How do I become a network engineer?

Do I need to college to become a network engineer?

• I am interested in becoming a network engineer and quite frankly I do not have the money to attend college.I am pretty good with computers and I am sure I can study and learn enough and practice daily and read to pass certs. I do intent on going to college later for cs but right now it doesn't look so likely. So would that work?

• Answer:

  John - As far as what you need to get an IT job: The Holy Grail for IT employment is a 4 year computer related degree, some industry certs and experience. If you have all three of those you should be good. If you have only one element that will help but you may be competing with other people who have two elements or perhaps all three. Certs have minimal value unless you have a 4 year degree. Don't get me wrong that I don't like certs - I have many of them. If you were able to get an Associates degree this would be a small and important step. Then after you find some work in IT you could pursue the last two years of a Bachelors degree in night classes. The A+ degree can be self studied - it consists of 2 tests to get that cert. With that cert and no degree or an Associates degree, you can probably get a job at Best Buy or Staples. Going to school in CS is the wrong major if you are interested in Networking. You want a Computer Information Systems (CIS) degree. CS is a primarily a Programming major.