2/23/2001 -- As someone who writes about technical career issues, I am frequently asked, "So, what’s better: a college degree or an industry certification?" The answer is, of course, that it all depends.

First, in the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that I am both an MCSE and a college professor. In my past I have also been a hiring manager for vendor organizations in the technical marketplace. So I bring a conflicting set of biases to this discussion: I think everyone should have a college degree AND multiple certifications AND should pursue a course of lifelong learning. But then again, I’m also left-handed, so I’m used to being in the minority.

I said the answer to the question all depends, so what does it depend on? Well, first of all, it depends upon what you want to be. Not just as an employee, but as a person? Are you the type of person who constantly seeks information, is always trying to learn something new? Or are you content to get by with the minimum level required to maintain your status, or perhaps to get one step up?

Second, what’s your long-term goal? As you’ll see, the choice of certification versus college has long-term implications for your career and your life.

Certification: A Leg Up, but How Strong?
Ideally, certifications should be a way of demonstrating, via an objective measure, your mastery of some more-or-less specific area of technology. An evaluator should be able to believe that someone certified in Exchange 2000, for example, has the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement and manage Exchange 2000. In the real world, however, we know that it is possible to pass the exams without extensive experience; therefore, to the extent this is true for a specific certification, the value of that certification in the eye of a hiring organization will decline.

On the other hand, for an organization that has a need for a particular specialty and knows how to balance experience and certifications, given an equivalent level of experience, the candidate with a certification should always come out on top. I believe that experience and skills should influence pay levels more than certifications, so experience with no certs should get more than certs with no experience. Still, the bottom line is that having a certification is better than not having one.

(An aside – many position descriptions list one of the requirements as "college degree or related experience." This is a fig leaf that permits a company to say that they generally hire college graduates, without preventing them from hiring the experienced people they really need, degree or no degree.)

A Degree by Any Other Name…
According to the extra-special Theory of Relativity, everything is relative. The value of a college degree varies by major, institution, level and results. For instance, generally speaking, for a technology-related position in a technology-oriented company, an Information Technology (IT), Computer and Information Science (CIS) or Management Information Science (MIS) degree is more valuable than a degree in Art History or Astronomy. Here’s an exception: If, for some reason, the hiring company requires a degree, ANY degree, then lots of experience and a BA in Social Work will trump an IT degree with little experience.

The institution also matters. In a perfect world, a degree is a degree, signifying the same level of accomplishment no matter where it was earned. But reality says that a technical degree from Carnegie Mellon University, MIT or Stanford counts for more than the equivalent degree from the East Catlitter Institute of Technology.

And then there’s the level of education. All other things being equal, a Bachelor’s degree beats an Associates degree; a Master’s beats a Bachelor’s, and a PhD beats a Master’s, unless one-eyed jacks are wild. However, an advanced degree may work against you in some circumstances – companies may feel you are overqualified for the position, or they cannot pay at an appropriate level for your degree. Many positions require graduate degrees; most of these are not in technology, however.

Finally, results. Curiously enough, this is the least important aspect of a degree. Rarely will anyone ask you for your GPA; they may ask for a transcript as proof of having received a degree, but your grades are generally irrelevant. So in this illogical world, squeaking by with the minimum required to get a degree from MIT is more valuable than a straight-A record at Louie’s School of Applied Science.

But what is the value of a college degree – any degree? It demonstrates your ability to learn diverse information. Those of you with degrees probably remember semesters where you were taking classes in German, Accounting, World History and Operating Systems. The fact that you were able to keep such varied topics separate in your mind and succeed in all of them indicates, at the least, an ability to handle multiple projects and work to a deadline. Earning a degree shows a measure of determination and, yes, maturity that is valuable in any working situation.

A college degree also demonstrates the ability to survive in a multi-level bureaucracy. Since many of you will begin your working career in large organizations, these skills can be extremely valuable.

The Job Factor
There is another dimension to this discussion about certifications and a college degree. The relative importance of these two choices seems to depend upon the type of position you are seeking. Companies who are seeking tactical resources will value specific experience and certifications over a college degree. What do I mean by tactical resources? They need someone to do a specific project, usually right now. So a college degree and all that it signifies is irrelevant under the circumstances.

What do those doing the hiring say? Bob Banjac is vice president of Business Smarts, an systems integration and consulting firm in Broadview Heights, Ohio. As a small firm, Business Smarts primarily hires technical implementation and project resources. For those positions, Bob discounts the value of a college degree, looking more for practical experience in the areas required by their projects. For those candidates that do have a college background, Bob puts a higher value on business courses than technology courses. He notes, "Each one of our people is dealing with the customers on a daily basis. They need to be able to understand the business problems of our clients to be able to find the right technical solution."

On the other hand, if the position is for a high-level consultant, manager or above, the requirement for, and the value of, a degree goes up significantly. Joe Weber, managing consultant for Microsoft in Cleveland, uses a typical Microsoft metaphor to relate degrees to certifications. "I view a college degree as breadth and certifications as depth," he says. "People competing for top jobs must bring a complete skill set, not just skill. At Microsoft, sure, we grill people on their technical base. But that might be just two of seven interviews a candidate faces. The others are looking for breadth: The ability to sell ideas and yourself, the ability to react under pressure, the social skills that allow a person to empathize with customers. A college education provides the framework of that collection of skills that we’re looking for."

Long-Term Value
Any discussion of the value of a degree compared to certifications must also deal with the lifespan of that value. In most cases, certifications, even the most rigorous, can be accomplished in less time than a degree, but the value of that certification degrades over time, sometimes amazingly quickly. For example, I was once an Advanced Certified Engineer (ACE) in SCO UNIX. For marketing purposes today, that certification is pretty worthless. Those of us who are NT 4.0 MCSEs know that the midnight at which that carriage to success will turn back into a pumpkin is rapidly approaching. The value of a college degree, on the other hand, is timeless. Sure, the specifics of some of your courses will become irrelevant over time (I remember learning Cobol using punch cards), but the overall experience and skills stay with you.

It may be that pursuing a certification might be the correct first step – that may be enough to get you in the door. Many vendors are pushing their certification programs down to the high- school level – diploma and CCNA at the same time, for example. But if you find that your career path is hampered by a lack of a degree, or you choose for whatever reason to go back to school, there are many fine accredited colleges and universities with evening, weekend or online degree programs. You might even find that your company will pay for it. Granted, going to college while working full time is a strenuous path, but speaking from personal experience, it is definitely achievable.

Yeah, but I’m a Career Changer
"Well, all that if fine for freshouts [fresh out of high school or college], but what about us older folks, changing careers?"

To a great extent, it depends upon whether you already have a degree. For those that do, the return on investment (of both money AND time) of pursuing a new IT degree will probably be miniscule. Remember, for most positions, the requirement is having a degree -- ANY degree. You would be better off concentrating on applying your accumulated life experience towards a job in the IT field AND pursuing a certification. But I find too many older people face a career change thinking they have to start from scratch. The challenge is to package and market what you’ve already learned and done, while adding the specific IT twist.

If you don’t have a college degree, you still have the opportunity – many colleges and universities cater to the "non-traditional" student. But again, a college degree is not always necessary – position descriptions usually say something like "college degree OR equivalent experience." Play up the experience part, and think in broad terms. The bottom line is still that experience counts.

So What Do You Do Now?
As you have probably gathered by now, there is no easy answer to the certifications versus college degree question. Both of them are tools to accomplish your goals and desires. Consider the factors above, then make the choice that feels right for you. I leave you with one final caution, however: No piece of paper is a substitute for intelligence, savvy, enthusiasm and experience.

More articles by Steve Crandall:

• CertCities' Certification Lexicon