Re: [OFF TOPIC] College Degree

I have a degree in Health Science education.  Not really pertinent to what I
do today.

I lived in a college town after graduation and there is a bit of degree
snobbery there...secretary (which was my title) required a degree.

I'm not sure people look at that anymore however.  It seems to be based more
on who you know, i.e. networking.  I don't necessarily mean the random
encounter at a social event, I'm talking about people who truly know you,
who've worked with you.  My current job took all of 2 hours to get from
sending my resume to getting the call and accepting an offer (I still don't
know what that offer was...).  I basically got this job because I worked
with another one of this company's employees.  He spoke well of me and they
took him at his word (and a little of my resume).

I don't know if physics or any other degree will necessarily help you out,
unless you're going to be a DBA at a nuclear lab and you want to be able to
understand the scientists.  I will say that it speaks volumes of your drive
and spirit for even entertaining the idea especially with full time work.

Not sure if that helps, I just like to talk (write).  :)


On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 6:02 PM, Kellyn Pedersen <kjped1313@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I just went through an interesting test of this, my last go around on the
> job market, as I have an odd situation, so I'm going to share...
> I actually have two degrees, one in Journalism and a second in
> mathematics.  Post my degrees, I suffered a couple strokes in my early
> 20's due to a medical condition that simply needed the right doctor to
> figure out and to be honest, those years of my life are pretty much blank
> slates.  I started over, literally....  I sold computers while my brain
> healed and as it healed,  my second go around in life showed I had a knack
> for software, the rest is history.
> I worked my way into database support and then was certified in Oracle 8 to
> become an Oracle DBA at US West.
> After eToys went out of business, I had become quite tired of people asking
> me why I wasn't a journalist or utilizing my accounting skills that I had
> worked so hard for in my college years, so I just left it off my resume this
> last time around on the job market to see what would happen.
>
> I was unemployed for all of one week.... :)  I know many HR representatives
> and recruiters ask about a degree, but in the technical arena, they are
> starting to stop-  looking more to experience and certifications, realizing
> that techies are a little different breed.  Does the college curriculum
> really create the best technical specialists?  Not when often the arena is
> changing so fast, a "just the facts" certification with natural skills are
> better equipped to be successful.
>
> The work ethic my parents shared with me, my IQ that thankfully had a few
> extra points to spare during the difficult times and my natural adaptive
> skills have served me better than any college time I lost along with those
> years...
> Nobody tell my parents though, I think they would have rather used the
> money to go to Europe than sending me to Tulane!
>
>
> Kellyn Pedersen
> Multi-Platform DBA
> I-Behavior Inc.
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/kellynpedersen
>
> "Go away before I replace you with a very small and efficient shell
> script..."
>
>
> --- On *Mon, 12/7/09, Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx>* wrote:
>
>
> From: Andrew Kerber <andrew.kerber@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: [OFF TOPIC] College Degree
> To: cicciuxdba@xxxxxxxxx
> Cc: "oracle-l-freelists" <oracle-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Monday, December 7, 2009, 3:02 PM
>
>
> Well, that is kind of strange computer engineering degree.  My degree is in
> computer science, which included 5 semesters of EE.  That was about 20 years
> ago.  These days, it seems like the computer science degree is really more a
> programming degree.  On the other hand, if you expect to have a decent
> professional career (at least in the US), a college degree is mandatory,
> though just about any real degree is sufficient.
>
> On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 3:40 PM, Guillermo Alan Bort 
> <cicciuxdba@xxxxxxxxx<http://us.mc320.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=cicciuxdba@xxxxxxxxx>
> > wrote:
>
>> Well, I've been doing a little soul searching, I've been studying computer
>> engineering for a few years now.
>> I don't like programming, I don't like project management... and that's
>> about all they teach over here in comp eng....
>>
>> So... my question to you is, what is your degree (if any) and what is your
>> opinion on college degrees and real life work.
>>
>> I've been working with Oracle for a few years (4 or 5) and I've come to
>> know it a little, I got a good job as a DBA, but I don't really like the
>> 'regular' careers that are usually associated with Systems
>> Administrations... so... if I got, say, a degree in mathematics or
>> physics... how would it affect my work-life?
>>
>> thanks for your input.
>> cheers.
>> Alan.-
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Andrew W. Kerber
>
> 'If at first you dont succeed, dont take up skydiving.'
>
>
>

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