I have been doing my MSc at a reputable university in Computer Science field for the last 2 years. I already submitted and obtained the credits for my MSc thesis but I need to go for one more semester to complete required credits of coursework.
In the meanwhile, thanks to my work experience I gained during my internships, I got a full-time job offer from a software company. They will take me whether I obtain my degree or not.
Personally, I am too tired of studying. The course I will have to take next semester has nothing related to my interests and I will not use it anywhere at the industry. It is a waste of another 4 months for me. I prefer to work in the industry and earn experience with something I enjoy doing. There are also financial problems, like my parents not being able to sponsor my education anymore so I will have to look for a part-time job or assistantships.
Because of above reasons, I need to make an important decision soon, as to whether to take the job offer and terminate my MSc or go for one more semester and do something I don’t enjoy with very difficult conditions. In the end, I think it is my experience during my MSc degree that got me the job and I can be fine with future jobs as I add up to this with my new job.
I would appreciate any advice from experienced forum members. Thank you.
Man, quit your whining, suck it up and finish that degree. For one thing, you’re within 4 months of having it. Second, how are you going to explain that resume gap in the future?
Regardless of what you say, unless you were hand picked by some industry big-wig to head something, up, potential employers will hear: “I went to school for my MSc, but had a fit of being a baby, and never finished.” That’ll go over well, I’m sure.
It’s also a LOT harder to finish up degrees after you quit, especially if you don’t live in the same town. Grad school credits rarely transfer, and I’m not sure what the half-life on them is either. Plus you usually have to do it at night, after a full day of mental work, and that’s not easy, trust me.
No experience in your field, but in mine, when the axe falls, the guys with the BS degrees get laid off before the guys with the MS degrees, with equal experience. Now, if you think you are going to be the best employee they’ve got, or you are best friends with the boss, then roll the dice and hope you’re not kidding yourself.
It’s not clear from the OP, but can you defer your start by a one semester? I deferred my own start by a month to wrap up my thesis and defense, and nobody batted an eye.
What about finishing your degree while working. I know lots of guys who’ve done that, it’s usually not difficult. One measly semester is nothing.
Also, the degree may be irrelevant to this job, but lack of it will shut you out of consideration for others in the future. You will change jobs many times over the next 50 years, think carefully before you decide.
EDITED TO ADD:
It’s just coursework that remains? Holy crap, you can sleepwalk through that. Finish the degree.
If you can work it so that you can take the job plus keep pecking away at your courses, that would be the ideal solution, I think.
Personally, I dropped out of a master’s program to take a job in that field and I don’t regret it one bit. But in my case, I already had a different master’s degree, so a second master’s degree probably wouldn’t have been a big advantage in life.
I’ve seen a LOT of people in this economy lose their IT jobs and not be able to get another one because of lack of degree. Didn’t matter in their original jobs, does to get another one because of the competition.
Have you spoken to anyone at the school about how to do both? Working while going to school is hard, but not early as hard as staying on campus with no money and trying to finish a single class. It seems to me that with a few months of serious effort you should be able to meet all the requirements.
Talk to the school about what they can do to make this possible, then talk to the employer. If it’s just a matter of “I’ll need to travel to campus on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons” most employers would much prefer to support that process and have a mroe valuable employee. In fact, they may even pay for it.
Thank you very much for your replies. I talked to my supervisor at my department and she said she will put me in contact with some of the companies in the area who are looking for part-time employees.
Unfortunately, the job offer is from another country so I cannot do both. (Wish I could.) Like most of you said, since I am that close to obtaining my degree, I will suck it up and get it, trying to finance myself at the same time.
Did you ask your department supervisor about finishing your last course online? Or about taking an equivalent course at a university near your job offer, to transfer the credits to your current university to complete the degree?
ETA: Your department supervisor may not know the answers. Isn’t there some kind of counselor at your university you could talk to? I have to believe this is possible, you just need to find out how.
Even if you don’t consider the experience in school worthwhile, the degree itself is going to be helpful. That much is known.
However, life would probably be easier if you just took the job and started getting a paycheck.
I can definitely see how this is a tough decision. On the one hand, you complete your degree and take the job, and everything works out great. On the other, you can try at both and fail, and all of it falls apart.
I think you have to honestly ask yourself if you can manage it or not. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
I agree with others about finishing. What courses do you have to take, and why do you think they won’t be useful? The more areas you know about the more flexibility you have in taking on more assignments and looking for other jobs. The person who knows how to do things no one else in the company knows how to do stays employed longer.
I would work really hard to find a way to complete the degree. Eventually, you are very likely to run into a situation where the degree is a hoop you have to jump through to move forward, especially if you end up in the corporate arena. More and more often, a Masters is a checkbox you will eventually have to check, and without one you’ll hit a ceiling. And when you start getting to that point, you’ll probably have a lot more barriers in your way that will make that harder. As you get older, it gets harder to move around, take night classes, finance tuition, and ultimately complete a degree.
If it was your first year, I might have different advice. But you are so close to finishing. Only you can judge how likely you are to get future job offers, how lucrative this particular offer is, and what your prospects will be if you don’t finish. But if you have reason to believe that you’ll have access to similar offers later, and mostly you are just sick of school and eager to get into the workforce, I would seriously consider sucking it up and finishing school.
+1 on this. If the job offer is solid, work with the university and finish your degree out via distance learning or over a longer period of time or whatever. Your new job might even help with the costs.