[growthexecutive]

In my experience certificates like this are considered pretty useless by most software engineers. Anybody can do a certificate and have their hand held all the way through it. Real world experience in much more valued. Also software dev is both an applied skill and a fast developing field too in which not everybody agrees on the right way to do things, so its hard for universities to keep up with the changing times. Plus whatever job you get after university will probably require you to learn a ton of new stuff anyway. Basically I don't believe that software engineering is a field in which you can go off to study for a year and then be considered better at your job because of it. (This could be different if you were to study a more specific subset of computer science like security, computer graphics, machine learning etc.)

That said you've been a developer for three years so are in a pretty good position to try moving to a company which does more advanced stuff and further your career. This of course has the added benefit that you don't have to make any financial sacrifices, in fact you will probably get paid more by doing this.

Finally you mentioned getting into Appsec, if you want to specialise in a field like this then I would highly recommend that. As I said earlier spending time to specialise in a field like this would be worth while, you could do a degree or do a certification like the OSCP (unlike software dev, certifications in info sec are actually valued if you do the right ones). This is what I'm currently doing myself after 5 years as a developer now specialising in security.

[kestrelhawk]

Thanks for responding. Yeah I’ve heard mixed things about obtaining certificates — in this case it’s considered a “degree” despite having the ‘Certificate...’ label. Nonetheless, I know what you’re saying. I’ve decided to do the one year course in security as I’ll find the structured learning and exams a good way to discipline my learning, and as a result I’ll have more time to apply those foundations industry experience rather than spending two years in college. In the meantime I’m trying to find somewhere else to work that’ll hopefully help me apply what I’m leaning. I guess the need for validation in what I’m already doing is more a confidence issue that’s always made me reluctant to apply anywhere else - a mentality I really need to escape! Thanks for your feedback and good luck with the AppSec!

[krageon]

You will get paid more with the right paper in a lot of companies, for equal experience (and even 5+ years more in some cases). The degree is important, and in the right company a certificate can be too.