you should be able to take 1 year off of school without too much of a problem right? give it a shot and see how it goes...

so much of it is dependent on the opportunity and what doors are open for you.

 

I also vote to take the job and go to school part time. In the computer industry, work experience and real world knowledge are generally valued over education. I am a programmer, and many of the folks I work with don't have college degrees. It doesn't hamper them one bit. It's absolutely not true that you need a college degree to succeed in the tech industry. People in all levels of the tech industry lack college degrees.

IT is unique in that everything one needs to succeed in it - a computer, some software, and maybe a few good textbooks - is readily available. You don't need access to an expensive lab or special machinery to learn IT skills. You just need to be a motivated self starter. This has nothing to do with education, and a lot of IT employees are simply self starters with no formal training.

The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a disparity between what you are taught in a typical college CS program versus what CS skills you need in the tech industry. Most CS programs, even the good ones, only do a very basic job of teaching what you need to know. The vast majority of the learning comes from experience.

I would take the job and go to school during evenings. I currently go to grad school, and that's what I do. It's tiring, and the degree takes longer to complete, but you accumulate very valuable experience in the meantime. With tech, what's important is your skill set and what you know. Having a degree won't hurt, but it's not the end all and be all of everything, and it's far from necessary.

To answer your question, there are lots of people doing damn well without college degrees, and many of them (arguably a large percentage) are in tech. So you know where I'm coming from...I have a BS in biochemistry, but am a programmer. I obviously don't use my biochemistry degree in my work, and I never use any of the CS stuff I learned in college, either, simply because it was so basic and rudimentary, it's not even helpful. $60k is decent money, and I'd take it if I were in your position.

 

i would take that job..i can take off a year if u want or go to school part time....i say get some experience...

 

taking up both of them sounds good....however...i would check out wat time scheduals r happening...and u may squeeze in skool and work here.......but then a education does provide a stronger support....coz if u happen to loose the job...without the degrees ur studying for now...it may lower and cut down ur choices

 

I took an contract admin job with a large company in favor of college. It paid decently, but not great. Then the economy went in the dumper and I got laid off.

I have had to take a job that pays nearly half of what I was making before because there are so many candidates out there with better qualifications that will do the job for less. There are jobs out there that I know that I can do without effort but it's rare that I ever even get a call back.

If you are submitting your resume to a company for a mid-level job on-line, chances are that company is receiving ~100-200 resumes a hour. The chances of your resume solely being viewed is slim to none. And the resumes that are viewed by the employers are weeded out by who has degrees, certs, ect...

At least that is the way it is here. I feel lucky that I have a job but I am underpaid, not challenged at all, and not moving forward. I personally wish I finished school, and right now I am getting that done along with completing certs (err... remembering brain dumps). But at the same time, when I get out of college and have 10+ years experience with a IS degree, I feel that the hard work will pay off.

So if you do take the job, make sure you stay in school and get your degree. A degree will open doors. But experience will land you a job.

 

Get the degree....if the job is gone, so are your chances of a good life...most likely.

 

Hehe, touchy subject methinks.... anyways, here's my 2 cents.... I agree with others that you should try job + school together. Getting that kind of offer before you're done with school is cool - I was in a similar situation when I was at Berkeley back in the mid-90's, actually had a decent offer of 48k right out of high school. Ultimately, I stuck with school to get my Bachelors.

The thing about school isn't necessarily what classes you take though. I'm actually currently full-time work and part time grad school, but to me - I don't necessarily look at GPA (other than my company's minimum GPA requirements), but I really rely on the interview. To me, school is really about learning the 'other' things in life. How to balance time and schedule.... how to be responsible (class? I don't need to freaking go to class! haha). The one big thing I learned going through undergrad was how to survive.... I barely remember most of the equations, circuits, and all that other crap - but I still do well. 80% of the time, you'll end up working on something that you never really studied in school anyway. But, you DO learn things besides the class material....

Anyways, looking back at how my life COULD have gone..... the companies that gave me offers right out of high school and early in my undergrad are now out of business or have laid off 50-80% of their previous employees. Given the current trent towards globalization in the IT/CS industry, I don't think that things will get that much better in the short-term. Even if you get the job offer from a large company, there's no certainty that things will not turn on you in the next year, 3 years, or even 5 years. Having that degree will help you, and if you stay part-time, it could just be an easy transition back to full time if worse comes to worse. If you drop out - you might have to reapply and retake all those tests and crap to go back to school if that is your choice down the road.

Although many people have been successful without a degree, there ARE glass ceilings.... I take my current boss as a good example. He started working at my company right out of high school as a technician. 18 years later, he is the most technically experienced person in my group. I've been with the group for less than 7 years, but I'm at a point where I might be at his level instead of being under him. There are lots of politics involved, and not having that degree can certainly come into play - after all.. if you've got 2 equally successful people, but only 1 open position for the promotion.... how would you decide which person to get the promotion? The person with the degree vs the person without the degree is more often than not, the person who gets picked. (although it can be argued that the better looking person gets picked haha).

Well, I'm not saying that this is what WILL happen, but just an accounting of what I've seen. I say work experience is definitely important - but you should really try and get that degree somehow (part-time school is good).

 

Another vote for school. Actually, if you can carry the load of both work and school, go for it. That's what I'm doing right now (work full-time during the day, then classes in the evenings and weekends).

I don't know how the IT employment prospects are in Virginia (I know AOL is there), but here in the Bay Area of CA, IT jobs are typically won via networking skills as opposed to the traditional ad hires. The degree will help you in the future (so as long as you know your sh*t), plus in the case of an even worse IT downturn, you may gain employment elsewhere with the credentials inherent of your degree (I have friends that work outside of their degree majors making excellent money).

If your education and your income are both important to you, take the plunge and do both. It can be done, but most people can't handle the load (it depends on your drive to fulfill goals and realize accomplishments).

 

I currently work full-time (usually anywhere between 40-80 hours a week). Over the past five years I've learned a lot in the field that I'm in. Like many others have I said, I've learned a lot of "real world" experience. However, I'm also going to school. I'm currently enrolled in the University of Phoenix's online program. I really wish I could go to school full-time, but their online program is the only real option I have right now.

Honestly, if I were offered a job for $60k a year, but I was in school (and would have to leave) then I'd have to pass on the job opportunity. In my personal situation, I really wish I would've gotten school out of the way. I think there would've been a lot of valuable tools I could've learned along the way that would've helped me out over the past few years. However, on the flipside... I've also made a good amount of money the past two years that I can't overlook.

So in the end, it really depends on what you want in life. If you can swing both then do it that way. If not, my vote goes to sticking with school.

 

Guys, I think im just going to finish my degree and then worry about getting a job. At my age, education is very important and I would also like to get it out of the way ASAP. I have a feeling that if I skip school now and try to go back later, it will be almost impossible. Right now I have the motivation, and I am going to use it.

Again, thanks for the great responses. I knew I could trust you guys with this topic.