Ask Trish
O'Reilly School of Technology Guidance Counselor Trish Gray answers your questions about your I.T. Career goals and how to reach them.
About the Author
In addition to helping students and I.T. professionals for 13 years, Tricia Mills Gray has
been the Senior Development Manager of OST since it's inception as
UserActive in 1997. She was the 2002 SBA Midwest Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and is
currently writing the OST PHP/SQL Series. She holds
a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois College of Engineering.
A Novice Wants to Break Into the I.T. Field
Dear Trish:
I am very interested in taking your classes, but I do not like online courses. I am considering taking a CS degree but it requires upper math classes which I'd rather not take, since programming knowledge is most important & due to time constraints. Most importantly, I am uncertain about my skill level since I am a novice.
I have taken some basic computer programming classes years ago in college. I had gotten sidetracked with juggling part time job and school and personal relationship and now I must begin anew. I have witnessed a friend steadily work from a network administrator to a full time computer programmer within some 5 yrs & now earning 65k without having completed a BS. Given I do not have the strong math and programming foundation nor experience, I feel I am at a disadvantage.
As I have gotten older, time and money becomes limited & I do not have the luxury to experiment. Personally, I have recovered from an illness and I am ready to move forward full force. I am considering taking CS classes at Park University and or get certification to work with computers. My goal is to be employed at a place like (see attached) which requires a BS AND work experience. I would like to gradually work part time in the meantime while taking classes & switch over to full time eventually.
My biggest concern is signing up for online classes & being absolutely clueless about assigned tasks with no one to articulate problem solving methods, thus wasting time. I much prefer the human interaction in class -eye contact, body language, face to face communication, & peer networking/support..etc. However, Online classes would enable me more freedom & leeway to financially support myself. Perhaps I'm in over my head.
Simone from El Paso, TX
Dear Simone:
Thanks for contacting me. I think you are right to explore your options before diving
head-first into
college again, as it is a huge decision both time-wise and monetarily. Your
friend is part of a growing trend of I.T. workers who climb their way up the
corporate ladder not through traditional higher education, but through trade
schools, job-specific training and experience. Check out this question/answer
page about entry-level I.T. jobs on Women Employed:
http://www.womenemployed.org/
I think getting a bachelor's degree is a great long-term goal to have, and you
should certainly pursue it -- but if you need to get started on your I.T.
experience NOW, you may want to take the Certificate programs to jump-start this
process, then find a good part-time or full-time, entry-
level I.T. position that can pay your bills while you pursue your Bachelor's
degree at a local college. It sounds backwards, but by the time you finish your
Bachelor's, you'll have enough experience this way to get your foot in the door
of the REALLY good jobs, like the one you sent me.
To work toward the System Administrator Job that you sent me,
I would recommend starting with Linux/Unix System Administration, then go on to
Open Source Programming, and then if needed,
.NET Programming(although I don't
think .NET will be necessary unless you really want the Windows experience).
The position you sent me is not entry-level; however, taking those two
Certificate series will get you off on the right foot with almost all the
technologies listed. If that's the direction you
want to take, just be sure to look for Junior System (or Network) Administration
roles in similar companies so you can build your resume in preparation for this
sort of job.
We don't employ video or high-bandwidth learning methods; rather, we focus on
one-to-one communication with your own instructor, and lots and lots and lots of
real practice on the actual technologies. All courseware, tools and
communication are housed within something we call a Learning Sandbox, which is
all web-based so you don't have to download or configure anything yourself. You
simply log in, start with Lesson 1, and follow the instructions within that
Lesson to "try this, now try this". We want you to get started immediately and
not be intimidated by the technology.
We also want you to keep discovering things that may not necessarily be within
the lesson, which is why you're on REAL tools, not simulations. When you're
ready to hand in your projects, or if you get stuck, you contact your
instructor, who evaluates your assignments in detail and answers your questions
promptly and in a Socratic way (meaning to encourage your own discovery). If
you don't have the concept down, your instructor will motivate you to keep
working on it until you do. Our students cite the student-instructor
relationship as one of the best aspects of our courses, along with the real-
world practice, online portfolio, and flexibility of working anytime, anywhere.
No, you're not in over your head. I.T. seems way more complicated than it
really is -- you just have to jump in and try. If you want to dip your toe in,
start with one of the super-beginners like Linux/Unix 1 or
HTML and CSS, try it out for 7 days,
and if you don't like it just invoke the 7-day refund policy.
Thanks,
Trish
P.S. By the way, if advanced math concepts intimidate you, might I suggest
Netmath, an online Calculus, Statistics and Linear Algebra program through the
University of Illinois: http://www.netmath.uiuc.edu/.
Netmath was one of the first Internet-based distance education programs in the world, and still
one of the most innovative. Co-written by the world-famous Professor Jerry Uhl,
Netmath employs the plain-English, self-paced, learn-by-doing methodologies that
inspired our own OST pedagogy.
Earn a Certificate
for Professional Development from the University of Illinois' Office of Continuing Education upon completion of a selected series of courses.
