Help/Advice/Guidance needed and requested...

Discussion in 'IT and Computer-Related Degrees' started by zdevilinside, Aug 20, 2017.

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  1. zdevilinside

    zdevilinside New Member

    I am at a loss as to what to do with my future. Let's start with my info:

    45 years old (today)
    Male from the US

    20+ years of IT work - mostly Wintel but have done Linux and Mac. Strong in hardware/networking and OSs. Was level 3 tech when I went back to school.

    HATES programming

    Currently disabled due to Bipolar Disorder

    Has had A+ certification since 99, MCSE, MCSA and a few others since but most recent was MCTS - Windows 7. Previous employer didn't care about certs so I didn't bother with them. I could go get a CCNA or Network+ or Security+ quite simply; I would need just a few weeks of light studying to be ready for the test.

    I went out on disability in November 2011. As an attempt to rehabilitate myself, I have gone back to school. I got an Associates of Applied Science - Computer Info Systems, Bachelor of Information and Communication Technology and about to complete a Masters of Science - Info Technology. Academics has been easy for me - honors graduate at all levels - 4.0/4.0 currently. The courses have been EXTREMELY easy for me because the amount of experience I have in industry. When it has been stressful or something I didn't understand, I often panic attacks and was unable to keep to schedule. (Luckily that was rare to happen but that happens when you are really not dealing with something new.)

    I need to figure out what to do once I complete the Masters. I loved IT work in the field, doing networks and servers, mentoring other techs and similar things. I believe I would be a decent line manager for an IT tech team because I have had enough ones in the past and can tell you what they did good and wrong plus am able to guide work. I have approximately $35k that I can use towards another degree. What type of degree would you go after in my shoes? PhD of IT? If so, any suggested schools?

    I have also considered doing a MBA-IS because it seems that it is a fallback that many do; maybe it is a over crowded field. What are your thoughts?

    I don't believe I will have difficulty getting into any school; every single school I have applied to in the past has accepted me; Monash University, La Trobe, James Cook, Univ of Cape Town, Fachhochschule Sudwestfalen, New Mexico State, Arizona, Arizona State, Texas Tech and a few others.

    What would you do in my situation? What schools would you recommend?

    I dropped out of WGU's Masters of IT program because I didn't like their method of evaluation; instructors would look at my work, say that they felt I completed the requirements but the "evaluators" disagreed and sent work back. This happened many times and the evaluators often asked for a lot more detail in areas that were not part of the detailed instructions. A few courses I just cut where a paragraph was, put it underneath the next one and then resubmitted. That was accepted.

    The final straw for me was when I submitted work that had "If you are actually reading this, I would be surprised." and "The evaluation of this paper is bull and will not be really reviewed for anything." buried in the text of the paper and it was accepted. I had also had "if you read this sentence, please let me know because I doubt it is being properly reviewed." Those things were accepted by the evaluator without comment. After that, I knew that they were not really evaluating our work but checking boxes only.

    Anyhow, you can now see why I won't accept going to WGU for anything.
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    I am not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV but it seems to me that if your Bipolar Disorder is not under control then nothing else you do will really matter. I have the idea that creating that kind of stability is tricky. It's a delicate balance and taking on big new tasks can be disruptive to that balance. Be careful. Beyond that I'd say that you've been going about this process a bit backwards. What I mean by this is easy enough to understand. You've said "I need to figure out what to do once I get my Masters." I think that's a mistake. You need to figure out what you want to do and then (and only then) you go out and earn the Masters if (and only if) a Masters is actually required to accomplish that goal. This is where your experience will benefit you the most. Use your knowledge of the field to help you decide what sort of position attracts you the most and then figure out what credential you need to get there. Others on the board have much more knowledge about the world of IT than I have so they'll be able to give more specific advice. Best of luck.
     
  3. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    How far along are you with the WGU Masters IT program? Half way? More than half way? If you can finish that degree program, I would highly recommend doing it... who cares, it's a check the box Masters. It will LOOK GREAT on a resume vs not finishing the program.

    I think you maybe able to finish it in a few months, I am looking at those programs at this moment.... many people I have chat with say the same thing, basically, pull yourself into completing it and get a Hodges MIS/MPA or Patten MBA as something to fall back on...

    I am interested in 3 masters, Patten MBA (7 concentrations to choose from), Hodges MIS/MPA, and WGU MS or MBA ITM/MSML... I don't need $35K, I can finish them for $2K+$3.5K+$3.25K (roughly $8,750) for all 3 masters... haha, that's my goal!
     
  4. zdevilinside

    zdevilinside New Member

    I was using education to help me get bipolar under control. I am 4 classes away from a Masters of Science - IT from Grantham University. When I am not overly stressed or have gotten enough sleep, I am fine. When I get stressed or haven't slept for awhile, things get to be a bit dicey but not noticeable for outsiders unless you REALLY know me well. However, when I am really stressed and/or haven't gotten enough sleep for an extended period of time, I tend to rapidly cycle and THAT is the problem. I have been hospitalized a few times due to my rapid cycling and that isn't pretty. We are talking 4 to 5 rapid cycles in a day! If you know anything about bipolar disorder, you would know that that much cycling is a very dangerous place to be. For those without the knowledge of bipolar disorder, rapid cycling is considered to be four or more cycles in a year. That should tell you something about my psyche.

    I am pretty much convinced that getting a PhD in IT is a useless endeavor.

    I love the idea of being line management for an IT support team. I know the IT support side very well, have acted as a technical team lead that provided the technical direction for a support team but wasn't on the "management" side. I got to see what the metrics our team needed to maintain with our SLA and assigned techs to the different calls.
     
  5. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Finish degree first, then go for another

    Since you only have 4 courses left for your degree, finish it first and then work on another.
    I see Grantham has a MBA option for IT as well, if that's the case, you can go for it or from another school, it all depends on personal preference. There are a few programs/school.
     

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