Master’s Degree in Computer Science • Hacker News Board

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#101

Post by HWR_14 » Fri, May 06, 2022, 4:59 AM UTC

slotrans wrote: post #93

No way this guy earns his money back. There is no salary premium for a CS master's. Employers that want to see one are places you don't want to work. I mean, if you want to do it just for fun, knock yourself out. Just don't delude yourself about what you hope to accomplish.

Don't the various corporate pure-ish research labs require a masters these days? The ones that may or may not work on things that turned into products? Or do the need a PhD ?

I can see a lot of people wanting the job of "play with cool toys and don't be responsible for products", especially as a mid-career transition.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#102

Post by caffeine » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:00 AM UTC

digisign wrote: post #92

skwirl wrote: post #50

As someone who has a MS in CS (I did a combined BS/MS program) and who interviews lots of people, I don't think a MS in CS has much value as a credential (if any). If you enjoy taking classes and get a lot out of them, that's primarily where the value will be. It definitely helps a ton to have a undergraduate degree. CS is great, but if you have been working in the industry for a while, most people do not really care…

You won't even get a reply (from employers where folks want to work), such as Netflix, SpaceX, JPL, most other BigTech without a CS/IT/EE degree. Resume goes straight to /dev/null. Basically anywhere where you have to compete with a lot of people, it is the first filter to cut the stack from 100 to 50.

> Netflix, SpaceX, JPL

Interesting list of examples, I wouldn’t necessarily have grouped these together?

Have you applied for these at some point? I haven’t, but the emphasis seems quite different at each company

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#103

Post by mrmuagi » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:01 AM UTC

slotrans wrote: post #93

No way this guy earns his money back. There is no salary premium for a CS master's. Employers that want to see one are places you don't want to work. I mean, if you want to do it just for fun, knock yourself out. Just don't delude yourself about what you hope to accomplish.

Hold on a second though, I read that certain job levels get skipped if you have a masters or a phd for some companies when hiring. For where the field of study matches the company wouldn't that be quite valuable? Also cost of a masters where I live (Canada) is a lot less than America, but maybe comparable to Europe?

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#104

Post by Sirened » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:08 AM UTC

related but unrelated: does anyone have experience going back for a PhD/transitioning into academia after years in industry? I can't find many people who've done it, most of the professors and grad students I've ever spoken to either ended up working at a lab as their "industry" work or just went straight to grad school.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#105

Post by NhanH » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:12 AM UTC

mrmuagi wrote: post #103

slotrans wrote: post #93

No way this guy earns his money back. There is no salary premium for a CS master's. Employers that want to see one are places you don't want to work. I mean, if you want to do it just for fun, knock yourself out. Just don't delude yourself about what you hope to accomplish.

Hold on a second though, I read that certain job levels get skipped if you have a masters or a phd for some companies when hiring. For where the field of study matches the company wouldn't that be quite valuable? Also cost of a masters where I live (Canada) is a lot less than America, but maybe comparable to Europe?

> I read that certain job levels get skipped if you have a masters or a phd for some companies when hiring

That only applies for very early career. You get to skip one to two of the most junior levels in the company. By mid career, there is no skipping anymore

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#106

Post by CraigRo » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:14 AM UTC

skwirl wrote: post #50

As someone who has a MS in CS (I did a combined BS/MS program) and who interviews lots of people, I don't think a MS in CS has much value as a credential (if any). If you enjoy taking classes and get a lot out of them, that's primarily where the value will be. It definitely helps a ton to have a undergraduate degree. CS is great, but if you have been working in the industry for a while, most people do not really care…

There are different kinds of MS degrees. Some take people with no real cs knowledge, and some are stepping stones to a PhD. The latter is a very valuable credential, as it indicates deep technical and theoretical cs knowledge. The interview should be able to elicit this

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#107

Post by digisign » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:17 AM UTC

slotrans wrote: post #93

No way this guy earns his money back. There is no salary premium for a CS master's. Employers that want to see one are places you don't want to work. I mean, if you want to do it just for fun, knock yourself out. Just don't delude yourself about what you hope to accomplish.

There was a post on bigtech salary levels recently. Each promotion was equivalent to $100k or more, there were many levels. Hiring into a director position might double it. A degree makes these things substantially more likely. He'll probably have his money back within six months.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#108

Post by alanfranz » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:22 AM UTC

el_benhameen wrote: post #94

driscoll42 wrote: post #2

I'm personally in the Georgia Tech Online Master's in Computer Science (OMSCS) program right now and can't say enough good things about it. The coursework is rigorous, deep, and varied, you really do learn quite a bit through the program and more than just random learning on your own, you get a degree out of it. Plus you get the opportunity to do some research and publish papers.

I’m curious whether anyone here is doing/has done OMSCS with a family in addition to a day job. I would love to do the program, but I’m not sure how realistic it is to take it on with young kids in the house. Does all of your non-work time end up being consumed by coursework?

You can do one class per term, and even skip terms. You can alternate hard classes and easier classes. If you don’t rush, it’s doable.

Source: graduated from omscs last year, with two small kids and a full time job. Took 3.5y though, and I had to skip a couple of hard but interesting classes because they would have been too difficult given the situation (covid lockdowns with kids at home and increased job-related workload)

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#109

Post by digisign » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:25 AM UTC

clarle wrote: post #100

digisign wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't even get a reply (from employers where folks want to work), such as Netflix, SpaceX, JPL, most other BigTech without a CS/IT/EE degree. Resume goes straight to /dev/null. Basically anywhere where you have to compete with a lot of people, it is the first filter to cut the stack from 100 to 50.

I’m an engineering manager at Netflix and this isn’t true. I’m really proud of the fact that a lot of colleagues come from so many different backgrounds. I’ve seen data scientists from political science backgrounds, UI engineers who studied literature and philosophy, and I have a CS degree myself, but I’m originally from the bioinformatics space.

Never received a reply from the Hollywood office, over the span of three to five years, despite 20 years of VFX and internet co experience. Others have said the same.

Now, networking is a thing of course. Many people get in that way, but for J. Random Applicant reading this, not an option.

Re: Master’s Degree in Computer Science

#110

Post by digisign » Fri, May 06, 2022, 5:26 AM UTC

caffeine wrote: post #102

digisign wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won't even get a reply (from employers where folks want to work), such as Netflix, SpaceX, JPL, most other BigTech without a CS/IT/EE degree. Resume goes straight to /dev/null. Basically anywhere where you have to compete with a lot of people, it is the first filter to cut the stack from 100 to 50.

> Netflix, SpaceX, JPL Interesting list of examples, I wouldn’t necessarily have grouped these together? Have you applied for these at some point? I haven’t, but the emphasis seems quite different at each company

Yes, they are close by. JPL app was rejected within 5 minutes. Grapevine tells me they discourage talking to folks with "just a" Bachelor's these days.