ITM Adjunct Industry Professor Bill Slater realized some of the students in his ITM 576 Data Center Management class were struggling with the complexity of writing their first graduate research paper, so he offered to hold extra Saturday-morning tutorials on writing research papers. Bill followed up the first session by treating the students to lunch in celebration of the 5th anniversary of earning his Project Management Professional certification.

I get asked this question a lot.  In fact, since this will be read by a lot of students and faculty, I will share some advice I gave someone about three weeks ago.  This person, who actually has an M.S. in Information Technology, was proposing that IT certifications alone would suffice to help a person get the IT job of their dreams.

I am with one of the world’s best companies at the moment, and I am very happy with my job and the people I work with, so I am planning on staying here as long as possible.

But I laugh at the people that think they can move ahead in the IT field without a degree or multiple degrees in this field. They do not realize that despite what they sincerely believe about saving money and getting a few certifications, and skipping the formal education, they are doing themselves considerable career harm in the long run, because they cannot get back the years they wasted believing that poppycock. And actually, it’s good because it helps decrease the competition for guys like you and me. Also, they don’t realize that despite what they believe about being successful without formal education, they have peers and people younger than them who will get a clue and realize what it takes to succeed, and set their course and do it. Read more…