I posted “Don’t go to grad school?” on twitter followed by this LinkedIn article giving 7 reasons it’s a big mistake to go to grad school and was surprised by the flurry of feedback from top Microsoft Lync MVP’s on whether grad school is a good idea. What I was mainly surprised by is the unanimous chorus of “No!”.
Below are some interesting comments and input for those getting into the IT (and UC specifically) industry:
“Computer Science degrees full of coding didn’t interest me one bit. Did CCNA/MCSE instead.” –Justin Morris, Lync MVP
“For me, less time spent in school equaled more time gaining real world experience…” –Pat Richard, Lync MVP, (Previously Exchange MVP) UCArchitect Podcast
“Best advice my dad ever gave me was not to go to university. IT degree’s are worthless in my opinion. IT is practical first and academic a very distant second.” –Shawn Harry,
“I tried doing a degree a few years back got through one year. What a waste of time. Most of it was out of date.” –Chris Norman, Lync TSP at Microsoft, Popular Lync blogger: voipnorm.blogspot.com
“I was near a degree in chemistry when I started working. No regrets” –Fabrizio Volpe
“The knowledge that launched my career didn’t come from the classroom, but by actually working in the school IT department!” –Jonathan McKinney, Lync Certified Master (MCM), UC Architect
“I trained on the job. 13+ years real world experience tops any grad degrees in interviews now.” –Dave Simm,
“I wouldn’t say grad degrees are “worthless”, but they are worth less than hands-ons. the IT people learn by curiousity…the thing is, education doesn't have to be classroom. It can be as simple as books & @TechNetUK. That's how I do it.” –Samuel Roach
What are your thoughts?
I like Samuels comment. Much more subtle than mine :-)
ReplyDeleteI don't decry anyone that has gone to the 'effort' to pursue a degree but i just can't see their practical value in IT, much less for the expense, when compared with vendor certifications and practical experience. All of which is transferable and practically applicable.
You can't teach experience hence why you have to go out there and get your hands dirty. No amount of 'class room' study will change that.