I have a bachelors degree in Computer Science and a total of 7.5 years of experience in IT as a Data Analyst.
Is it a good idea to go for Master's?
I am not keen to leave the job and study. Can anyone suggest me what are the options available for getting a Master's Degree without quitting the job?
Need Suggestions - Master's Degree while working as an IT professional in Melbourne
Comments
Thanks MrHyde. That's the kind of opinion I was looking for.
What benefit is there to getting a master, if purely for wanting something to do then go for it, but it won’t change your pay ? If you don’t want to quit study part time after work, no offence but isn’t that pretty obvious.
Of Course part time study is the obvious option. The reason for asking this here was to know the benefit which almost everyone has responded a 'no benefit' in harmony. My thoughts are now aligning towards the same.
if its for personal achievement, or just to occupy yourself, or you just enjoy learning, then go for it. i started at a master three years ago and do a subject a semester here and there… just for the sake of it.
I finished post grad working full time last year. Sure only a minor 20,000 word research thesis but it's do-able. And that was with 3 kids at primary school.
You just do it.
Thanks amazing altomic. Which university did you opted? Had it helped in your career growth?
I have been in recruiting positions that would put me in the way of many jobs I presume you would want to get, I'll give some suggestions rather than a direct response.
In Australia, experience trumps any degree in 99% of places you would 'want' to work - The industry is great in way of how easy it is to prove experience or skill.
Roles like 7.5years as a Data Analyst would generally read to me as data entry or an excel beast.
I would heavily suggest using time now to either get more practical experience while applying for jobs (hell, you may end up with one by luck at places you are trying to get experience if they like what they see).You should just put your masters on pause for the moment, no matter the reasoning. Come back to it when life allows you to.
Footnote: I read the main post again and realized you're already in a job, derp, take from this what you want. Goodluck!
Well, some assumptions are prone to incorrectness. Thanks for your response.
Master Degree is good if your job is willing to pay for it.
Otherwise don't waste your time and money IMO, unless you want to change your title at the front of your name from B to M
You are already in the role of IT so try to climb from there if you can.
If not, then apply for a more Senior role in another company.
I have a MComp and now an Educator …. I have tried to get in to IT but lacked experience at the time.
For me it was a good experience however i didn't get to the profession as I wished. But that's my story.Cheers
Wants vs Needs - That's the battle. Applying for a Senior Role in another company - that seems to be the key weapon now.
Want = Get ready to sacrifice many hours after work for approx 4 years attending University (unless your Bachelor units RPL with Masters Units .. but wont be much) … logistics of travel .. cost of materials … lectures, tutorials and consultation sessions. Get ready to spend over $40K+ (although you may be eligible for FEE-HELP but it still gets deducted off your pay for several years)
Yearly fees rise per unit so doing it part time, fees will climb ~ +20% after year 4. To reduce this, you have to take on more units per semester. Not doable if you have a full time job IMO.
Need = Does a Masters Degree constitutes a more senior job role? Is there any other way to market yourself to get into that senior role (Usually who you know rather than what you know these days)Even if you decide to attend Uni and speak to their Careers Counsellor, they are usually geared up to make you feel better Psychologically rather than advise you the correct path IMO. Of course, they don't want you to drop out … and keep paying course fees LOL.
I hate to say this but Education is now become more of a business rather than a service.
Cheers
You can ask your company if they allow you to take off hours for study, some places let you take like a couple hours a week paid to do study that helps with your job.
Otherwise a lot of masters subjects (post grad subjects) are typically done after 5pm purely for people like yourself that needs to do it after work. Though this is typically in the Project management, professional skills subjects I see.
Honestly though I'm unsure how much it will help you? I would imagine a project management, or similar course might help if you want to move into that area, but it sounds like your experience hugely outweighs an IT masters degree, my 2 cents.
I think project management is not my area. Any inputs related to fields like Analytics, Data Science, Big Data etc?
What doors do you plan to open with a masters? I work in IT and I wouldn't hold any weight to a masters in Computer science. If you want to study, do something specific. Like aim to be a Data Scientist etc
Hey cypher67,
Do you know which universities are better for Data Scientists courses? And which ones are a no-go? That would really help.
Only do a Master's if: your work offers to pay for some/all of the course OR promises a pay rise after completion
I found out that there is a Masters course on Coursera:
Master of Computer Science in Data Science (Degree by University of Illinois)Any reviews on this one?
IMO, I would not do any courses online. Even from OUA (Sorry if there are some that are undertaking this) I would go in person.
Pick Australian reputable Universities as employers will definitely look more favourably.
Why don't you ask your employer' HR dept and see what they feel about an online Degree for employment purposes?I agree with vinni9284.
Online university course via overseas university is no good on your Resume.Also, For someone like you who has a job already, the value in a doing a 2nd degree is to get a 2nd skillset. Not a more "advanced" skillset. The "advanced" is what you are getting every day just doing your job
you say you are a data analyst, what sort of stuff do you do now and what do you aspire doing?
I'd be inclined to look at the Microsoft Professional Program for Data Science with your skill set. It's not a degree, but I'm told it is well regarded at the moment and would get you in to cloud based machine learning and other interesting stuff.
Technologies you will use to gain your skills:
T-SQL, Microsoft Excel, PowerBI, Python, R, Azure Machine Learning, HDInsight, SparkSounds interesting. I will explorer this option further. Thanks ☺️
You can always do a Masters part time. The thing you need to ask yourself is what Masters and for what purpose. I can tell you that in Australia, a Masters in IT or Computer Science has no value if you've already got a Bachelors in Comp Sci. It will not increase your pay or give you access to better jobs.
If you want to change your career direction, for eg: go into Finance; then a Masters in that area will be useful.