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Ask HN: Masters in CS, ML, or get a job?

13 points by _Tyler ↗ HN
Hi! I am about to end a two year contract working overseas, and I don’t love my current line of work. I’ve been teaching myself python, django, javascript, html, css etc with some CS fundamentals, algorithms on firecode.io and a few lessons on http://www.fast.ai for fun for the past two years.

I’m returning to the states in about a month and I’m trying to decide if I should just look for junior dev jobs and get some hard experience, or if I should look into getting a masters in CS, or a masters in ML .

In terms of future long term job security, earnings, etc, which of the three options would you recommend?

FYI, I’m a 27 year-old male who will probably be moving back to the Austin, TX area.

10 comments

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qdonnellan
Get a job. A master's degree in CS will help to augment your experience in the industry - it won't obviate it. I would recommend taking a look at Georgia Tech's OMSCS program, which (for non-CS undegrads like myself), necessitates some number of years of professional software engineering experience.
scottimidus
What projects have you built?
_Tyler
a basic Django CRUD app with social logins, an alexa skill using Node.js, and a few static websites
scottimidus
That is a great start. I'm in a similar position to you and all of the job interviews I have come up against will require whiteboarding / coding tests.

I would recommend to starting something like Cracking the Code Interview on Hacker Rank and begin working through the problems.

https://www.hackerrank.com/domains/tutorials/cracking-the-co... (will have to create a login I believe).

I would also recommend not using any external libraries, even basic stuff like collections for Python. I was not allowed to use anything in the coding tests, only standard libraries.

djinnandtonic
I have friends at the code camp, BS, MS, and PhD level; PhD enables you to go into research or stay in academia, but my buddies with Masters really haven't seen any benefit. They're still competing for the same jobs as the BS folks: the degree gets you an interview, but after that nobody cares what your degree is or where it's from.

Disclamer: this is my experience in a secondary market, SF might be different.

GFischer
Same here, I have a Master's degree but I haven't seen many benefits other than getting a foot in the door. (also not in SF/the US)
eggie5
I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. There are plenty of masters programs (in ML) that are tailored for working professionals.
pinchharmonic
What were you doing overseas? Depending on what it was, it could synergize "on paper" with the masters.
mslate
Get a job, hands down. Why pay to learn when you can get paid?
janbernhart
Is there a specific topic you would like to work in but don't feel comfortable enough in? If so: a Masters in that direction might be wise. Doing a Masters just for the title doesn't add much.