Certification vs. Degree: A Second Look

Last month in my MCP Magazine "Weekly quickTIP" column, I discussed a question posed to me by a reader. That question asked what was more valuable, certification or a master's degree. This was the reader's situation:

Dear Greg: I am looking into pursuing either a Master's degree in a computer related field or working on certifications. Right now, I work as an IT Administrator for a civil engineering firm. I have been working here for the past three years. We are a small firm of about 20 people and I am the only IT guy here. In my job, I install and maintain software/hardware on users' machines, work on problems with computer equipment and update the company's Web site. I have also become pretty familiar with networking equipment like switches and firewalls and am somewhat familiar with Windows Server 2003.

My bachelor's degree is in Communications. Since that time, I have worked as a Computer Aided Drafting technician in various firms and have helped with computer-related issues in every job. I would like to continue working in the IT field, since that is what I love to do. I would maybe like to get a job in either networking, systems administration or IT security. Would pursuing a degree be better for me at this point, or should I just pursue certifications?

Click here for my response to his question. There, I told him that at the very least certification was an easier/faster/cheaper solution than a master's degree. So, it might be more valuable to knock off the easiest/fastest/cheapest solution first, simply from a pragmatic view.

I was doing a little more research late last week about this question and found this excellent post from Yahoo Finance...

In this post, the author goes on to talk about one specific type of Master's degree: The MBA. Back when I was in college the MBA was the champagne of master's degrees if you wanted to get into business and make a bunch of money. SInce then, it seems that the MBA's shine has waned a bit. Penelope Trunk comments in this post:

The Master of Business Administration degree has been a holy grail for decades. If you wanted a career that mattered and didn't have the aptitude for medical school, an MBA was a good ticket to prestige and riches.

But things aren't so clear anymore. If the MBA used to be the entrance fee to climb the corporate ladder, there are few corporate ladders to climb anymore -- and people are increasingly experimenting with ways to speed up that climb anyway. One way is to skip the MBA altogether.

So if you're thinking of getting an MBA, you should probably think twice. Here are five signs that the MBA is becoming devalued...

She gives five reasons why it might not be the best route to go down:

1. Only the top business schools have high value.
2. Business schools are compromised by a lack of female applicants.
3. Business school is like buying a high-priced recruiter.
4. Hotshots don't go to business school anymore.
5. People go to business school for the wrong reasons.

If you're still thinking about certification vs. degrees, definitely take a look at her analysis. She gives some compelling reasons why the MBA has lost some of its value since its heyday only a few years ago.

Read her full post at:
http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/careerist/47722;_ylt=AuOLl_jvXr1oMTGbxwAztRS7YWsA