Hamish McPanji
Honorary Master
Sort out your honours. Certificates you can do anytime.
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Question of the Day: If you were buying a TV today, which brand would you choose?
Honors in computer science vs certificates
- Thread starter openSource007
- Start date
As an employer I'm happy to train/give opportunities to grads etc to train.
There is good experience vs bad experience also.
Teachability of a person is key, you need to know how to introduce grads with BSc , hons etc into the industry and set them up to succeed (1/2 years of investment)
Problem is , most managers themselves are unqualified or have B degrees....
My 2c .....
There is good experience vs bad experience also.
Teachability of a person is key, you need to know how to introduce grads with BSc , hons etc into the industry and set them up to succeed (1/2 years of investment)
Problem is , most managers themselves are unqualified or have B degrees....
My 2c .....
Unfortunately, most okes going into a company with an hons and working under some unqualified (but highly experienced) manager, feel they should be the manager, whereas academic learning is often rather meaningless in real world situations.
Let me provide you an opinion from an academic perspective, although i specialize in commerce. Doing a degree looks good on paper and it promotes various other skills (time management, self-efficacy, working under pressure, taking responsibility, etc.). The problem is that a degree does not necessarily guarantee that you will do your job better (or make you better than another employee). From my research specialization I have also found that a degree can lead to psychological entitlement (a sense of deservingness) which may have a negative impact on your job satisfaction if reality does not live up to your expectations.
What I understand is that you want to learn something new, therefore I will say that it is best to do a certificate (with a practical approach) and much better for short-term learning. If you desire long term development then a degree will be more suited to your needs (it may be more theoretically orientated). The important thing to note is that both of these methods have their pro's/con's and that none of them guarantee that you will be better in your job, that will all depend on how you use them. In the end you are the one that needs to make the decision!
Maybe this is an easier way to look at your problem (simplifying it): If you want to learn to speak Zulu, will you get (a) Zulu lessons at a college, or (b) do a degree in Zulu? I think the same principle applies to programming languages.
What I understand is that you want to learn something new, therefore I will say that it is best to do a certificate (with a practical approach) and much better for short-term learning. If you desire long term development then a degree will be more suited to your needs (it may be more theoretically orientated). The important thing to note is that both of these methods have their pro's/con's and that none of them guarantee that you will be better in your job, that will all depend on how you use them. In the end you are the one that needs to make the decision!
Maybe this is an easier way to look at your problem (simplifying it): If you want to learn to speak Zulu, will you get (a) Zulu lessons at a college, or (b) do a degree in Zulu? I think the same principle applies to programming languages.
Agreed.
A certificate doesn't guarantee that you will do your job better either. I hardly think that this or your above statement is a revelation to anyone, or that it is relevant to the discussion at hand.
As for entitlement, I doubt that that the risk of one extra year of university creating an entitlement disorder is a sound reason to choose the lesser education.
This analogy has the complete wrong structure - the certification and the honours degree teach entirely different things, so the choice isn't about the best type of education to learn a particular thing, but rather what is learnt. If the OP wants to learn advanced computer science, he should do the degree, and if he wants to learn Java and Spring he should do the certificate. I suggest doing the honours degree, since unlike the degree, the certification contents can likely be self-studied easily or picked up on the job.
flippakitten
Expert Member
If you have the time to consider doing a Honors, do them.
Certifications are quick and you can get decent ones that really take up very little time at https://www.edx.org/
Unlike a lot of the other online things out there, the paths and certs on edx are recognized by companies and universities.
You can also take them for free if you just want to test the waters.
So if you're only planning on enrolling for Honors next year, do a couple of 10 week courses this year.
That way you get the industry specific knowledge now, for your current job, which betters your current situation and gives you some more knowledge to be used later and you get the Honors, which by itself is an achievement to be proud of on top of the extra doors it will open for you.
Certifications are quick and you can get decent ones that really take up very little time at https://www.edx.org/
Unlike a lot of the other online things out there, the paths and certs on edx are recognized by companies and universities.
You can also take them for free if you just want to test the waters.
So if you're only planning on enrolling for Honors next year, do a couple of 10 week courses this year.
That way you get the industry specific knowledge now, for your current job, which betters your current situation and gives you some more knowledge to be used later and you get the Honors, which by itself is an achievement to be proud of on top of the extra doors it will open for you.
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+1, Honours is not going to teach you to write good Java code nor is it going to teach you about spring. However, it will force you to pick up skills and deliver results in a very short time span (probably one of the best things I got out of honours).