What are the alternatives to Uni?

[Bill_Tech_Leigh]

I didnt fancy going to uni last year when i finished my A-Levels (IT, Business Studies and Sociology). I was a bit confused on where to go instead of uni. I looked on the internet for apprenticeships in the field of work i wanted (IT). I got an interview with a company dealing with apprenticeships and got a place to train as a ITP (IT Practitioner/IT Technician). However, this was only a Level 2 NVQ (aquiviliant to GCSE grades) so once i finished the 6 month course, i decided to go ahead and do my Level 3 NVQ in the same field. I got to choose an external placement to continue the course. I chose to go back to my secondary school to become one of their technicial support staff and all has been ok from there.

 

Apprenticeships build up your experience to add to your CV and to make you more employable as well as earning you a bit of dosh while you train

[OverWorked]

The KEY point to note:

 

YOU have to be happy with your decision, doesn't matter what anyone else says or does do what is right for you, don't live life with regrets and "what if's"

 

There’s a lot of good advice is this thread – none of it is wrong. I think Robz sums it up best here.

 

Don’t feel pressured into going to Uni. I’ve been twice, spending 5 years there, and it hasn’t done me much good. I’m over 40 now and think with hindsight that I could have done something more productive with those 5 years than go to Uni.

 

Uni is only good for those who know what they want and that a degree is the way to get it. Very few people at the age of 18 do – I didn’t. I won’t be pushing my children to go.

 

I like to think I’m a bit of an academic type. I enjoy learning and studying for exams – I’ve just never been able to translate all that education into well-paid work. What I’m saying is that a degree is not a conveyor belt to a wonderful job or life.

 

Two anecdotes:-

 

When at Uni, I shared digs with 2 accountancy students. I also had a friend who was working by other means to become a chartered accountant. Ten years later and my friend had no degree, but did have his own accountancy firm and was doing rather well, while the two with degrees were employees in large accountancy firms. After 20 years, my friend has branches all over northern England. The two graduates are probably still employees.

 

My brother left school at 16 with one O-level, he became an electrician and since then has always earned much more than me. He sometimes asks me why I spent all that time at Uni, and I still don't have a convincing answer.

[OverWorked]

Hopefully *fingers crossed* I have a job lined up for next year which is working as a network tech at a school. Now my original plan was to work for the year and then go to uni but I personally never saw myself going to uni and the thought of it doesn't really interest me...

 

So i guess my questions are:

 

a) Would you recommend going to uni?

 

b) what different options do i have to build upon the experience i already have - ie Microsoft courses etc? and could you named a few

 

 

 

Just trying to work through my options as If i can I would prefer to work and build upon it as i go always been the way i have done things and its worked so far for me, rather sit through another 3 or 4 years of education but i will if i think it will benefit in the long run

 

Cheers for the help

 

To get back to the original question:-

 

a) probably not. If the thought of it "doesn't really interest" you then it sounds like you'll be making the same mistake I did. (I didn't really want to go, I just wanted to avoid working for a living - big mistake). Wait until you're older and more experienced, then you may decide it's right for you.

 

b) Go for technical certs. Start with easier ones and work up. To start with, stick to ones directly relevant to the work you do - you'll find them easier and more useful to your CV. I started with CompTIA A+ and N+, then worked up through the MCPs to get MCSA, but they're superseded now so I might go for MCITP, or ITIL - I don't know yet.

Edited June 9, 2012 by OverWorked

[elsiegee40]

I had no idea what I wanted to do when I left school in 1982 and ended up at uni studying accountancy. Luckily I was at Lancaster and for reasons I still don't understand, my equally weighted 3rd subject was Computing. You have to bear in mind that the first computer was introduced to my school in my very last term!

 

To cut a long story short, my marks reflected my interest and I majored in Computing and have been in the industry ever since.

 

Would I recommend uni? Yes 100%! I grew up at uni.

 

Does it suit everyone? No.

 

My son is quite likely to end up in IT, but I have sneaking suspicion he'll choose an apprenticeship. His sister is hoping to go to uni this year.

 

You have to do what's right for you, but please don't let fear of the unknown put you off uni.

Edited June 9, 2012 by elsiegee40

[witch]

All three of my children have gone to uni but for different reasons.

As far as I am concerned, there are only two reasons for going to uni - one, because you need the qualification to do the thing you want to do, or two, because you love the subject and just want to study it - there must be a place for learning for learnings sake.

My daughter is doing Product Design Engineering because she really wants to design and make things in the real world. My son, on the other hand, is studying History, Politics and Political Philosophy for the sheer pleasure of the intellectual pursuit.

My eldest, however, chose a subject he quite enjoyed at school and has studied Engineering Geology and Geotechnics - but he has no real love for it, has struggled a lot and I wonder if he should never have gone in the first place.

I asked him last week what he really wanted to do and he said that he would love to be a mechanic but there was no money in it. He is too old for an apprenticeship now...

If uni is free and there are jobs then I would always advise going, but nowadays I think it is sensible to only go if you are clear about what you love and what you want and how to go about getting it.

BUT there are very few jobs or apprenticeships out there now and it is hard to get anything at aged 18 - at least round here anyway.

Edited June 9, 2012 by witch

[Kitkatninja]

... a) Would you recommend going to uni? ...

 

This is really a personal question, I went to Uni and got my degree, so I would say yes. However you're not me, so I can't tell if it'll suit you

 

...b) what different options do i have to build upon the experience i already have - ie Microsoft courses etc? and could you named a few ...

 

Ok... There are a whole heap of different option out there:

 

Uni:

Full time, part-time (this is what I did) and the work based route (eg BA (Hons) Learning through Technology; An online degree offered through the Ultraversity scheme at Anglia Ruskin University, UK). You also have the option/choice to get the HNC (1/3 of a degree), HND (2/3 of a degree) and the full degree (with or without honours). You also have the option to use professional certs (eg certain Microsoft certs to gain credit for the degree, take a look at MT127 and the TM227) or you can use your degree studies to gain professional certifications (see the TM128 for example).

 

Vocational:

I believe vocational education is great, but it is under appreciated. Under normal programs, NVQ 2 and 3 is the norm - but they aren't degree level. However NVQ 4 and 5 are, these are harder to find, but they are out there. It's just a case of looking for them.

 

Further Education:

There are degree level qualifications out there but they are mapped to the QCF instead of the FHEQ, for instance the SQA Level 4 Certificate In ICT Support in Education for Managers qualification is comparable to the level of a 1st year HE/degree course or the HNC, breadth wise it's not (the HNC is made up of 10 modules).

 

Professional (Academic):

Apart from degree's and NVQ's, you also have the option to do professional diplomas that are directly comparable to the full degree, for instance: Professional Graduate Diploma in IT from the BCS.

 

Professional registrations/Chartered Status:

You have the ICTTech professional registration from the ECUK and the CITP status from the BCS.

 

City & Guilds Senior Awards:

Depending on your experience (level and length) you can gain the LCGI (comparable to a NVQ 4/Master Craftman) and/or the GCGI (comparable to a degree).

 

And that's not even mentioning all the vendor neutral/vendor specific certifications out there. However there are pro's and con's to them:

Pro's work/job specific, Con's most of them will require to renew after 3 years... Certain Comptia certs are like this, as well as Cisco and even Microsoft is starting to follow suit with the new versions of the MCSA and MCSE...