I know everyone says how employable CS is.
Can anyone speak to the following: a BS in a related STEM field followed by a MS in CS? The BS will have enough CS courses that a Masters will be very straightforward (and inexpensive, so please, no concerns about cost for this scenario).
Is there any disadvantage to not having a Bachelor’s in CS, if the student does have a MS?
I wouldn’t think so but wanted to ask those of you in the field/HR.
Assuming a proper CS foundation is there, I don’t see a disadvantage.
My bachelor’s was in computer engineering followed by a master’s in CS. With the right foundational CS knowledge as you indicated, I don’t see an issue.
My nephew is in a CS job with a poli Sci degree.
In this case, if you have concern and I can’t imagine an issue but the easy solution is to ask the school for career outcomes of their Masters students.
Many companies give you a test as my nephew took…or 3 or 5 and the degree is less relevant. Passing matters.
I also would not expect any problems.
One thing that I have noticed after working in high tech for decades: All software engineering jobs are not the same.
I had a degree in mathematics. As such the software engineering jobs that I have had needed quite a bit of math. I can for example remember solving some very difficult stochastic process problems and/or multivariate calculus problems, and then programming up the result. The hiring managers knew that the job would require quite a lot of math, which I am assuming was related to why I was given that particular opportunity.
However, software is also needed for some biology related jobs, some nursing related jobs, some physics related jobs, some jobs in biochemistry or organic chemistry, and so on.
My expectation is that almost any STEM related bachelor’s degree plus a masters in computer science would be quite a good combination for jobs that have something to do with whatever STEM related degree you or your child happens to have received.
Thank you, everyone! Very reassuring!
There really isn’t a disadvantage, especially if your bachelors degree is fairly similar. I got a bachelors degree in communication(useless), then went back to school and got a masters in Information Technology. There was no disadvantage for me in finding work. As long as you can demonstrate enough proficiency to do the job, the masters degree will actually be an advantage. Generally it’s the equivalent of 1-2 years of experience. In fact, most graduates end-up in IT related jobs and spend an entire career never doing a math problem.
My son got a B.S. in Human Biology followed by an M.S. in Computer Science and had absolutely no problem getting a job after graduation. He has worked at Google for the last six years, first in what was then called Google Brain, and now in their Health division.
S1 got a math degree and had lots of programming already under his belt. Zero problem getting job offers. Stanford offers a MS CS degree and has classes at S’s SV employer (and AFAIK, his employer would still help foot the bill for it). He’s considered getting the MS, but says the lack of one hasn’t hurt his advancement at all.
This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.