I am hoping to appeal to the many people out there who are trying to improve their skills as well as try and improve their standing and marketability in the world of IT. I started going to school again and this time to get a degree in the field I am already in. I have been told by people that I work with that certifications and even a degree in IT don't mean that much any more. When I got laid off from my job back in February and was told that I could work until the 15th of March, I had a job that I started on the 4th of March. This was working for a small networking company that sells connectivity as well as service. Hosted PBXs was also another product they sold and serviced. 6 months later I have an opportunity of a lifetime to go to work for a large global company in their Global Monitoring division and have been really learning alot and doing large scale implementations. So, I am back to the question of:

Is it necessary to have a degree or certifications in IT anymore to get good jobs and be a skilled/valued employee?

I believe that it depends on the person. I like to learn and in the IT field it is an ongoing task. I also want to broaden my skills in the field that I have chosen. I will never know everything in the broad range that is IT, but I will know systems and software as well as IaaS, SaaS and some of the the other more modern acronyms as well as the whole networking pieces. Am I an expert, maybe by the time I have my new job down, I will be in SNMP and Global monitoring. I look forward to being more than just a Jack of all trades, Master of none. I look forward to be able to say that I have learned many disciplines and have broad knowledge, but also that I am an expert in my field which is monitoring.

Let me know your thoughts and please give me suggestions on how I can improve my site.