Re:Ask HN: Is it worth it to get a masters degree in CS for ...
by shoo on Sunday February 26, 2023 @04:39PM
(#34949786)
> it took me 5 years to catch up with the salaries my friends who didn’t take the pause were making
One possible trajectory is to get a junior permie SWE job on some commercial project, spend a few years learning the ropes, switch to a different org and a different project, get a better salary while learning a bunch new stuff from the new project context, then enter the wonderful world of daily contract rates. It seems plausible to be making the median SWE daily contract rate (£600) as a contractor with 5 years of relevant commercial experience, one could probably do this even faster if working toward this was a goal, with a little luck.
https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/software%20engine...
When I was in your position years ago I took situation B, but before doing that I had good reason to believe I had a job lined up that was interested in the MS. My main reason for choosing B was I felt I’d never have the time to do a masters full time once I entered the job force, and I wanted do have a degree that distinguished myself. All of that worked out fine for me and I have a good job now.
However, looking back I would choose Option A. I didn’t learn a lot of new things from my Masters because there was so much overlap with my undergraduate degree. I would have appreciated it more as a part time program later in my career when I had more experience. Also, it took me 5 years to catch up with the salaries my friends who didn’t take the pause were making.
I’d recommend taking the job, work for 5 years then revisit the masters.