Master's Degree

[Nader]

hi all,

I want to ask a non-programming question I am hoping to learn for everyone's life experiences. I have just graduated from college. I've been accepted for a job that pays a decent salary. But I am wondering if it is better doing a master's degree instead, which will take 2 years. From your experience, is a master's degree a great leverage in the programming world, or is experience more important?

Thanks,

Nader

[Jordan]

From what I have seen in my area it is experience but I would imagine once you get into larger cities a master's degree plays a very important role. Maybe someone else could give some input.

[TcM]

Well I have no graduation (as I have just finished school, and now making exams and then I will continue studying) but I remember my Sir of the computer studies saying that sometimes experience is more important then certificates, but of course with certificates you can find more ways and then search for experience afterwards. Well I can't actually say, but my sir told us so...

[Nader]

Thank you both for replying.

[Sionofdarkness]

A Master's Degree will definitely give you a large edge, but if you already have a decent salary, that should be enough.

[dojo]

I own my design firm after 5 years of freelancing. I never studied computers or web design in school (I am a Romanian-English teacher), but worked 10 hours a day (at least) for the last years doing researches, designing sites, working on forums and creating articles and tutorials in the topic. I am the living example that a master's degree is not always needed if you want to succeed. I never had the opportunity to study all this in my country (we have some courses now, but very very "weak" as compared to what I know now) and I had to learn by myself. It's great to have a degree, but if you cannot achieve this, then don't let it stop you. Read and work a lot, discuss with people who know this and little by little you'll have experience and that's what you need.

[CygnetGames]

I'm currently doing a masters degree and I've been looking at the jobs that I can get when I graduate.

The vast majority of jobs that I can apply for, I could apply for without the masters.
Some companies say they pay you a bit more money if you have a masters, but it's not much more.
A very few companies say you need a masters or a PhD - but these are only very high-powered jobs like top-end research for Microsoft, pharmaceutical research or patent attorneys.
Also, some companies say you need a certain class of degree, but they will accept you with a lower class of degree if you have a masters.

So my advice: if you already have a job that pays enough and you think you will like it, stick with it. Only do the masters if you find a job that you really want that specifically says you need the masters.

[Amber8]

Originally Posted by Nader

hi all,

I want to ask a non-programming question I am hoping to learn for everyone's life experiences. I have just graduated from college. I've been accepted for a job that pays a decent salary. But I am wondering if it is better doing a master's degree instead, which will take 2 years. From your experience, is a master's degree a great leverage in the programming world, or is experience more important?

Thanks,

Nader

Really depends what you're after. Higher degrees are more for specialized areas. They may pay more on average but there are fewer of them. If youre really interested in a specific area then you should do it as the chances of simply coming across the one you happen to like so much in industry are slim.

Just from a good-paying career point of view, I wouldnt recommend it. If you put in the hours starting from a grad job you can surpass the 'average' specialized job in terms of 'success'

[WingedPanther]

I have a master's in math. If you are interested in teaching in the US, that will get you into 2-year schools. In addition, it gives me quite a bit of theory that comes in handy in programming, but it's really the combination of skill/talent/experience that gets me through most of my routine activities. I currently program in NONE of the languages I came to this job knowing . Being a quick study is very helpful in this industry.