A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be • Hacker News Board

Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be

#21

Post by schnitzelstoat » Mon, May 18, 2026, 7:08 PM UTC

anukin wrote: post #14

I see masters in technological related fields as a way to get a job in USA for many non us candidates. It’s a good thing that this gamification of the system is meeting its demise. I for one have not found many masters students talented than the undergrads at software tasks. PhDs are another matter though.

I mean you can't really blame them, you guys have salaries that are 2-3x higher than even what we have here in Western Europe let alone India etc.

So the best thing you can do for your career by far is simply to find some way, any way, to be able to work in the US.

Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be

#22

Post by bdangubic » Mon, May 18, 2026, 7:41 PM UTC

austin-cheney wrote: post #15

torginus wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But GP wrote about being replaceable being good for your career - which doesn't make sense - and the opposite what you did, which does make sense. About your career path - kudos to you, but my experience has been that willing to do the work nobody wanted/could resulted in receiving more of said work, but when it came to taking credit, people always came out of the woordwork, on the other hand I have had many negative…

It makes sense. The subject here is not about career progression. Its about employment attainment.

both are related though… a lot of folk think that career progression as SWE must follow a path of “work something couple of years, then go elsewhere to get a much bigger salary bump than you would have gotten if stayed.” but you can also just stay and have a job for life pretty much if you become more valuable to the company than they are too you. this should be taught at Unis, it is the most important thing every SWE should strive for

Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be

#23

Post by austin-cheney » Mon, May 18, 2026, 8:01 PM UTC

bdangubic wrote: post #22

austin-cheney wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense. The subject here is not about career progression. Its about employment attainment.

both are related though… a lot of folk think that career progression as SWE must follow a path of “work something couple of years, then go elsewhere to get a much bigger salary bump than you would have gotten if stayed.” but you can also just stay and have a job for life pretty much if you become more valuable to the company than they are too you. this should be taught at Unis, it is the most important thing every SW…

> both are related though

When you see that phrase just think: cognitive conservatism. Then you can stop reading what follows.

It does not matter how far they are or are not subjectively related. One is the subject and the other is not.

Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be

#24

Post by jerlam » Mon, May 18, 2026, 9:32 PM UTC

foxyv wrote: post #16

denismenace wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you expand on that? Seems very counterintuitive

If you cannot be replaced, you are un-promotable. Your entire career becomes tied to a single point of failure. Then, when they replace that piece of software with a new product you have no experience elsewhere.

Implied is that you work in a company that is growing, that will promote you.

If you work for a company in stasis or worse, shrinking, then being replaceable means little.

Re: A Master's Degree Isn't the Job Guarantee It Used to Be

#25

Post by apparent » Tue, May 19, 2026, 7:03 PM UTC

laughing_man wrote: post #20

As always, it's kind of silly to talk about masters degrees as a group. There are stark differences in marketability between degrees.

Yeah I would guess part of the reason for the increase in unemployment is that there are many silly masters degrees offered now. Would be interesting to see the unemployment rate for masters that have been around for a while.