Networking Graduate Programs

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AMD_RULES

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Do you guys recommend a masters or just go right for a job out of college? Asking this for a friend.

Thanks!
 
I just got done getting my Bachelors and I am going straight into work. Honestly I would just go with a Bachelors. Where I am located everyone likes experience and the only jobs that don't really require it are entry level positions that you wouldn't want to be super over qualified for. I would just stick with a Bachelors and get some certs. That's my opinion though, some more experienced guys might give you a better insight as to what to do.
 
For actual hands on work? skip the masters. Even if you want to get into mgmt down the road, a MBA would probably be a better post-graduate degree. And that is worth more with some experience under your belt, rather than jumping right back into school after a bachelors.
 
Do not get a masters unless someone else is paying for it. People do not want to hire MBA's in most positions because they appear over-qualified or they cost to much. The economy is not ready for MBA's yet.

So in short I would wait.
 
Master as professional master degrees in your field, yes, better employment, boosts the starting salary.

Master as MBA, no, wait until the econ data pick up, or do well on the job that the company wants to pay for it so they can put you in mgnt position when the econ picked up.

Networking is a hard skill and in demand, consider the lost wages that you are not earning. Either way this is a good problem to have.
 
His major is Computers and Information Systems.. and he told me his folks have money put away for him to go to grad school.

So you think it's better for him to just go into a job and pick up some certifications on the side, such as CNAA?
 
I think it's difficult to say given the information that you've provided. Has he done internships while completing his bachelor's degree? Has he worked part time while completing his bachelor's degree? If he has some experience along with his degree, he would probably be fine to go for his master's degree and try to compete for graduate internships/research assistant positions. That way, he can continue to develop professional experience while earning his graduate degree.

On the other hand, it might be better to try to get a full time position now if he has little in the way of experience. Education and experience go hand in hand and should complement each other. An excess of one doesn't do a good job of compensating for a lack of the other. Someone with a master's degree, but no real professional experience will struggle to attract job offers for lucrative positions. Meanwhile, someone with a master's and experience will generally earn very high salaries.

Ideally the 'best of both worlds' option would be to try to get hired somewhere that will pay for him to get his graduate degree while he's working. This leaves him with both the graduate degree and professional experience, and most companies tend to give employees who have just earned their graduate degree a promotion or a fat salary increase/bonus in order to try to retain them.
 
a masters right after bachelors is kind of similar to paper certs, sure you passed some tests, but there isn't much practical knowledge and experience to go with it.
 
I don't think it will hurt to get a Masters. I find that most people don't go back to school. If he's ever going to do it, now's a good time.
 
Masters = Expensive

Getting a Masters does not always mean you will get a job.

Our economy really is not in a position for people with Masters to be hired, sure some do but it's much harder to get those jobs because you have a lot of good competition, also with a Masters you might end up looking over qualified.
 
All good points, but the only thing I don't agree with is "over-qualified". How is that a bad thing? Better then hiring some bozo that doesn't know what he or she is doing..
 
AMD_RULES said:
All good points, but the only thing I don't agree with is "over-qualified". How is that a bad thing? Better then hiring some bozo that doesn't know what he or she is doing..
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because if you are overqualified, it's somewhat likely you will leave as soon as a better offer shows up, and in fact will probably be out looking constantly to find a job that is better suited for your skills.
 
dave99 said:
because if you are overqualified, it's somewhat likely you will leave as soon as a better offer shows up, and in fact will probably be out looking constantly to find a job that is better suited for your skills.
Click to expand...

Yea in administrative or accounting field where there are a ton of low skilled level jobs having problem to be filled due to lack of headroom and earning potential, yes, over-qualification is a cliche excuse and is discouraging. But at the same time it says lack of qualification for pursuing higher skilled jobs or the job lack interests.

Because of the Visualization and Cloud thing going on, computer engineers and network admins are all getting soaked up. A global consulting firm paying global salary will never tell a candidate that they are over-qualified, instead, they will be happy to downplay (over-demand and make you look under-qualified) you to accept lower salary and make you produce as much, as fast and as long as possible. You need to come pre-train for these types of work, but very rewarding, and stressful.

For corporates that has steady intake, young people require a lot of training and produce very little, i.e. expensive, they know you don't have the tons of toughest certificates out there or relevant work experience, so they take generic professional degrees as being cheaper to train, or if you come cross-trained, i.e. networking plus VM, you are still paid one salary, take up only one headcount but serve like two roles, your earning quality would be much higher than the average new grad. Because you made it so much harder having to replace you, find two skillsets and fit within one headcount, they sort of have to make room for you.

In either case, the least you will have to do is certificates, just the way the clients in your industry look at things.
 
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