What Is The Best Way To Get Advanced It Skills And A Degree?

I want to advance my career to the next level but need some advice on how to do it. This post may be a bit long so please bear with me.

My college degree is in communications. When I was laid off from an advertising firm about 20 years ago, a close friend thought my combination of good selling skills and a geeky side would be a perfect fit for selling/servicing PCs in a retail setting. He was right. In addition to working for several “big box” chains, I also owned and ran my own PC shop for over four years. I have great skills in Windows, hardware troubleshooting, small (home) networking and the ability to translate problems/solutions into language an average user can understand.

Retail is dying and even an entry level IT position would pay much more than what I'm making now. Given the job postings I've looked at, it appears I would need to learn and develop serious skills in areas including SQL, InfoSec and advanced networking plus likely verify them through either a degree or a series of certifications.

Two years for an IS degree at a reputable online non-profit university (such as WGU or SNH) will run about $30,000, require about 15-20 hours a week and include many certifications as part of the cost.

These universities also state you can “test out” of things you are already know and take as many courses as you can handle per semester, possibly cutting the time and cost by half to get the same degree and certifications.

There appear to be many well reviewed books on Amazon covering these topics and some low-cost (under $100 per course) online training sites.

Would it be worth it to try to train myself using such books or other methods before enrolling in an online university to cut down the time and cost? Has anyone else had luck doing something like this or am I better off skipping the do-it-yourself part and not trying to test out of courses?

If you have any other suggestions for free or low-cost online training (either to test out or as an alternative to getting an IT degree) I'd love to hear them.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help.

 

Hey gman, speaking from experience, I started out in 1972 as an electrical apprentice, then got my "A" Grade licence then an Electrical Contractors licence. I realised there was better money in Industrial Controls so I started night school doing technician courses until I had my "Electrician Special Class" rating on top of my "A" Grade and by the late 1970s I was building, programming, troubleshooting and repairing industrial robots. I continued going to night school and switched to a University and did Electronic Engineering. The way I worked it was I got my employer to cover all the course costs provided I passed every subject with a 75% or better score. Luckily my marks were always in the 90% range so my costs were always covered. I don't know about your country but over here if your employer sends you on training courses related to your work then it is a full tax deduction and if they are sending you on a training course for personal development then the government will pay them a yearly cash incentive. To persuade my employer I got all the relevant paperwork that is required to apply for the government staff training bonus and filled it in for him. One Friday after work while we were having a beer I pulled out the paperwork and gave it to him and asked him to read it over the weekend. On Monday he gave me my signed copy and told me that he submitted the application. The way it works out, the boss was only a small amount out of pocket after the government bonus and the spinoff was he could take on jobs that were much more complicated and thus charge more money, so everyone was a winner.

 

Joffa, thanks for the tips. Unfortunately the additional training I want isn't a requirement of my current job and there is no tuition reimbursement in my employee benefits. If I go it alone, the best I can hope for is to get partial financial aid. Anything above this involves student loans.

I have one huge long shot I'm going to try (but not hold my breath on). I have a regular customer who asked me if I'd be interested in coming to work in IT at the municipality where he works. He is very high up, volunteered as a reference but has no say over IT hiring. After reading the job description, I explained I'd need to get up to speed on SQL and InfoSec while on the job. He said to apply anyway given the former IT person's solution to every problem was submitting a requisition to buy new hardware/software or hire a subcontractor. Until I possibly get an interview, I'm not sure how flexible they are. I'd even consider a slightly lower salary until I had my certifications.

In the mean time (whether this long shot happens or not), I need to start getting my training plan set up. I'm hoping for advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation, had to learn new skills like these quickly on the job or from anyone involved in IT hiring.

 

The money today gman is in Data Security......protecting company information on both server networks and within the cloud.

Penetration testing skills will gain you contracts in most sized companies today (even gov't) wanting to protect their business acumen. (or as a private company offering your services)
Data is the new business currency, and many are willing to pay you to keep the bad guys away from their livelyhood.

To catch a fish, you must think like a bear and anticipate its next move!.......so a completed Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH) course online, will get you started.

We are but Whitehats

http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/certified-ethical-hacker-salary/