I am curious about people who get their Masters degree. Is it worth it? Especially in this era? Did it make a big difference, especially for the job market?
I have been considering getting a master’s in civil engineering for long but I have never enrolled in any because I just have mixed thoughts.
I will give you this scenario with I witnessed personally. When I once worked in industrial research for Famous Name Labs, a new hire with a master’s was immediately an Engineer and one with just a bachelor’s was a mere Engineering Associate. The EA could and typically was promoted in two or three years to Engineer, but the master’s engineer was already ahead in their career.
I think if you are wise enough you will get my point.
I am currently doing one in Education in the UK. My experience so far has only made me realize how shit the education system is.
It just made me want out big time and for sure it hasn’t opened any doors in the job market so make your choices right.
My honest opinion is that the Masters Degree does not pay for itself. It will help you grow professionally.
Every once in a while larger districts pay for you to get your masters in exchange for you working at a low-performing school for a certain number of years. That is worth it. Of course this one applies to teachers only.
If you are learning on loans, I will tell you in bold that IT IS NOT WORTH IT. But if you get scholarships/funding, then yes you can enroll in one.
Guys I am just disappointed in your comments. How can being paid more not be worth it? Especially when you make back the cost of the master’s degree in 1 year. If it didn’t work for you then you need to question yourself where you went wrong because I have friends who have did wonders with their Masters Degrees irregardless of the field they are in.
It actually depends on many factors. For instance, in my state, all county public school systems require a standard master’s degree or what they accept as equivalent (which is a mix of county school workshops and some college classes) for employing teachers.
This is not needed for about the first 8-10 years of teaching. At first, your pay increases stop, then your certification runs out, if you do not secure the upgrades. It’s curious that many of the private schools, in the state, do not mandate this.
I have just given you one case in teaching because I am a teacher. But for detailed reviews about your field, I believe you can ask that in engineering related forums.
I loved my Masters Degree program. It gave me time to reflect and was more meaningful than my teaching classes in undergraduate since I had experience.
That being said, I was able to go full time so being not in the classroom at the same time was helpful mentally load-wise. In addition, my district also pays 8k more when you get your master’s so it definitely pays for itself relatively quickly depending on the cost of your program.
In my opinion, it is not worth it because the thing left me in debt and made me hate teaching to date. It was BS. Complete waste of time because I have seen so many teachers ruined by the process of getting a master’s.
Just make your decision right so that won’t regret in the future.
It is not good to be materialistic but if you are able to, just do a Masters Degree because most states will bump up your pay significantly if you have a that degree, and it is good to have it for practical purposes and improving your proffesionality.