Master's in engineering with a bachelor's in economics

Graduate School
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<p>Hello everyone. I was wondering about my chances of future employment, especially what my chances might be to find employment in the United States. I am 24 years old and I am from Serbia. I have a bachelor's degree in Economics with a focus on international business and now I am doing my postgraduate (Master's degree) studies in Electronic Business.</p>

<p>In my postgraduate studies I have focused heavily on classes like Internet Technologies (html, CSS, javaScript, PHP, MySQL, AJAX etc.), Mobile Business (Mobile application development in Java), Internet Marketing (SEO techniques etc.), and Internet of Things (Machine to Machine communication, work with sensory devices, design and development of smart houses, smart cities etc.). So far I have a 10.0/10.0 GPA (highest possible in my country) which is the same as 4.0/4.0 in United States. My undergraduate GPA is about 3.0/4.0. When I graduate from my postgraduate studies I will get a title which officially states that I will be a "Master engineer of organizational sciences in electronic business", but it is basically a Master's in Computer science degree as far as I can understand how it translates in United States and elsewhere in the world (Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).</p>

<p>My question is because I don't have an official undergraduate education in computer engineering or computer science, how much weight will my Master's degree as an engineer have? Would I be in a disadvantage because I don't have an undergraduate background in computer science or could my undergraduate education in business (economics - officially) maybe even put me at an advantage over other candidates when looking for an IT job at an IT company?</p>

<p>Please don't get me wrong, I still had to pass a very selective admissions criteria like any other student (with or without an engineering undergraduate diploma (Only 35 of us were admitted to this program out of more than 1300 students who applied)), so I still had to prove that I have the required knowledge to study there. Also this is one of the best and most reputable colleges in Serbia for Business and Computer Science education. I chose to focus on computer science for my postgraduate education because I really love it and I've been doing web design since I was 13. I went into economics for my undergraduate studies because I love economics as well but I feel that I would be much happier as a computer science engineer and could have a much better career.</p>

<p>When I finish my postgraduate studies would my undergraduate education even matter to employers or would they be focused on my skills as a Master Engineer in Computer Science (Again please feel free to correct me if I'm using this title in a wrong manner - I am not quite sure what my official title from Serbia should translate to in United States)?</p>

<p>I know this post is a bit longer but I would really appreciate your insight.</p>

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<p>Does anyone have any input on this?</p>

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<p>I’m not really sure, but I do remember hearing about someone who majored in sociology and then went to a top school for a masters in CS… so you should probably try if that’s what you want to do.</p>

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<p>So it is not unusual for someone who studied a social science like economics, sociology, or history to go to a masters in Computer Science and then continue a career as an engineer in Computer Science and Information Technology?</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>Your Masters degree will have as much weight as anyone else’s, despite the fact that your undergrad was in economics. </p></li>
<li><p>You will not be at a disadvantage because of your lack of CS in undergrad, unless there are some gaps in your education. Just make sure you understand the basics of algorithms, operating systems, and data structures. I think, just enough to answer some interview questions. </p></li>
<li><p>At the same time, your background in econ probably won’t be a big asset either. I think most employers will care only about your most recent degree. But who knows, maybe if you apply for an IT position in a bank, it could be a plus. </p></li>
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<p>Not unusual at all. I heard of a history PhD who worked as an engineer in Microsoft.</p>

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<p>Thank you very much JamesMadison. Your answer helped me a lot.</p>