Short Question here for y'all already in the industry.

For an aspiring IT professional (Network/System Administrator) , is it more worthwhile taking professional certification exams like A+,CCNA, Redhat Linux RHCT/RHCE/RHCA, MCSE or does one need a Barchelors' degree in Networking?

Since there are Industry standard certifications as mentioned above, Is a Degree really important in this feild or is it even of any use apart from trying to impress a prospective employer?

I can't believe you have no other replies before mine. I aspire to your field too; I have a degree in Electronic Engr., but I certainly learn more practical and useful things when going through materials used for professional certification courses than I did in school.
However, for some reasons degrees are more respected. So if one has a degree and a professional certification, you should be hot ripe for employers " if any".

ma guy, bone degree, u can study stupidology in school, go out and get RHCE and get a job at Google. Only dumb Nigerian employees consider our fake degrees. BSc Comp Science? blah!!! 80% of the grads in my set didnt know the difference bw html and hotmail. In IT nobody can develop u but urself. Of course if ur degree is from Princeton or MIT, that is another issue

Same here,

I am one of those "blah" guys with a computer science degree , but not from MIT or princeton

Anyway, I am working with coders here who have degrees in sociology and history. My point being that, in general, a degree just means you have the ability to learn just about anything. Having just a certification would narrow you down to one particular field. In other words, if I lose my IT job today, chances are that I could probably go work in another field requiring a degree of some sort. I do doubt that that same company would stress something to the effect of "MCSD certification is a must"

Finally, in today's world, in my opinion anyway, those IT certifications are nothing but paper. I know a DBA with 20 years experience who failed the MSDBA exams twice. All you have to do is cram for those things and you hv made it. Of course, you pray that when you get to the real world, you aren't made to prove your mettle. Again, I speak from what I have seen in the industry to-date.

I hope this helps

I'd say u go for both. A degree in any related field is essential, backed up with ur certifications. Presently am stil studyn Elect/Elect Eng. n av bn exposed 2 d IT world a bit. I stil intend enrolling n taking these courses next year. I'd say u r beta off with both.

2cents
Didnt mean to blah u or anybody else with degrees (even my brother is currently studying the same course) I was just making a commentry on the Nigerian educational standard. Pls no offence intended
And u r right about the certifications too, some of them are cram work, especially the microsoft flavour. But i think open-source certs are the real deal. Its a bit hard to cram for LPIC or RHCE dont u think?

I asked around a bit on other forum's about this, and for the most part it seemed the degree was the way to go (or we have a similar thing to a degree but offered by technical schools which actually goes through several of the trade certificates during the course of about 2-3 years)

It's all about experience.

I'm a CCNA guy so that was a bit of a bummer when I was told that (but hey I haven't even finished school yet)

I can't type much but i will tell you, In todays world(home/abroad) and where the world is going, i will tell you its SKILLS that get you the job not certifications or degree.
In nigeria, degrees, especially IT related ones, are useless, they teach OP.
Go to schools like NIIT or APTECH(preferably) and acquire skills, if u are interested in the software line, if its networking, go to CISCO's academy in lagos/abuja and get a VALID skill, if hardware, u can learn that almost anywhere
After or during this training, depending on how wellu have understood the concepts, u can now go on to get certificationS(note the "s", then trust me, with this u can get a good job that graduates will droll for.
But i will also advice you do get a degree after all these just incase. If u have acquired these certifications,certificates ,diplomas and trainings; you can apply to schools abroad to get a 1yr Bsc, shikeena!!
and all these u can do under 3yrs, without bloody strikes

thats my 2 cents
(i just had to use ur username sorry)

A degree opens a lot of doors for, but the certification/experience can possibly get you in the door quicker. I suggest you do both. While in school, you can still pursue the certification/summer jobs in that area. In my small experience, I have hardly come across very senior IT/mgmt execs without a degree, so a degree might also bode well for futire career progression

As I stated before (if I haven't, then I say it now), a degree is a foundation. You can never lose with one. Having one is not a necessity, but it surely helps, especially in today's global economy.

With a degree, you will never lack a job, even if it is OP. For fast jobs like IT, you could get one to make your quick money, but add a degree to that, cos, like happened in America, when that bubble bursts (I was out of a job for 2 yrs during that time), you can always go back to your degree'd job.

I hope this helps (and for those who want to use my username as a tag line, feel free )

whether you have a degree or a certification doesn't matter,

what matters is "what you can do" or justification of your degree,

someone can be ccna certified and not know what to do in real life situation,

in nigeria, if u want to get a job, u'll need the certification for gaining the upper hand and if u want to keep your job, u need to know what you r doing,

so in essence it depends on what u can do, and a demonstration of such skills.

If i happen to become a CTO tomr, God Willing,, I will employ my Technical guys with their technical expertise and not the paper you have, i Will pay more to my technical guys who deliever the best of the company objective and not all the papers they have. Is in Nigeria I have seen companies employing an IT professional (Network/systems administrator) and want he or her to have all the certifications in this life, you can imagine some body who want to employ a network administrator, then the company require the person to have a degree, mcse, ccna, mcdba, ccnp and the rest of them, i dont no where somebody with cisco cerfication like ccnp will want to talk in pure microsoft network where an mcse holder is needed. and vice visa. In abroad somebody with just mcse certification only earn nothing less than 5,000 USD according to the survy conducted on the internet by one international mag. But anyway this is Nigeria, we will not compare the mentality of a white man in job employment and the black mind. In Nigeria you will never get a good Job as an IT specialist without a degree or Systems/Network Engr without a degree and some certifications. Am talking about a good job here in the salary range from 150k-500k.

So for Nigeria sack you will have to go get a degree. Only if you want to travel out to get a job after the all training and certification, if it is Network Engr or systems administrator, after the whole cerification, consider taking a wireless certification to , like Cwna (Certify Wireless Network Administrator) With this certification, you will boost your salary range abroad in case you travel, Nigeria for now dont recongnize this certifications now cos It's cable you see everywhere in majority company in nigeria today, If You have Net+, MCSA, CWNA. alone ---you are a kill even in south africa.

@bolaji

its the technical networkin part that the person needs ccnp with MCSE you are only exposed to the network operating system but with the CCNA or CCNP you actually get to set up the network, i mean the configuration of the switches and router, without it your network is dead, if proper network design is not in place and your configurations are wrong, then your network is in shhiiit, but with MCSE you just do the software part, maybe AD administration and basically server administration, nothing so technical

Yes the argument is heating up!!!!!

I have a degree in Electronics, but now I'm more determined than ever to go for CCNA training in lieu of the standard test itself. But some of the training costs here in Abuja are alarming!!!!! 100,000 naira upwards if you really want to go to NIIT or APTECH

Someone mentioned CISCO's academy in lagos/abuja to get a VALID skill.

Please, where is this academy in Abuja?

in abuja?, errr, errr, GOOGLE IS UR FRIEND
but to be serious,i heard they moved to abuja from ikoyi(queens road in lagos), as or google it sha.

i would agree with those that outline the need for skill, but would also want to mention that experience is a criteria for certification success but it depends. well im new so let me say hello to you all "Hello". u see the IT industry is meteoring in its pace, it like being a vb6.0 programmer with 5 years experience and opting to get certified on the mcsd.net path, u see when new products are released there is more to it that meets the odinary eye, but em sometimes it just an upgrade, but if unlucky it might be a whole paradigm change like in .Net

Certificatins to be industry specific are invaluable ill choose it to a degree, but the question is, would i be an executive and employ someone without a degree that has a certification? well it depends. i read an article on a blog site www.joelonsoftware.com about the importance of skill and passion, and sometimes i wonder why bill gates would leave the glory of the CEO office for some CSA possition. my answer is that there is a need for skill and certification makes a much louder statement than a degree. microsoft would say "prove ur skills" it sure does count to have a cert.

in nigeria there is this hoopla of certification these days, but people seem to froget the word Proffessionalism, thats what employers want, Mtn doesnt want to employ someone who crammed ccna to manage its valuable servers, its the skill that count, certification is just the dressing and u need it. ive heard og people who get certified and could not pass simple interviews. get the skills get experience get certified - ur getting a job.

A combination of Degree, certifications and experience is best here in Nigeria and everywhere else. In-fact for some positions, u would even require a Masters. Of course with just any of the 3 u could start but there surely will be a level @ which you can rise no more except u own ur biz.

What I preach is this, get a degree while u are @ it get some experience and when u start working, start doing ur certifications.

visit http://www.jidaw.com for some more detailed advice

thanks to my2cents reply. my guy, this might sound some how but it's the hard talk and it's the only the simple dat can understand this. the most important thing is applied knowledge in life. i'm in the professional world and i know what is happening.the main thing is to be able to perform.i know a guy who is into securities, i mean any kind of IT securities. dis guy does not even have any IT certification yet those who have, pay him big money to repair their crash edand hacked systems. recently a bank called him to solve an IT problem for them. you wont believe the guys in the bank's team handling dat problem o. cissps and co.
dat means they just cram for the exams and pass and dats all.

my advice is this, get a good training on IT, go to university if affordable , just do something reasonable to improve yourself.anyone of them is gud depending on your level of determination for success. however, IT is not money, it's business that is money. if you're interested to be a software analyst,e-business manager i can help you to be trained and finally get the professional certification and start working immediately.

if you're interested in this golden opportuinity pls contact me at:
nizak building, 44, akanro street,ilasamaja, lagos state, nigeria.
08023054799.

you can make it in life if you choose to work on yourself and flow with the change in the IT world. many good certifications are released everytime. i can help u with the 2 i mentioned above.
regards