Masters Degree worth it?

dcooper24

I have recently attained a bachelors in MIS. I want to go for my masters in information assurance and then the CISSP when i achieve the experience requirements. I have only 1 year experience in networking. Should i go for more security certs or stick with my plan?

EdTheLad

I really dont think a masters is valuable in IT, after a degree the important
think is experience in a particular field followed by the appropriate certs.In IT
your salary increases with your expertise.The masters will not get you a higher salary.In other fields a masters can be important to prolong your salary from getting capped,this is not the case in IT.

deneb829

If you ever want to teach at a college or University - then absolutely Yes. This is the problem that I am having. I know the material well enough to teach Routing and Switching, Unix, Security, and Intro to Networking - but those classes require a Master's Degree. So, they are taught by people teaching programming or electronics - with Master's degrees and are smart in their own fields, but the students in my class complain to me that all that the instructors do is read from pre-canned power point presentations and cannot answer any of their questions (they have been told "it's in the book")

NPA24

ed_the_lad wrote:

I really dont think a masters is valuable in IT, after a degree the important
think is experience in a particular field followed by the appropriate certs.In IT
your salary increases with your expertise.The masters will not get you a higher salary.In other fields a masters can be important to prolong your salary from getting capped,this is not the case in IT.

A Masters is valuable if you want to be in a Management position in IT like a CIO or Senior Management in an IT company. Experience does help but climbing up the corporate ladder is quicker if you have a higher degree. I have been contemplating for the past 6 months though which would be more valuable. A Masters in MIS or an MBA?

janmike

I believe that the education question depends on which state you live in.

From posts in these forums, some areas employers ask for certifications, and other areas, some sort of degree is required.

I live in Southern Indiana. Most of the employers with the bigger IT departments, always list a degree requirement first. Occasionally they will let you substitute 2 years of work experience for 1 year of education for certain positions. In rare cases they require any certification.

This emphasis on education is probably because of an abundance of higher education facilities in the area. Many good colleges offer extension courses at some sites in smaller cities. A school is probably within 30 miles of most locations. In Indiana, that is not a bad commute.

I have also noticed, that the tendency toward obtaining certs lies within the framework of departmental requirements, not hiring requirements. That is, departmental heads will encourage or even require their people to acquire cetifications so that they will have something on paper to show management when evaluation time comes around. And, something to show professional organizations to make their whole organization look good.

So, look at the area of the country/world that you want to work in, and do what they do, but I would believe that experience will go a long way in moving around where ever you go, and education will give you a very good start.

Master degree? If you want to do the security scene, then point your nose in that direction and don't let anyone every tell you that you can't do it.

I have always believed that education will show people that you are not dumb! It won't keep you from acting ignorant, however. But, self control will go a long way in any area that you want to pursue. Be patient, be a ready learner, be a willing teacher. Remember, you will probably see the same people when they kick your arrogant, abrasive butt out the door that you saw when you came in. That very thing just happened where I work to the best network engineer anybody had every seen, but he was just plain disagreeable in too many ways.

I've rambled enough. Good luck!

royal

It's like asking about if a Bachelor's Degree is required in Systems Administration/Engineering positions. No, but it's how I got my job. My company requires a Bachelor's Degree, and now i'm consulting and getting certs at the same time. Basically what I'm saying is, a Master's Degree might not be required, but it gives you the education and extra edge which opens up your opportunities that you might not have otherwise. I received my Bachelor's Degree in Networking and I will definitely be going for a Master's Degree in Business so I can move up the corporate ladder. Even if I don't move up the corporate ladder, I still have better opportunity than others in the same field for specific situations.

david_r

If you have the means, stick with your plan. Could having a masters ever hurt your chance for promotion?

EdTheLad

david_r wrote:

If you have the means, stick with your plan. Could having a masters ever hurt your chance for promotion?

It depends on what your point of view is, i have alot of friends who went on to do a masters and the reason was to get a higher salary.With IT if you stay technical and are good at what you do, your salary doesnt get capped like in other professions.Looking at it from a pure salary basis, i dont think its worth doing a masters if you are doing it full time, the extra years salary and work experience out weighs the masters.Each to their own i guess.

david_r

That is a valid point but not really a counterpoint to my assertion.

The thing is, look at his degrees and his goal. It looks like he wants to climb the corporate ladder -- or he should be taking a different direction with his education/certification goals.

I worked for a director that I got to know pretty well. He explained how he had to move around between a lot of companies to get to that level. Whereas he had a number of peers that weren't half the director he was but they had that sheepskin.

KAEW 1

Hello all

Anyone can give me the ideas on taking the degree program from Walden university. I am interested in taking a degree program there while I am doing MCSA cert?

Thank you very much.

Slowhand

I usually take the same position on this, if you can get a master's degree, to get one. Education never hurts, and it will never be the thing that holds you back in your career. Some people get along fine without a degree, some people have been very successful, but those are the exceptions to the rule.

A degree will always help you, especially when you get into higher-level management type of jobs. (Or, rather, getting to those higher-level management type of jobs.) Just like the certs and the experience, more education isn't going to hurt you. Also, something that's easy to forget for all of us crankin' away at certs and learning new things: we may not always want to work in IT. Someday, we might get burnt out, and want to take up a new profession; when that day comes, the higher of a degree you have, the better your chances are to get that new job in a different field.

bmauro

I was in the same boat about a year ago.

I was in grad school for Telecommunications at night and worked full time during the day. I was getting frustrated at the material being taught and none of it seemed to carry over to the work environment.

I spoke to my Manager and Director, and got similar responses. Higher degrees help you snag Management type jobs. They also added that since I already had a degree in IS, that I should really think how much adding a Masters in Telcom would help. What if 20 years down the road I want to get out of IT, or the IT industry changes so much that I'm forced out? Is an IS undergrad and Masters in an IT-related field going to help me if I need to switch careers?

So that made me think about getting an MBA, just to diversify my education. I'm getting so much tech experience at my current employer (largest company in its market) and I'm studying my butt off with Cisco and soon Microsoft certs.

So my "plan" is to get as much experience as I can, supplementing that with well known (wanted) certs, and down the road when I do feel like the lack of a Masters is holding me back - I'll go back for my MBA since from what I've seen upper management seems to be much more business-like then technical.