of those were directly through the school, they were jobs I found on my own based on my new degree and my years of experience. I choose to stay at the University and do my Masters of science in information management where upon graduation I had 3 new options including a start up in San Jose CA. The University who stood behind me through 6 of my 8 years of college with a job, either as a student worker or systems analyst etc offered me a promotion in both pay and job title to stay on instead of branching out into the private sector.

Devry is crap, I know 2 people that have degrees from there and can't land an entry level position. They don't interview well and their resume is crap. Devry doesn't teach rounded skills like a full University. I do like Hocus's recommendation of doing a community college for the associates, its MUCH cheaper there and honestly the community college scene is much more supportive and the students are there to learn and not party like the universities freshman crowd.

If you are working while in a 4 year program like I was its important to assess your situation your junior/senior year and do internships if you have no direct experience to the field you are studying. I was a systems analyst in an on campus IT department so I didn't need to do an internship for by CIS degree since my current job was directly related to my field of study. I was able to get he CIS job because of my prior experience in IT. That doesn't happen for most students so internships are key........

Just FYI, the school I am going to is Collin College, previously Collin County Community College. Apparently the change came because they offer bachelor degrees now. They are a state run school.

Originally Posted by WileECyte

Yep. Right now I just want that piece of paper in case anything happens, or I want to move up beyond where I am now. I have one step up I can make... but beyond that... a degree (or comparable military service) is required. I've got 15+ years of industry experience and have been with my current employer now for almost 12 years. Most of the accelerated degree programs I've looked at all run about 18 months and you finish up with a Bachelors in Business Administration. They take your real world experience & certifications and give you 'credit' towards your degree, and then you pretty much go to school 6 days a week (3 hours M-F, 8 hours Sat or Sun) for 18 months... Pretty intensive work, but in the end it gets the desired results.

My dad did one of those (paid for by his firm). He had zero free time even on the weekends, but it was worth it in the end. His was a multi-year program crammed down into 9 months though.

Originally Posted by Cybs

Just FYI, the school I am going to is Collin College, previously Collin County Community College. Apparently the change came because they offer bachelor degrees now. They are a state run school.

I'm considering taking some classes there as I sure as hell don't want to go back to LA. The last time I was on leave for a while, I applied there. Their financial aid and admissions department were sooooooooooooooooooo much better than LA Tech's versions. It was a breath of fresh air.

As an example...

I have a BS in Management Information Systems.. I have moderate certifications: MCSE, CCNA, A+, N+ S+. I'm working towards my CISSP at the moment, and It's estimated that I'm worth approximately 90k in the Charleston, SC area. If I were to move to a larger city I would be worth approximately 1.5x that @ about 120-140k. If I get my CISSP it should go up by another 10-15k depending on whether or not I stick to the security side of things.

I currently work as a Network Engineer for a town here in SC, and make approximately 80k. The cost of living here isn't really that bad, so I kinda fall in the middle end of the market. I could probably find something here for about 90, but I'd lose a lot of the benefits.

The one thing I can tell you about IT is this. Get good at it. Learn everything you can. You do that, then you can establish your network as a well oiled machine. You establish a well oiled machine, you have a lot of time to continue your education, and you build a lot of contacts.


Also... It took me about 1.5 years to get the MCSE, and about 6 months for the CCNA. The CCNA is a lot easier, and I mean A LOT easier than the MCSE. I've been working on CISSP for about 6 months, and I hope to have it by the summer.
None of my certs were acquired via those testing websites like pass4sure and testking. I actually took the time and learned the material, not just brain dumped. If you ever meet someone who is into the whole brain dump thing, mentor them a little bit, show them what you know. Once they see what you can do, the passion builds up again, and they are better for it.

And.... I've been in the field for about 12 years now. Thinking about teaching some classes in the next 5 years.

Warprosper, I just did CISSP in November. That one was no joke. Easily the toughest IT test I have done. My agency sent about 20 of us to a week long boot camp and so far I am the only one that passed. I studied hard for about two weeks. The thing with that one is that I could make a case for all four answers on most of the questions. You have to know what IC2 wants the right answer to be. Plus there are 30 questions that aren't even graded and are just BS to throw you off. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Gumby

Warprosper, I just did CISSP in November. That one was no joke. Easily the toughest IT test I have done. My agency sent about 20 of us to a week long boot camp and so far I am the only one that passed. I studied hard for about two weeks. The thing with that one is that I could make a case for all four answers on most of the questions. You have to know what IC2 wants the right answer to be. Plus there are 30 questions that aren't even graded and are just BS to throw you off. Good luck!

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How long did it take you? I had an adviser about 5 years back, he said it took about 5 hours.

I finished in three. But it felt like ten.

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