Quote:
Originally Posted by clowntable
It really depends on what you want to do. If you're worried about people thinking you lack IT skills upon graduation and you want to end up in development...well there's tons of Open Source projects you could contribute to while getting your MA.
If I'm hireing developers and can pick and chose I always value projects they did (aka finished code, good developers "ship") +my estimate of how well they get along with other developers highest.
IT is very much merit based in many places and quite frankly usually that's the places you want to end up in. Some places value formal education very highly but my very subjective view is that working there usually isn't great.
If you want to do non-development work an MBA might not be the worst decision. Make sure that you teach yourself some high level stuff on the side and understand technology and can make educated decisions.
SQL+a high level language like python/ruby+web stuff will put you way ahead of most business people already.
Also...a MA in CS is going to include a bunch of stuff that isn't really "practical" at first glance. You may have operating system design, algorithms and stuff that isn't really "just code stuff". Might want to look into software engineering or similar degrees.
[I work in IT and used to be responsible for hireing people to some degree at my old job]
I am not sold on the MBA path. I have seen many aspects of the business world, and I'm not sure if an MBA will take me in the direction I ultimately want to be. However, Isura's point regarding consulting is a good one, and I am going to look into what types of skills these jobs look for.
Your post reminds me that I need to define exactly where I want to end up once I graduate. That should be obvious, but it's difficult for me to know when I have limited experience in these fields. Who knows what I will excel at and like/dislike?
In searching for Software Engineer Jobs and IT jobs, these are some of the commonalities in skills I have found:
1. SQL Database Knowledge
2. General Database Knowledge: MS SQL, Oracle, Postgre SQL, My SQL
3. General web-related Technology: HTTP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
4. Computer Science degree or "related field"
5. Systems Administration skills
6. Unix/Linux
I'll update that list as I continue to research. Maybe it will be helpful for others.