Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal, Vol. 20, No. 2, Fall 2002
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Letter from the Editor
More on Certification and College Degrees
Robert G. Brookshire
I recently received this note in my e-mail inbox.
I have edited it only slightly, and provide my
response below.
Dear Dr. Brookshire,
Hello, I am currently a student enrolled at [a
community college], and enrolled in the general
studies curriculum. I plan on going into a
networking related job, and my main goal would
be to work as a networking consultant for Cisco
Systems. I recently had a casual meeting with
one of their consultants, and he informed me that
a college degree is not required for most
networking related jobs today. He recommended
that I just work towards getting certifications
related to this field, but I have heard from other
people that a B.S. is required for jobs in this field.
I have also searched on a few popular job search
engines, and all of the results require that I at
least have a B.S. degree. From all of this
information, I am really not sure which path
would be best for me. Any insight to my
predicament would be greatly appreciated. I am
anxiously awaiting your reply. Thank you for
your time.
Sincerely,
[Ambitious Student]
Dear Ambitious,
To me, the question is not so much what training
and qualifications you need to get a job with Cisco
Systems, the question is, what training and
qualifications do you need to build a rewarding
career? You should be thinking not just what you
would like your first job to be, but about what you
would like to be doing five, ten, or more years in
the future. If your five-to-ten year plans include
being a manager or junior executive, certifications
are not enough. You will need the training in
writing, analysis, communications, general
problem solving, and human interaction that a
bachelor’s degree from a four-year college
provides.
It can be very frustrating for a student who is
interested in technology, who has