Quote:
Originally Posted by zx10guy
If you're really serious about getting into IT, a master's won't do squat for you unless you're looking to get into academics or heavy into R&D. Even many of the SMEs I know in the various disciplines under IT don't have masters. Unless you want to get into management, I'd think you're wasting your time.
If you want to get something to hang on the wall to get further in IT, do a certification. For security, get a CISSP. For networking, get a CCIE.
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In the software end of IT, degrees are worth doodly-squat. And certifications aren't worth much either - they're generally something someone gets in order to make up for the fact that they haven't written much code. I recently looked through the course descriptions for the Master's Degree program at my alma mater. I could teach 90% of them, so why would I pay to be a student there?
If you're a staff programmer at an old-fashioned company then a Master's will move you up onto a higher pay scale. They'll probably reimburse you for your tuition along the way. But you'll still be making less than a contractor. A staff software engineer with a Master's degree at a Fortune 500 company probably makes $250K on the coasts and $140-150 here in the Midwest. My top contractors make $250K+ here in the Midwest, where the cost of living is much lower than on either coast yet we have more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies headquartered here and lots more that have extensive technical staff here.