Getting Certified

Is this the way?

[cicru]

I do not have any degree, I am the kind of guy who was programming at 16 and never went to school etc.

Now in europe things are getting tough, and although I have 10 years of experience some employers are not even accepting my application because of the no degree issue.

(I have been trying to make a decent living out of being a private webmaster ... but no succcess yet)

I was thinking of getting a degree
This is the most "suitable" one I found which kind of is on topic.

Do you have any comments or suggestions

Please do not tell me that degress are not important, here in europe they are!

This is what I have been blabbering about :
[portsmouthonlinecourses.com...]

[le_gber]

cicru,

If I was you I would have a look here: [www3.open.ac.uk...]

It's the open university IT page.

If you haven't got any diploma you may want to go for a Bsc and then an Msc to catch up with the lost time.

Although it is true that diploma are important, the thing that employers are looking for, IMO, is more a proof that you can succeed when you apply yourself to long term effort. It's more the way of thinking, the process of thinking/analizing a problem than the title of your diploma or the unversity it came from (do not apply for prestigious uni like harvard, MIS and oxford or cambridge here in UK - although I am not sure their IT diplomas are so well known).

Funilly enough I thought of going for the same diploma in Portsmouth a couple of years ago, just before I decided that I didn't have to rely on any employer and started my own business.

Hope this helps

Leo

[cicru]

I did consider the Open uni degree. but
takes three years to complete and is a BSC not an MSC, and they cost the same price why not jumpstart to an MSC when you can?

Also the BSC is a lot of theory stuff, which i really do not need the MSC is more pratical IMO.

The cost is a whooping $9K though ... which is a lot.

[Easy_Coder]

I achieved an ms certification for the vb6 technology a few years ago and I've got to say it has paid off and I'm now working on my .net certification. Some people don't put much stock in certs. but paying customers do; at least that's been my experience. More importantly it shows that you are capable of setting a goal and then achieving it and that can speak volumes for you.

[danieljean]

I had the same problem as you looking for work in Paris. Boy, can Europeans be weird... some told me point blank they would rather have someone with a degree that can't do the job than the other way around (which made sense: their job was to rent their talent, not actually solve their clients problems).

Anyhow, I started studying for a certification once I had a job, and found it very useful to get advancement and raises. People kept asking me questions for things I considered basic, and I was given responsibilities more senior employees couldn't get...

I'm now self-employed, and being a Sun certified java programmer does get my foot in the door with clients and potential employers. It's also made me more productive, and more confident. So, my advice: go for it :)

[HarryM]

I'm afraid I'm a cynic. With large corporations the possession of a degree, MSc, Phd, or other qualifications is very often used as a filter by non-technical personnel departments to select the applicants that will be interviewed from those that will not. In times of high employment they lower the requirements and in times of high unemployment they raise the requirements.

It's a tick the box scenario. An applicant may be perfectly able to do the job but unless his/her application ticks all the boxes in Personnel's formula, then it goes in the bin.