Capitol Technical University Doctorate

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by nelson8403, Jul 7, 2015.

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  1. nelson8403

    nelson8403 New Member

    I just got accepted into their Doctor of Science Cybersecurity degree, has anyone else taken this program before? It looks to be fairly recent (2014?) and I've read great things about their MSIA program.. I'm just unsure about how this will look with WGU for my bachelor+master and then Capitol Technical for doctorate.
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    How it will look to whom? What's your overall professional goal that led you to apply in the first place?
     
  3. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Your path is not bad, at least you are in the Information Security/Cyber Security field. However, Capitol Technology University (formerly Capitol College) Doctor of Science in Information Assurance does not help you to seek for full-time tenure track due to brand name recognition. If your goal is to climb to the corporate ladder and consulting in the Information Security world would serve you perfectly.
     
  4. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I think the average person (including employers) tends to be, at least somewhat, impressed by a doctorate even if they don't recognize the school.

    Obviously, having a PhD in CS from MIT is going to impress a lot of people. No reasonable employer would look at that and say "What, you couldn't get into Harvard?"

    I'm speaking about purely non-academic employers here. I don't know what goes through the minds of faculty search committees at the university level. I am friends with a few professors, however, and their academic snobbery is astounding.

    In the private sector, I would say that MBAs tend to fall into two very broad categories (which are purely based on my own observation): impressive credentials and "check the box."

    The bulk of MBAs fall into the latter. The position requires an MBA? And you have one? Cool. No one is impressed by the no-name university or the popular online university. But the HR person gets to "check the box" beside the MBA requirement (metaphorically speaking, of course, our interview forms don't have "check boxes" beside each requirement. There is an overall assessment and, at the very bottom, our final recommendation of "Recommend for Hire," "Do Not Recommend for Hire" or "Ineligible for Hire Without VP of HR Approval.")

    The first category is the stuff that makes a hiring manager say "Wow, he has an MBA from Wharton!" This category also has sub-grades. People are typically very impressed with Ivy League degrees but also take note of degrees with solid regional reputations, for example.

    Doctorates are the MBA of twenty years ago, as far as credentials for private employment. MBAs used to be sought after because relatively few people had them. Go further back and that's how people felt about the bachelors. My fellow HR colleagues and hiring managers love seeing a doctorate. At a minimum it shows you're dedicated to your field and you take it very, very seriously. That might not sound like much. However, we live in a world where people change careers (not just jobs) multiple times during their working life. We have a handful of people in HR who came to us from various non-HR worlds including IT, Engineering and Marketing. So having someone with that much education dedicated to a particular field is becoming more of a theoretical construct than a common applicant profile.

    So, let's say I'm hiring cybersecurity people. And I do, periodically, hire them. I'm going to probably put a candidate with the doctorate in my short pile to hand to the hiring manager as long as you meet the experience requirement as well. I might do that even if you didn't have required (or preferred) certifications because, to me, you have a strong case for equivalency. To the hiring manager that might not be the case at all. If you have the experience, the doctorate and the certifications, however, I'd be surprised if the hiring manager didn't at least do a phone interview.

    You'll notice that I haven't said anything about the program at Capitol Technical University. That's because neither I nor the hiring manager are likely to have an opinion of the school one way or the other. Before your post, I had never heard of this school before. I googled it. It's accredited and seemingly noncontroversial. My research is done. Unless a school is ranked somewhere in the top 10% I really don't care about it's rankings. Your doctorate from Capitol Technical University is, in my eyes, on the same level as a doctorate from Leafy Quad College nestled in the picturesque hills of wherever or, really, any other regionally accredited university.

    How would a Capitol Doctorate look against a WGU B.S./M.S.? The same way as any other collection of degrees from unranked schools. My company just lost a cyber security guy to Booz Allen Hamilton and his education consisted of a B.S. from Cornell and an M.S. from the University of Phoenix. That has to be one of the most peculiar degree combinations I've seen. Yet, it by no means rendered him unemployable.
     
  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    When considering doctoral study, it might be helpful to seek out those who have done one or more.
     
  6. nelson8403

    nelson8403 New Member

    Thanks for the responses! I'd maybe do a little side academic work but mostly this would be private sector and possible consulting. I'm looking at this to build up my IA experience (Information Assurance) I will have 4 years and the D.Sc once completed (I'm at about 5 months in the field now)

    My main goal would get into Information Assurance / Cybersecurity Senior role or Management and progress from there possibly to a CISO/CIO role. I know the MBA is very useful there but I would much rather get a doctorate to fill the requirement if possible.
     

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