Should I pursue a Masters after 10 yrs in IT?

Question

Hi, I have around 10 yrs in IT, mostly java and recently SOA, working for a large enterprise in India. I feel it is not challenging enough and want to do more.I have a masters in computer science from India, but i feel i don't have enough depth. I want to do a full-time MS from Europe. Everyone says its too late and instead do MBA, but I'm not too keen on a business degree. Will an MS get me challenging work in places like Amazon,Ebay, Google and depth in the subjects ? Appreciate advice.

Answer 1

If you're looking for challenging work in specific locations, there's no harm in calling the hiring managers to ask them their advice. Otherwise, without direct experience I would say it's mostly speculation.

Also, I'm going through the process of pursuing my MBA and I run a web firm but my advisor, being a world-renowned business strategist, is making me really review the value of pursuing an MBA over over other experience and options.

Seems credentialing is valuable but not as much as actually being out there.

Good luck!

Answer 2

The same question that it's too late to do the MS, you will probably get on your first job interview after you did your MS: Why wait 10 years to do it?

Apart from that, look at where you want to work and what you want to do: the value of a degree depends on the culture/country/company: Some companies only hire if you have a certain degree, others much more look at your abilities and your skills and what you accomplished.

Do not only think of the degree you will get, but also about the skill you want to learn, what you want to be doing what you cannot do now.

Answer 3

I'm doing something similar, but I've only been in the professional field for 3 years. I don't see any reason for it to be too late, if what you're after is more challenging work. I think an MBA will only make you a more attractive candidate for jobs with more administrative/management duties. If you are looking for more challenging technical work, then I would go for a Masters or Phd in the field in which you want to work. I would spend a serious amount of time browsing job postings to see what is actually in demand, and maybe even call some of these employers and get an idea of the kind of work/typical-work-day the job would involve. The last thing you want to do is get a Phd in Nuclear Physics and find out that there are too many nuclear physicians and not enough jobs for them. This will also give you an idea of how often a Phd is expected over a Masters, if you even want to consider the notion of getting a Phd.

If you are really thinking about increased pay, then maybe it is too late. I used payscale.com (not sure how accurate they are) to basically compare what I'd be worth 2 years down the road. I compared my value with an extra 2 years of experience, to my value without that experience and instead a masters degree. If I remember correctly, with a masters degree I was either worth less, or the difference was so small that it'd take decades for the small amount extra to payoff the tuition. This supports the idea that additional experience is probably just as valuable as an advanced degree, in general. I think an advanced degree is best whenever you are looking at jobs that won't consider people who don't have the advanced degree, which really will require you to do some research into the types of jobs you are interested in.

Anyhow, with what experience I have I already make more money than I know what to do with, and I figure the economic downturn is a good time to get an advanced degree. It will hopefully open doors to more interesting/challenging jobs. I am going to try for a degree in Computational Science with the hopes that one day I will come across a job doing some sort of computational disease research. Yet, I know such jobs are few and far between.

Visualize your target job, go and find job postings that match that job, and see if they see an advanced degree as being valuable. Once you understand the playing field, you can prepare yourself mentally for the potential risks that you are taking on, and decide if the risk is worth it. For me, I know there is the likelihood that I will finish this degree, and have essentially nothing to show for it given it's specialized nature and the scarcity of applicable jobs. It really is going to vary based on what you have in mind.

Answer 4

Let's answer your question with an imaginary interview. Let's imagine that you apply for a job in my group. We start with a discussion of your resume that I've marked up with a big question mark: "Why did you get another MS in the same field?"

What's your answer? Hint: this is a trick question.

From my point of view, another MS in the same field is a waste of time.

Your degree is evidence that you can learn to an advanced / expert level in your field. From that foundation, you should be able to speak to "this is what I've learned since then" or "this is what I've built atop that original knowledge base."

However, an MBA only makes sense if there is a business aspect to what you want to do with your career. For example, an education in the business aspects of software engineering is excellent for a project manager. It's also very useful for a senior engineer or development lead: understanding why management is asking questions enables you to give better answers.

On the third hand, that sort of knowledge is available to anyone who can read. You don't have to go to a university and get another degree.

So, maybe what you need to do is turn the question around back on yourself. What do you really want to be doing in your career? Think about both the technical aspects and the day-to-day workload of jobs that you'd enjoy: Writing code? Making business cases? Leading a solid team to success?

From those answers, you can think about what's missing from your resume and go get those.

From my point of view, using the short summary in your question, I suspect that what you're really missing is the business case of "why you (interesting employer) should hire me?" Perhaps what you really need to do is focus on that and then go get the more challenging work that you're looking for.