Some people enjoy the educational experience, and that's an adequate
motivation.
If not, the planning issue is "what would your dream job be?"
>I know Grad School has been discussed in the archives "as opposed" to
>CCIE.... but I have a different question...what about "in addition".
>
>Opinions, maybe a few pointers, and some hindsight from people thats been
>in this longer than I have are what I am looking for. My situation is
>this; I have a BS in MIS (spring 99), I've passed np and ie written (last
>year), attempted the lab once and was only a few points short of
>troubleshooting--and will be trying it again in the very near future.
>About 5 years in the field overall and 2 solid years of cisco and related
>wan stuff. Been in computers in general for as long as I can remember so I
>would call it more than 15 years.
>
>Call me crazy, but I pretty much enjoyed college and had always seen myself
>going past the usual BS (woot, pun)--and get a graduate degree. I am
>thinking MBA, but I can honestly say I'm not overjoyed in being
>management--but I realize that will be a reality.
MBA doesn't strictly mean that you will manage people. With an MIS
concentration, it can deal with requirements analysis, business
process analysis, etc. The sorts of things that MUST be understood
before a successful technical solution can be defined.
>
>Like I mentioned, I know there has been lots of debate on CCIE vs MS.. my
>question is what about CCIE _and_ MS. In a nutshell is it worth getting
>the MS as well?
>
>Yes, of course, the conventional wisdom would say if you got the shot, then
>go for it (which I will do reguardless). The hypothetical question is how
>much of a difference would a ccie with a masters make than one without?
Again, what are you aiming for? Let me turn it around a bit. If you
were going for a job in networking product development, a MS in
computer science would be the key credential at entry level, but many
hiring managers would look favorably on the CCIE (especially with
some field experience), as an indication you can also understand the
operational aspects. I work with some excellent programmers that
write fine routing protocol code, but don't have any real idea how
the code will be used.
It's more complex, I think, to picture how a relevant* MS would help
someone going into implementation and support. If the hiring
organization isn't all that technical, they may simply seize on the
CCIE as a credential "because Cisco said it is" and not realize the
utility of CS background, quantitative methods, etc., in what the
CCIE does. A more technical employer would.
Without getting into the old folks discussion, I'm not a good
example. I don't have a graduate degree or a CCIE, and there's no
particular job-related reason to have them. Ironically, the general
assumption is that people in my current job (network technology R&D
beyond the immediate product generation) probably have a PhD. My
demonstrated Cisco experience is valued, but my resume is more
important than any certification. I'd sort of like to get an advanced
degree only because I think I'd enjoy doing some academic teaching,
but I find it difficult to justify the time.
* relevance is in the eye of the beholder. Courses I took in
psychological operations and propaganda have been most useful in
corporate America.
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