Masters - Are they worth doing?

I am considering doing a masters when I graduate at a better university such as Manchester/Lancaster/Liverpool but not sure if it would be worth doing.

They are very expensive (the fees are £3000 alone) so I am not sure if it would be worthless. My point of this thread is to ask any of you that are employers if a candidate with a masters would stand out more than a candidate with a standard bachelors degree.

I was thinking of doing it in computer science. My reasons behind this are that I am currently at Salford University studying Multimedia and Internet Technology, which probably won't have the best reputation with employers.

I understand the most important thing will be work experience but when you're a graduate you can't be expected to have much, though I will have some work experience in working for web developer for the company I work for part time.

 

Ian,

I'm not sure how the big boys treat things - I've always been in small companies and so don't get deluged with the huge numbers of CVs that the majors do. BTW - I think Salford does have a fairly good reputation in business, as it was one of the first Unis to take industrial collaboration seriously (or maybe I just know a bit more about it having been in the Chemistry Dept at Owens, with strong ties with Salford).

My experience of Computing Masters is varied. Like you, most of the MSc CVs I've seen have used it as a conversion course from some other first degree discipline (often electronics). As such, it's normally simply been a way of getting some relevant experience to put on the CV. From interviews/employing them, I'd say that it generally didn't give nearly as much grounding in the subject as a full first degree course (as you'd expect from comparing a 1 vs 3 year course). Of course, without the MSc it's quite possible I'd never have lookd at the CV in the first place (although I have hired several people with no formal computing qualification at all).

I think a far better indication on the CV is a good first degree (I'd normally take a good 2:1 over a 2:2+masters, if I could). In your case your first degree is sort of related, so things may be a bit different - and the MSc may be a good way of getting your teeth into a really good project. One of the best guys we ever had had done a first degree in Informatics, and then a Masters in computing - which involved a fair bit of work in his supervisor's spin-off company .

BTW - In the business we're in (MRI systems development), Computing PhDs are generally a bad sign, as the routine of day-to-day software development doesn't really have enough to interest one of them (PhDs in MR or Medical Physics is a different story though).

What I do look for more than the MSc per se though is a) a keen interest in what you (and we)'re doing; b) flexibility and quickness of uptake (of which a higher mark in the degree is a good indicator).

So it's a bit of "well, maybe". Sorry I can't give you any more definitive guidance.

(PS - notwithstanding what I said above, most of the technical staff here do have PhDs :MILD: )

 

Thanks, most my degree course at the moment is programming but it dosn't go into that much depth, I suppose if I did a programming masters that would solve that problem. I don't even want to be a programmer but the job I do will require me to be a good programmer and at the moment I am still only at intermediate level.

A lot of people say Salford has a good reputation with employees but I am not sure if thats true anymore as there are lot of other universities that have sprung up since Salford became a university in 1967.

I suppose my best bet is just to make the most of what I can and try and get a 2:1/1st (probably not likely to get a 1st though) and then do bits off odd computing jobs to gain experience.

 

I've employed dozens of grads over the years, mostly as a former partner in one of the bix 6 consultancies. I would say a masters per se isn't always worth much academically to an employer, but that as you suggest, if it upgrades the insitution then it may well be worth doing. As degrees are now two a penny, many employers are on a 'flight to quality' and prefer those institutions with a solid tradition of high standards. Depends what you want to do - for example if yuo want to work in the City then a masters in applied finance would complement the technical BA well and position you for a job in banking technology.

 

I'm not really bothered about working for the big companies but idealy I want work on contract basis for a couple of years before then I might go into teaching probably in the FE rather than HE sector.

Upgrading the insitution is my main reason for wanting to a masters. I have only recently found out just how important it is however my undergraduate degree (even though I am only in the second year) got my part time job so it can't be that bad.

 

Now if you were getting your first degree from Oxford or Cambridge you'd just need to wait a year and then through some miraculous process your BA (even science degrees are BAs there) would become an MA. Two tier higher education system? Never

My father who went to Cambridge objected to this system so refused to ever collect his free MA so he's one of the few Cambridge grads with a mere BA.

Michael.

 

I'd start with a spelling bee if I were you

 

...or, as with most of my contemporaries (from "the other place"), frankly couldn't be arsed. The free meal that went with it was tempting, except by then we had a tee-total President, so even that wan't the debauched afair it was in the good ol' days. Maybe if I'd not done the fud I'd have been more interested.

(BTW - you do have to steer clear of "gross moral terpitude" though - tough when you're young!)

 

White spirits are soo much easier when you're a young 'un

 

I was advised to skip a masters, and jump straight into a PhD. Certainly a few years ago, alot of the people on masters courses looked like they were either making up for a bad degree or having an extra year at uni on their parent's dollar. I think that is changing now some of the funding bodies are paying for masters courses that lead in to a doctorate, and certainly if I was starting now, I would try to get funded for a MRes as well as a DPhil. Do you know who your relavant funding body is, and whether the course is eligible for funding?

 

well I picked mine up (from Cambridge, never heard of another place....). The logic was supposed to be that the first degree was set a at a level that demonstrated Master's academic competence and the intervening period just showed your ongoing probity etc..

 

20k

Yeah the problem is I my parents are not rich so I would have to pay for the masters myself, I won't even get a loan or anything. I am not sure if I can get funding for a masters, if I was to do a PhD I would get funding to tune of around £12k a year and when I have completed it I would automacticaly get a job within the university. However that means another 3 years studying and £12k is not a lot of money at all when I could be earning £20k+ in a proper job which would probably be easier.

From what people here have said and in general a masters is probably not worth doing.

 

if you did a sandwich course, then your experience will be very beneficial in getting you a job...thats the route I took.