Graduate programs for 10 hour day people

[techwoman2]

Hi, my own choice is to find a program that is two years or more that makes sense in terms of what companies are looking for. I am trying to work from career descriptions rather than school course or curriculum descriptions.

I am considering rotating into a particular company while in the university graduate program as the company offers an IT trainee position for students that actually pays more than I make now.

The fear I have is being overeducated and overqualified, and still not able to meet my expenses. As many these days are, there is no guarantee that high paying jobs are a reward for education. It seems I have every type of degree/certification(other than IT) already so I am wary.

Watching others work to get an idea of how to design the study program gives me ideas. But only bits and pieces and many of the programs are soft.

The graduate programs offer courses in support, and networking, anything else I'd need another B.S. in computer engineering or if that is not offered locally than electrical enginnering. Maybe experienced people here will understand that it's easy to find your job description defined by others and growth slows down. I need to be able to redefine my job description so that employers see growth and expansion, not a terminal career track. So easily networking, or support can be terminal, I've heard this often enough from co-workers who want to get into software engineering and now can't. None seem happy with strictly support, or networking and I know programming is rewarding and fun-but what about software engineering as a track?

What I fear is that two years of graudate work will not be enough. And many programs seem soft to me.

How can I find out more on software engineering, or computer engineering as a field? Advisors are practically useless for career advice, where can I find out if the courses for a graduate program are practical for my needs?

I know I can do the job but employers will need to see a formal plan of study of at least two years.
Problem is most of the graduate programs seem to have flaws in that the courses are too general, or there is a huge emphasis on support.

Do I need an undergraduate degree instead, another one that is? When people say something is fun I don't think they mean it's fun 10 hours a day which is what I'll be doing. Does anyone else here work 8-10 hours a day for a medium to large sized company or governmental agency and like their job?

Thank you,
working in
Boston

 

[LadySlinger]

Have you thought about an online university option? Or is that under the general category as well?

I would look at the department of labor statistics. My understanding is that in IT two particular fields will grow significantly over the next 5-10 years: Programming & Security.

It seems odd that a grad program has a huge emphasis on support...there will always be support, no matter where you go in IT (level 1 IT, co-workers, friends, family...) so understanding the functions is important. Usually once you get to a master's level, you focus in one area particularly of the Bachelor's. For example in IT, you can get a BS: Comp Sci and that will touch everything from programning, networks, databases, etc. Once you go for your masters you usually concentrate in one area of the field, such as programming.

 

[SQLSister]

Personally if you want to get ahead that means moving into management and towards that end an MBA is your best bet.

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[JCreamerII]

techwoman2,

I don't think you need another BS degree? Get all of the technical education you can, if you can get someone else to pay for you, great. LadySlinger is right on the money with the programming/security as a focus. I think the security side has a lot of up side going forward. What is most important is to find something that you will like & fits your skill sets, the right spot will probably find you down the line. Whether you get a Masters or not is a personal choice. The advanced degree allows for a different path going forward, teaching, management? But you have to like the work. You will be very lucky if you find a job thats fun, but if you find one you like that's a good place to be.

Jim C.

 

[techwoman2]

These are good answers to my question, Thank you. Ladyslinger, I did look into a few online options, most universities now have at least part of the coursework online, and I found a few electrical engineering degrees that are half online. Things are changing that way.
The issue I have with the graduate programs are that they are not a specialty because it's such a new field, most touch on all aspects of computer science and then focus on either programming or networks and support.

Most universities are redefining the curriculum every year because computer science is relatively new field and they want to stay current. They are also selling a product and want to provide what students need. The programs are really all over the place because they are focusing on management issues as well, not just technical issues. The B.S. degreee is the nitty gritty and the graduate programs assume that the student is managing other tech people.

Sometimes that is not always true.
In any case as you guessed I do want to move ahead but I need to keep current with my skills as well as learn how to manage projects/people better. Some of these programs seem too short for me. It's possible that I am underestimating my ability to learn.

Thanks, I am going to narrow my search to programming and security focused graduate studies.

However I am always tempted to look into engineering because there is a greater need for engineers than programmers where I work. I worry there are too many skilled programmers chasing the same jobs, because of what I see on the job.

techwoman2
Boston