If you're a programmer without masters degree in computer science, how are you going to be competitive and keep progressing in future. For example, I have an undergrad degree in computer science, been programming for 7 years. Not sure if I can keep writing code till 60 and still find jobs as well as make good income. I fear I'll be run over by the new generation.
Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
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Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#2In my field (web software development), a Masters degree is actually an impediment. People are less willing to hire someone with a Masters or PhD for some reason. Maybe there are exceptions for research positions at big companies, but that'll mostly hold true.
Not many people can (or do) write code until 60. Most will become managers. If you don't want to be run over by the next generation, develop and manage the resource that you have that they can't catch up with: experience.
You can develop that resource by doing a wide variety of work or by focusing on a niche. I've seen developers who only fix bugs in ____ language. Or you can work on a wide variety of projects, in a wide variety of roles, and do consulting.
Unfortunately, most coding is treated as a commodity by the business world, and the younger devs have a cost advantage over you.
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#3BE(SoftEng) here. Professional 10 years. ~3 years at current employer who is the dominant IT vendor in my country. There are definitely lifers within this organisation, the pay and benefits and conditions are good.
I plan to broaden my horizons with philosphy and business studies and hopefully mitigate institutional boredom by growing my own side-projects until such time as this overtakes my salary.
Can't really see a masters being particularly useful.
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#4In my field (web software development), a Masters degree is actually an impediment. People are less willing to hire someone with a Masters or PhD for some reason. Maybe there are exceptions for research positions at big companies, but that'll mostly hold true. Not many people can (or do) write code until 60. Most will become managers. If you don't want to be run over by the next generation, develop and manage the res…
> most coding is treated as a commodity by the business world, and the younger devs have a cost advantage over you.
I have an experience advantage of being able to ship working software that actually meets requirements. Unlike many younger devs.
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#5I'm 53. I've been a programmer for 30 years, mostly in embedded systems. My explicit career goal is to never become a manager.
As you get older/more experienced, it becomes harder to find jobs. When "senior developer" means 5-7 years of experience, what do you do with 30 years? It gets hard to find places that will pay for that experience.
I've found, though, that there are jobs. You won't be switching jobs every 1-2 years - more like every 5-10. "Big engineering" places seem to value the experience more than, say, web places. (This may be just because I'm in embedded systems - there's not much use for that in web services.)
Your advantage isn't how fast you can crank out lines of code. It's how fast you can deliver real value to the business (what else are they paying you for)? Along those lines, one of the most valuable things is the bugs you don't write and the bad design decisions you don't make.
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#6"If you're a programmer without masters degree in computer science, how are you going to be competitive and keep progressing in future."
So University alone determines your ability to succeed? A better question to ask is, "How do I make credentials less important?" (hint: performace), read "After Credentials" ~ http://www.paulgraham.com/credentials.html
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#7I'm 53. I've been a programmer for 30 years, mostly in embedded systems. My explicit career goal is to never become a manager. As you get older/more experienced, it becomes harder to find jobs. When "senior developer" means 5-7 years of experience, what do you do with 30 years? It gets hard to find places that will pay for that experience. I've found, though, that there are jobs. You won't be switching jobs every 1-2…
Have you found with the growth of IoT your embedded experience has been in greater demand?
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#8I've done just fine so far with a 9th grade education.
You may be passed over for jobs by hiring managers who don't understand the value of experience. You don't want to work for them anyway.
I'm less than a decade away from 60. And I'm not worried in the slightest.
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#9I'm 53. I've been a programmer for 30 years, mostly in embedded systems. My explicit career goal is to never become a manager. As you get older/more experienced, it becomes harder to find jobs. When "senior developer" means 5-7 years of experience, what do you do with 30 years? It gets hard to find places that will pay for that experience. I've found, though, that there are jobs. You won't be switching jobs every 1-2…
Have you found with the growth of IoT your embedded experience has been in greater demand?
I can't really say; I haven't been on the job market for six years, which is pretty much the time frame when IoT became a thing.
That said, I'm currently working on telephones for the hard of hearing, and they're internet-connected, so maybe my current job is in IoT...
Re: Hello Programmers without Masters degree, what are your future plans?
#10Masters in Computer Science would be research or academic related. Not many companies need researchers. And luckily our field doesn't really care about credentials that much. I see many people without even Bachelors progressing just as fast as people with advanced degrees.