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Which do you need to succeed? A degree or professional Certificate in I.T

Graduates of JPIT BCS computer programme program walk into their job interviews not just with a professional degree but with industry-recognized certificates.

 

The field of information technology is a diverse one, full of promising career options covering a broad range of specialties ripe with opportunities to succeed and excel for motivated, smart leaders.

It’s also a competitive field. For those looking to break into IT, and for those already working in technology but seeking ways to get ahead, how do you best demonstrate your leadership? How do you stand out among the competition?

IT professionals are having that very conversation on discussion forums and social networks across the Internet. And one question regularly comes up: Which is more important, an IT professional certificate (BCS) or an IT degree?

And over and over again, the people who know how to answer that question best—the employers hiring IT professionals, the job-seekers facing scrutiny of their own credentials, and the successful IT pros who have found their dream jobs—all say the same thing: It kind of depends.

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On one such discussion board, the conversation is similar to what you see elsewhere. It goes something like this:

Original post: I have just started my IT career. Which is better: going to university and getting a degree or getting a professional graduate diploma in I.T?

First type of comment: If you want to be successful, you need both.

Second type of comment: I have a degree, but every company where I apply just wants me to have a professional I.T certificate.

Third type of comment: I have every cert you can think of, but employers just keep asking me why I don’t have a degree.

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In fact, when someone does express preference for one over the other – say, a degree is more important because professional certificates are always changing and are so industry-specific – they’re usually speaking specifically about their own situation. Maybe they’re looking to transition out of IT into a field where a professional certificate means less, or maybe the certificates they’ve earned are outdated or on topics that don’t apply to the kind of jobs they’re now seeking.

The safest solution, it seems: Get both.

But this also sounds like a time-consuming—not to mention expensive—solution. It doesn’t have to be. There are courses — like the IT programmes at J-Prompt Institute of Technology (JPIT)  —that actually involve earning professional industry certificate while you earn your degree. Passing certain courses and earning certain certifications are done at the same time. After all, JPIT is a competency-based institution, and professional industry certificates  are one of the key ways the IT field has created to identify competency.

And it’s affordable: A degree and professional certificate all wrapped into one low, flat-rate tuition fee.

JPIT has other professional programs and hands-on that all include industry certifications, so deciding whether to earn your degree or go for those certs doesn’t have to be an either-or question anymore.

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