Masters/Doctoral Degrees.. Worth it?

I mean honestly.. by the time you have your Bachelor's and multiple certifications, and few, couple, several years experience..

is obtaining a Masters or PhD in IT/Information Systems.. really going to give you an extra advantage? Is it worth all the hours and cost of obtaining?

I can understand if it were in any other field, like maybe Education or something.. but in the IT Field?

seems like if you have CISCO, and some INFOSEC Certs, and Bachelor's and say 5-10years work experience.. you're already making 90-100k

what good can come of a Masters/Doctoral?

Thanks for your future inpurt

Find more posts tagged with

Free for TechExams community: Cybersecurity salary guide

Compare cert salaries and plan your next career move

Button

Comments

pml1

I've been wrestling with the same question. I recently changed careers into IT, so I'm just at the beginning of my certification path, and have less then a year of experience.

I'm studying for A+ and Net+ at the moment, and hope to complete the MCSA by the end of the summer. My plan is to start working on a Master's in Information Systems this fall (my undergraduate degree is in business).

My first thought is that the extra degree will pay off in the future (especially if your undergrad is in something other than an IT-related field), but I'm really not sure. If nothing else, I'd think it would offer a competitive advantage when job seeking. My x years experience + [insert laundry list of certifications] + masters degree should put me in a better competitive position than someone who has the same thing except no master's. But maybe it's not that simple.

Any ideas anyone?

Turgon

KoolTrix wrote: »

I mean honestly.. by the time you have your Bachelor's and multiple certifications, and few, couple, several years experience..

is obtaining a Masters or PhD in IT/Information Systems.. really going to give you an extra advantage? Is it worth all the hours and cost of obtaining?

I can understand if it were in any other field, like maybe Education or something.. but in the IT Field?

seems like if you have CISCO, and some INFOSEC Certs, and Bachelor's and say 5-10years work experience.. you're already making 90-100k

what good can come of a Masters/Doctoral?

Thanks for your future inpurt

At the level you have indicated probably not much difference monitarily would come of it but if money is what you care about perhaps you shouldn't bother with postgraduate education anyway. It's often something people want to do later in life because it's a self actualization thing although it also can be helpful if you want to get into education. For myself a doctorate is something I might persue one day in the future but right now Im too busy making money in the field to take three years out to work on a thesis.

the_Grinch

Well, for people without all those years of experience it will make a difference in pay. Also, if you plan to do research type work a Master's in a must. I am looking to begin my Master's and part of the reason is that pretty soon jobs are going to require it. You can use your high school diploma as toilet paper and the BA/BS is going that way as well. Or at least that is my take on the situation...

rfult001

Graduate and Post-Graduate degrees in these fields teach you how to conduct research and how to figure out what sort of research and development needs to be done. Expect to dig very deep into how and why things work, and plan to make contributions to the field. You can get a Masters, PhD, etc. and might make a lot of money in some places, but only do it if you REALLY like what you are doing. It is a buttload of work that will take up most of your time, and when your done people will expect quite a bit out of you.

My two cents. Good luck!

hypnotoad

The Ph.D. is designed for 1 thing -- to teach you how to do original research. There are only a handful of employers outside of academics (i.e. private sector) who look at a Ph.D. If you get a Ph.D., you are probably going to do 1 job: become a tenure-track professor. After you graduate, you do a post-doc, publish 5 papers a year, teach a full load, and supervise a few dissertations, you will get that Full Professorship and become department chair

The Masters degree has 2 paths. Professional Masters are the equivalent of an MBA -- there is no thesis but usually a large project involved. It is considered a terminal degree. It has several names, Master of Computer Science, Executive Masters, Professional Masters, MBA with a concentration in IT, etc. Academic Masters degrees require a thesis and they leave the door open for further study.

I wouldn't hire someone automatically because they had a M.S., a certification, or X years experience -- there are too many variables. I've met fluke MCSE's who can't install XP, and I've met terrible Ph.D's who can't do basic arithmetic. Go figure.

I have to agree with the posters above though: the Bachelors degree is getting less and less respectible all the time.

itdaddy

Master degree sure Phd no unless educational job.

get CCSP, CCVP, and CCNP and if you have enough energy get CCIE
then come talk to me and tell me you are not making enough money

my 2 cents
but to have the first 3 and BS degree will make plenty of money..unless you want to be
CIO then bet an MBA with BS in IT or something and tons of certs
but I have seen guys make good money with the 2 big certs plenty!

empc4000xl

I say not unless you are more working at one of the vendors working in R&D, where I think a MS in Math or EE or COMP SCI. You would be doing less "IT" type work in that roll and more coming up with new products or if your that type of brain coming up with the next routing protocol or something along those lines.

KoolTrix

man don't say that! lol

back in the day.. everyone said.. oh you have GOT to get your High School Diploma or GED. Boom, got it.. then it's like.. if you want a good job, you need an AA Degree.. okay kool.. getting that this fall, if not this summer.

And now, it's like everyone is looking for Bachelor's Degrees.. so there's another 2-3yrs.. and by then.. my BS is going to be useless? sh!tockie Mushrooms..

I personally always wanted to get a PhD in something when I was little.. but once I started going to school, and hearing about the grueling process of graduate school.. i was like damn, F-that.

So after I get my bachelor's I'll decide if I have the money/time/patience/energy to pursue a masters.. that will mostly be for self-actualization as previously stated by Turgon.

All in all, great answers, great advice.. mucho gracias. looks like I have to study more

JoJoCal19

I have to say that an MBA would do you better than a Masters in IT. An MBA will let you move into a IT Director or even eventually a CIO role. So I would say pay wise an MBA would be an excellent investment.

shednik

Any education you receive from an accredited school will only help you...I'm going for my masters right now. Do I necessarily need it to survive in the field? Not really but down the line it will only help me and not to echo hypnotoad but I feel the more education you have the better. It all takes a large time commitment and generally a lot of extra time you could be doing other things. In my career goals it will pay off, and I one day do plan to get a PhD or DSci depending on where I attend. I'm doing it for the additional knowledge personally and the piece of paper that comes with it will help also. Expereince is the top thing out of everything but if you look at a fortune 500 company and look at a Senior Analyst position their requirements generally look like this
Required Experience

BS Degree and 5-7 years expereince
MS Degree and 3-5 years expereince
Doctorate and 1-3 years expereince
Or 10-12 year expereince

Thats how most of the jobs look at my company and I work for a VERY large multi-industry corporation with 21,000 employees in the US alone I believe. So it will help but is no way something that is a must. Just decide what your 5, 10, & 15 years goals are. Are they to stay technical, R&D, Management, Teaching? you decide!

jryantech

There are a good amount of reasons to go for a Masters in IT... the main four I see are Advancement of Career (Get a job at a Fortune 500 company easier) which brings Higher Salary, More Knowledge in the field, Not having to pay back your Bachelors student loans until you are finished with the Masters Degree and at the age of 55 you can easily become a Professor at a State University which will provide an awesome retirement.

If you graduate with your Bachelors from the ages of 21-25, I don't see why not go for the Masters... Unless you simply can not handle the 40 hours of work and 20~ hours of school.

KoolTrix

jryantech wrote: »

Unless you simply can not handle the 40 hours of work and 20~ hours of school.

itdaddy

+2 on the MBA that i sthe way to go for CIO

skrpune

KoolTrix wrote: »

I personally always wanted to get a PhD in something when I was little.. but once I started going to school, and hearing about the grueling process of graduate school.. i was like damn, F-that.

I hear you on that one. I was thiiiiis close to going to graduate school after getting my BS in geology a few (okay, ten+) years back. There was a snafu and they didn't have any funding for me and I didn't have the money to pay for it out of pocket, so I went to AZ with my hubby (then boyfriend) while he got his ph.d. And boy howdie, what a process. After seeing what he went through, I'm pretty sure I made the right decision to not go for the ph.d., especially in the sciences...there's been little funding, extreme competition, and bad attitudes in the areas of higher education/research. It's amazing what some people will do, even going so far as to sabotage others' research. Not cool!

MCPWannabe

KoolTrix wrote: »

I mean honestly.. by the time you have your Bachelor's and multiple certifications, and few, couple, several years experience..

is obtaining a Masters or PhD in IT/Information Systems.. really going to give you an extra advantage? Is it worth all the hours and cost of obtaining?

I can understand if it were in any other field, like maybe Education or something.. but in the IT Field?

seems like if you have CISCO, and some INFOSEC Certs, and Bachelor's and say 5-10years work experience.. you're already making 90-100k

what good can come of a Masters/Doctoral?

Thanks for your future inpurt

Yes, it is worth it. It gives you instant credibility with clients (if computer or business related) and allows you to charge very high rates for consulting.

amp2030

Having abandoned a phd program in the somewhat related field of mathematics I can advise that, unless you are truly dedicated to research to the point that you would pursue a career in academia, you shouldn't begin one.

brad-

unless you want to be a career teacher at a university, masters/phd not worth the time - particularly in this field.

Slowhand

I'm currently working my way towards a graduate-degree program, but that's more a matter of my own preference than just how much money I can make. If you're only interested in making money as you work, or if you don't particularly care for school and want to get it done with as quickly as possible, an Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Information Systems will generally do you just fine. Paired up with high-level certifications, an undergraduate degree, (along with TONS of experience,) can net you a lot of money in a field just about all of us on this board enjoy a great deal. So, if you're career-oriented within IT, then go for the minimal college time and up the ante with certifications and work experience.

However, I will say that it's not only academia that a Master's or PhD can help you. I work for a video game developer, and we've go three PhD's on staff as senior software engineers. Among some of their projects is creating AI from scratch, developing whole game engines, and overseeing major engineering challenges that involve mathematics that scare even me. We're a smaller company and we don't have entire teams of programmers to dedicate to various projects, so these guys tend to individually handle uber-complex projects. The level of work they're involved in is leaps and bounds beyond what you'd be able to do with simply a B.S. in computer science and a few years' experience. The same can be said for the high-level engineers at Google, Autodesk, the EE's working at Cisco, etc. If you're looking at working with some really, REALLY high-level stuff, (or you want to teach/do research,) then going the grad-school route is definitely your best option. If you're staying within the business-sector, especially with IT, then there's really no need.

For more fun and action-packed adventures in degree vs. no degree debates, check out this thread.

Andretii

Oh dayum! I'm getting inspired to start my MBA after I accomplish my cert goals. I could be done with it before I'm 28 which is a good age still.

The only problem is that I really want to travel but I guess these are hard times and men shouldn't be thinking about games

msteinhilber

I plan to pursue a Master's degree shortly for a few of reasons. The first, and most minor reason, is to be able to have an additional edge over possible candidates to help secure jobs. The next reason, and one of the most important reasons, is because I want to - it's just an accomplishment that I desire to achieve. The last and possibly most significant reason, I would at some point like to teach classes on the side. I've gone through some online and hybrid online/on-campus evening classes, and having checked around at many colleges designed for working adults I have noticed that the requirement is a Master's degree as well as the corresponding experience. I would enjoy teaching and would also enjoy the additional income as well should I need it, I doubt I would let teaching become my full-time job but it would be a great supplement.

MCPWannabe

It just depends on what level you are trying to achieve in this field. In my case, I'm starting to now write courseware for Microsoft. I guarantee you that my Master's degree helps. Furthermore, I've had the opportunity to now interact with many of the highest paid and brightest IT experts around. When you get up to the upper level where the 'big boys' reside and no one makes below $100K, every competitive advantage helps.

No, it is not necessary to have an advanced degree to reach the upper level of our field, but it sure helps a hell of a lot when you have something extra to differentiate yourself by.

JoJoCal19

msteinhilber wrote: »

I plan to pursue a Master's degree shortly for a few of reasons. The first, and most minor reason, is to be able to have an additional edge over possible candidates to help secure jobs. The next reason, and one of the most important reasons, is because I want to - it's just an accomplishment that I desire to achieve. The last and possibly most significant reason, I would at some point like to teach classes on the side. I've gone through some online and hybrid online/on-campus evening classes, and having checked around at many colleges designed for working adults I have noticed that the requirement is a Master's degree as well as the corresponding experience. I would enjoy teaching and would also enjoy the additional income as well should I need it, I doubt I would let teaching become my full-time job but it would be a great supplement.

I also want to get my MBA for personal achievement reasons and I really want to teach at a university in the evenings. I love teaching people things and helping others and I would also welcome the additional money

phantasm

For some fields a Master's or PhD is almost required. For instance, my wife has her B.S. in Molecular Biology. In her field, with a B.S. degree you're always going to be a tech. She's 1 yr into her PhD and has another 3-5 to go. It's a commitment, a very large commitment.

bellhead

My wife is a tenured professor so I have a little knowledge in the field.

All tenured professor jobs require at least an abd, "all but dissertation" or a Phd. The IT/Eng types start at around 65k a year. Depending on the type of college/university you are at determines your teaching load. My wifes is a 4/4 which is 4 courses a semester, however she is not required to publish 2 papers a year and a book every 5. If you go to a research institute you are teaching a 2/2 but are required to publish. In your compensation package you are alotted money for conferences "5 days at all expense resort" to confer with other professionals in your field. My wife gets $5k a year. We just returned from Costa Rica after 5 days 4 nights I paid for my airfare is all. You teach your classes, meet with your students, do committee work, and you are done for the day. She has a MWF 9-1 schedule. Her office hours are 8-9 MWF. She doesn't move before 11 on TR. She is off over 4 months a year.

Career path for a prof is hired on a tenure track position. Assistant prof. promotes to Associate tenured professor a 10 to 15k raise. Full profs after 20 years and right now an it full tenured prof is around 100k to 110k a year.
I would gladly trade her knowing what I know today.

djhss68

bellhead wrote: »

My wife is a tenured professor so I have a little knowledge in the field.

All tenured professor jobs require at least an abd, "all but dissertation" or a Phd. The IT/Eng types start at around 65k a year. Depending on the type of college/university you are at determines your teaching load. My wifes is a 4/4 which is 4 courses a semester, however she is not required to publish 2 papers a year and a book every 5. If you go to a research institute you are teaching a 2/2 but are required to publish. In your compensation package you are alotted money for conferences "5 days at all expense resort" to confer with other professionals in your field. My wife gets $5k a year. We just returned from Costa Rica after 5 days 4 nights I paid for my airfare is all. You teach your classes, meet with your students, do committee work, and you are done for the day. She has a MWF 9-1 schedule. Her office hours are 8-9 MWF. She doesn't move before 11 on TR. She is off over 4 months a year.

Career path for a prof is hired on a tenure track position. Assistant prof. promotes to Associate tenured professor a 10 to 15k raise. Full profs after 20 years and right now an it full tenured prof is around 100k to 110k a year.
I would gladly trade her knowing what I know today.

I'll trade you mine. I'm getting tired of her anyway.

Slowhand

bellhead wrote: »

My wife is a tenured professor so I have a little knowledge in the field.

All tenured professor jobs require at least an abd, "all but dissertation" or a Phd. The IT/Eng types start at around 65k a year. Depending on the type of college/university you are at determines your teaching load. My wifes is a 4/4 which is 4 courses a semester, however she is not required to publish 2 papers a year and a book every 5. If you go to a research institute you are teaching a 2/2 but are required to publish. In your compensation package you are alotted money for conferences "5 days at all expense resort" to confer with other professionals in your field. My wife gets $5k a year. We just returned from Costa Rica after 5 days 4 nights I paid for my airfare is all. You teach your classes, meet with your students, do committee work, and you are done for the day. She has a MWF 9-1 schedule. Her office hours are 8-9 MWF. She doesn't move before 11 on TR. She is off over 4 months a year.

Career path for a prof is hired on a tenure track position. Assistant prof. promotes to Associate tenured professor a 10 to 15k raise. Full profs after 20 years and right now an it full tenured prof is around 100k to 110k a year.
I would gladly trade her knowing what I know today.

When you put it that way, it doesn't sound so bad. Jorge Cham lied to me!

eltoro

jryantech wrote: »

There are a good amount of reasons to go for a Masters in IT... the main four I see are Advancement of Career (Get a job at a Fortune 500 company easier) which brings Higher Salary, More Knowledge in the field, Not having to pay back your Bachelors student loans until you are finished with the Masters Degree and at the age of 55 you can easily become a Professor at a State University which will provide an awesome retirement.

If you graduate with your Bachelors from the ages of 21-25, I don't see why not go for the Masters... Unless you simply can not handle the 40 hours of work and 20~ hours of school.

I totally agree with your four reasons.

tkep1008

pml1 wrote: »

I've been wrestling with the same question. I recently changed careers into IT, so I'm just at the beginning of my certification path, and have less then a year of experience.

I'm studying for A+ and Net+ at the moment, and hope to complete the MCSA by the end of the summer. My plan is to start working on a Master's in Information Systems this fall (my undergraduate degree is in business).

My first thought is that the extra degree will pay off in the future (especially if your undergrad is in something other than an IT-related field), but I'm really not sure. If nothing else, I'd think it would offer a competitive advantage when job seeking. My x years experience + [insert laundry list of certifications] + masters degree should put me in a better competitive position than someone who has the same thing except no master's. But maybe it's not that simple.

Any ideas anyone?

Same exact path I was on. I only had International Business degree but always had servers as a hobbie. I knew I wanted to take that hobbie and make it a career. So I had to do some certs, and got a masters degree. Ended up with A+ and Net+ just to get my foot in the door and 3 months before I finished my masters I began working as a contractor for a government agency. From here is where it was worth all the money or work. Yea, I started with dirt pay or dirt experience, but they allowed me to work on projects that some people didnt want to work on and yet I was able to learn a lot more about the field that I couldn't have with the masters or cert. It boils down that this opportunity was just my foot in the door. After 6 months of working for one contractor a bigger contractor picked me up doing the same exact job but at least got more money. Now I am waiting for the good certs to roll in as they are planning to send all of us to certs we want to attend. Currently they are footing the bill for some expensive bootcamps, and from here on out they are just building the foundation for my career.

So my suggestions is to start somewhere show them what you know or are capable of and they will see your true skills and give you the opportunities to grow your career. We all have to start somewhere, they know that and you have to understand that as well. So where I lacked in funds when I first started I gained in experience, and what helped me to get picked up by the bigger contractor. BTW, the masters degree did help me on the switch over being able to negotiate a better offer.

So in my eyes thats how its been so far. I was at a dead end sales job for many years and wanted to do something more with myself, so even though a masters may have not been the best way to do it, it was the best way for me to get focused, serious and get to it. I didnt have a IT related undergrad, and the masters just showed that I do know my stuff (in school/paper form). If I was already working in IT I probably would have just done more certs just to move up, because the work experience would replace what the masters would have shown. Hope that helps

Paradox13-7

If you already have a good position a Masters won't really do you any good, unless you want to advance to a higher position or impress clients. However, if you are still in school or not really established in a steady job a Masters can only help your marketability. I wouldn't really worry about getting a doctorate unless your going into achedemic teaching work like being a professor. It makes you overqualified for most jobs in industry.

Sepiraph

hypnotoad wrote: »

I wouldn't hire someone automatically because they had a M.S., a certification, or X years experience -- there are too many variables. I've met fluke MCSE's who can't install XP, and I've met terrible Ph.D's who can't do basic arithmetic. Go figure.

I have to agree with the posters above though: the Bachelors degree is getting less and less respectible all the time.

Lol what kind of Ph.D though, if it was hard science that person has no excuse BUT from my experiences there are only 2 type of people who do Ph.D in hard science - first type is the very intelligent and dedicated type, and the second type is very dedicated but not necessarily that intelligent (not stupid, but just above average) but their dedication make up for it. However, the reality is that most probably only the first type will excel in their field as you need both talent and dedication.

But to OP question, it really depends. Usually it is 'worth' it if you care about doing strictly technical and engineering stuff, especially on research, development and theoretical side. If you are looking at it from a financial point of view, then it may not necessarily make sense.