Does studying a Masters give you an edge in the employment stakes?

  • LightVader is spot on, from my perspective. Around here, you'll find more people getting their undergraduate degree, getting into the workforce, spending some time "in the trenches," then figuring out what they want to be when they grow up. By far the majority of students in night-class MBA programs are in their 30s and 40s. Most business will pay at least some towards an advanced degree, but will encourage you to go for the MBA because they want business-oriented people in leadership. If leadership is not what you want, then experience will get you the good-paying jobs more than a MCS degree would. Like Grant said, moving from technology to technology (read: Be a life-long learner and willing to burst out of your comfort zone.) is not a bad way to go.

  • ACinKC (6/5/2012)


    LightVader is spot on, from my perspective. Around here, you'll find more people getting their undergraduate degree, getting into the workforce, spending some time "in the trenches," then figuring out what they want to be when they grow up. By far the majority of students in night-class MBA programs are in their 30s and 40s. Most business will pay at least some towards an advanced degree, but will encourage you to go for the MBA because they want business-oriented people in leadership. If leadership is not what you want, then experience will get you the good-paying jobs more than a MCS degree would. Like Grant said, moving from technology to technology (read: Be a life-long learner and willing to burst out of your comfort zone.) is not a bad way to go.

    Yeah, I definitely see myself as a techie rather than management/business - Hopefully with a first class Bachelors and a final year project that demonstrates my programming and database skills I can land a graduate or junior position somewhere

  • michaeljharper (6/4/2012)


    [It wouldn't be for a better salary or jobs, I was thinking more to get 'ahead of the pack' or stand out more to an employer - I just want a job! 😀

    So get a job. I don't mean that in a mean way. Let's say I have two 30-year olds applying for the same job. One has a M.Sc, but the other has a BSc and two years experience in the field. Guess who will most likely be hired?

    -SQLBill

  • michaeljharper (6/5/2012)


    ACinKC (6/5/2012)


    LightVader is spot on, from my perspective. Around here, you'll find more people getting their undergraduate degree, getting into the workforce, spending some time "in the trenches," then figuring out what they want to be when they grow up. By far the majority of students in night-class MBA programs are in their 30s and 40s. Most business will pay at least some towards an advanced degree, but will encourage you to go for the MBA because they want business-oriented people in leadership. If leadership is not what you want, then experience will get you the good-paying jobs more than a MCS degree would. Like Grant said, moving from technology to technology (read: Be a life-long learner and willing to burst out of your comfort zone.) is not a bad way to go.

    Yeah, I definitely see myself as a techie rather than management/business - Hopefully with a first class Bachelors and a final year project that demonstrates my programming and database skills I can land a graduate or junior position somewhere

    Something you may want to consider... When I finished my bachelor's I was burned out as far as school was concerned. I was tired of some of the BS I had to deal with and for the most part, the projects I did in school weren't challenging me. Getting into the corporate world taught me to think differently and provided the challenges I was looking for in school.

    I just want to emphasize, I'm not trying to push you towards the path I took. You have to decide what the right option is going to be for you.



    The opinions expressed herein are strictly personal and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of my employer.

  • On balance it seems the best bet is to apply for jobs when I graduate and get some experience in the field, I'm pretty sure many companies provide in house training and progression also?

  • michaeljharper (6/5/2012)


    On balance it seems the best bet is to apply for jobs when I graduate and get some experience in the field, I'm pretty sure many companies provide in house training and progression also?

    I think that depends on the company and the boss. At a previous company I worked at, they said they would send you for training, but the boss I had always found some work task that was more important than training. For that matter, he also found work tasks more important than my vacation time. Needless to say, there was a high turnover rate in that department.



    The opinions expressed herein are strictly personal and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of my employer.

  • michaeljharper (6/5/2012)


    On balance it seems the best bet is to apply for jobs when I graduate and get some experience in the field, I'm pretty sure many companies provide in house training and progression also?

    Well, I'd suggest applying for jobs BEFORE you graduate! That'll get you "ahead of the pack", especially if the rest of the class is thinking about taking time off or waiting until they graduate to start looking. When I ran my business, we had an arrangement with a local university and took CompSci seniors as interns, paid them above mimimum wage, and pumped real-world knowledge into them. They were used and abused, but they had more experience than any of their classmates, and we hired a couple of them full-time after their internship was over.

  • ACinKC (6/6/2012)


    michaeljharper (6/5/2012)


    On balance it seems the best bet is to apply for jobs when I graduate and get some experience in the field, I'm pretty sure many companies provide in house training and progression also?

    Well, I'd suggest applying for jobs BEFORE you graduate! That'll get you "ahead of the pack", especially if the rest of the class is thinking about taking time off or waiting until they graduate to start looking. When I ran my business, we had an arrangement with a local university and took CompSci seniors as interns, paid them above mimimum wage, and pumped real-world knowledge into them. They were used and abused, but they had more experience than any of their classmates, and we hired a couple of them full-time after their internship was over.

    I also applied for jobs before graduating. I even had my first contract before I graduated 😀

    Regarding the "used and abused" of interns, I know companies who don't even pay their interns, so you were not doing so bad 🙂

    Need an answer? No, you need a question
    My blog at https://sqlkover.com.
    MCSE Business Intelligence - Microsoft Data Platform MVP

  • This is the road I think I'm going to go down, try to get as much experience as possible along side my studies and apply for jobs before I graduate!

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