I'm currently a software engineer in India and have been working for 3,5 years. Before recession started I decided to study further and planned for a Master of Science degree in computer science in Fall09, since I want to explore more of this field. I have got an admission in Univ of Texas @ Dallas.
I am confused about whether I should go for studying at the time of recession or not and how the market will be once I graduate in 2011 Jan.
Any views will be appreciated.
Studying is improving your skills and will give you an edge over your peers (who didn't do it) later, so yes: do it. Getting a job now could possibly tie you in and cause you more stress than getting your education, however this isn't true of all jobs! If you can find the right one. Don't jump into a role just because of "The Recession". Also while you're studying you can evaluate the market and start looking for a suitable role a lot earlier. Plus, graduate schemes tend to offer secure positions because of the amount of effort the company invests in it.
As Joel says, post university studies suck. I would do a tech MS only to continue with a PHD to prepare for an university career.
It is true though that there are companies - like Google - that appreciate post univ. degrees. Is is also true that other companies do not like it because they think you will ask for more money.
If it is a chance to get out of India and remain in the US however, it is probably worth it. But are you sure you will be able to remain?
Regardless of economic situation you need to improve as fast as you can - see Eric Sink's article for detailed explanation. If you have enough money to pay for education you better do it now since when the recession is over prices will be much higher.
Compare two possible outcomes for Jan 2011:
You have no degree.
You have a degree.
And there are lots of other people willing to work anyway. Which option - 1 or 2 - is better for you?
Try getting some part time IT job during studies or do some projects for your portfolio. Experience is often worth more than a degree.
My suggestion would be that if you know that there is something in the program that you want to study and do some research and can afford it, go for it. Recessions in some places tend to be times for colleges and universities to see a spike in enrollment as some people go back to school to get trained for a different career, e.g. I know someone that used to be an IT worker who is working on getting an accounting diploma. To put this another way, why are you going for this degree? Is it to make more money, to get into management, because you enjoy studying software engineering, or something else?
How the market will be depends a lot on how you define "the market:" Is it just software engineers in Dallas, all of Texas, all of the U.S., all of North America, the world? Is it all Computer Science and Computer Engineering graduates that you are curious about how they will all do? There is also the question of whether you want to be in academia or back in the outside world and what kind of position do you want, as I'm sure there are some software engineers working down there in Texas but I don't think anyone has a good crystal ball to say how the world will be in the nearly 2 years between now and Jan. 2011.
No doubt its tough to leave a job and go for higher studies. Its even tougher to convince yourself and your folks. However, you need to think, why are you going for higher studies? Is it the pursuit of knowledge, and further move into a research career, or is it for getting a better job? Well, you are justified either ways. But, perhaps the reasons for former are more justified in this bad times.
If you want to go for it, do now. We all grow old by the day :-). Best of Luck!
I would suggest the answer may depend on what kind of job you would be looking for after graduation. The average business programming job doesn't require a Masters and if you are interested in that, it will likely reduce your possible employment prospects as businesses think you will want more money than a person with a Bachelor's degree. If you want to go into research or teaching a Masters as a prelude to a PhD is generally a requirement. Some larger companies want people with Masters degrees but they generally have to be large enough to have an architecture or software engineering group. So you will be limiting your prospects with the Masters but the prospects you have would tend to be higher paying specialized positions. Only you can decide which makes more sense for you.
In your case another consideration is the chance to move to a another country. Getting an education in the US may mean that you eventually will end up employed in the US. If this is part of your goal, then by all means go for it. In this case try to find a part time or summer position with a US company in the hopes that you will able to be immediately employed when you graduate. But before you do decide to change countries, talk to some of the folks who have - it isn't easy to move to a new place where you know nobody, you don't have family support readily available and the whole culture is different. And you might face prejudices that you never faced at home. This isn't to say that many, if not most, immigrants don't eventually find it was the right choice, but none of the ones I know found it to be an easy change.
Recession or otherwise, what you study should be in line with what you intend to do with your career. So if you see a future for yourself in computing (either academia or the industry), then you should go for your master's degree.
Well, either way now is not the best time to be looking for a job. So why not stay in school if you can?
Study now, it's easier to do it now. You're in the groove of being a student and probably don't have th kind of commitments that will get in the way. You know, wife and kids type of commitments.
The other advantage of studying now is that you're not trying to get a job when few are around, but you'll be better qualified when the recession starts to be sorted out.
If you don't go for the degree you may find that you spend a year looking for a job and then after that year loose out to a job because the other candidate was better educated.
I found that for the first few years of working my post graduate education helped significantly when looking for a job.
It is always a good time to get a MS degree. I dropped from my grad studies just before defending my thesis 10 years ago. That is, I never got my MS degree.
And yet, because of the research I did and the training I got during my grad studies, I got a lot of good job opportunities before the dot-com bubble. And it was that again that saved from unemployment when the dot-com bubble busted. Pretty much 5 out the 7 jobs I've had since 2000 had been thanked to that MS-work I did.
I also know that it really hurt me financially to not have the degree, which is why I'm now back at it again (this time a MS in Computer Engineering.) I know for a fact I will get paid more for having it even if my job functions do not change drastically. It also open doors for career development.
Even outside of Computer Sciences, I have a friend of mine that works in education. She got a masters degree and immediately got a substantial pay raise.
With a masters, you get what you put in. If all you do is cruise through the classes, all you have to show is a bunch of classes. But if you do research or establish connections with companies that sponsor research and network with other working professionals that are doing their masters in computer science, that's gold.
The type of person who works in software and still goes part-time (or even full-time) for a masters in computer science is usually the type of person you want to network with.
The economy always go up and down, up and down. Your education is what breaks you or makes you in good and bad times.
I am Anil from Bangalore, India and I graduated with a Bachelor's in Comp Sci in 2009. After that I cudnt find any job for a few months during which I did some certifications in Java and now I am working in a start up company as a junior software engineer. Since I wanted to gain more knowledge in the java and web technologies and also increase my career prospects, I had applied to a few universities for Masters and I've got offers from very good universities in UK. I have got an offer from the University of Manchester in UK which is a very highly ranked university and has a world renowned comp sci department. But now, post recession things are really looking up here in India, especially in Bangalore where companies have started hiring Comp Engineers in mass again.
I too have the same dilema as the person asking the question in this thread...but the difference here is that I dont have much industry experience.
Will it be a disadvantage if I do my Masters now as a fresher? Or will it be an advantage for me as I can choose my proper career path and start my career with a Masters degree?