Comment Go for it, but be realistic. (Score 1) 834
- It got me a job and a nice salary bump when I started after completion, because of the conditions of my employment.
- It did not help me to get promoted later on as a manager. That takes politics. You'll be better off getting the PMP rather than a Masters, if that's what you want in life.
- It looks nice on the resume and your business card.
- It's not as relevant after several years in the industry. Oddly enough, certification gets more wight, unless you're a PhD going to Academia. It also depends where you work. For instance, if I were going to work in Puerto Rico, an EIT or PE it's more useful than a Masters, but that's because the PR job market is license crazy.
- If you do your masters mid-career does not equate a change in responsibility or salary. But, you can use it to find a new and better job being that you can create a relationship with the career center. (Sometimes, in retrospect, I should've considered that). I've known folks that the company paid for their MBA and continued performing the same job after graduation.
- You get a better sense on Academia. You learn how to work in complex projects and prepares you for research and in some cases, dissertation. That'll help you when you have to defend your design or proposal against your peers or supervisors.
I did it when I had the chance, if you're in no rush to start working, have money to pay for it and you know which area of interest you're going to pursue, go ahead and do it. Later in life it'll be harder (but not impossible).