<p>Which option is viewed more favorably by employers? Do you think that they'll even question which option you took? I'm interested in working in industry later.</p>
<p>If your goal is to work in industry, they won’t care which option. The exception would be an R&D Position.</p>
<p>If you do intend to pursue a Ph.D. later on, grad programs generally view a thesis Master’s much more favorably than a pure coursework Master’s. The sole advantage a coursework Master’s in grad applications usually provides is that it helps offset a poorer undergrad GPA.</p>
<p>In industry, though, G.P.Burdell’s post has it spot on.</p>
<p>I agree. If you want to continue on to PhD or work in R&D, you should have certain amount of research experience (as evidenced by your thesis). But if you want to have a terminal master and go directly into industry in non R&D capacity, then coursework only master should be fine.</p>
<p>Just to contradict the pack above, in industry whenever my masters came up I was asked about my thesis (which I didn’t do), and I have noticed that those who did a thesis tend to advance farther - I do not think there is a stigma involved, just that those who do a thesis tend to learn more, which pays off.</p>
<p>so does that mean Thesis option is better than non-thesis one even if you just want to work in industry excluding R&D? :(</p>
<p>Yes, but not necessarily by much depending on what you want to do - certainly in R&D it has the most impact, but there are many engineering jobs where it is a relatively minor matter. But doing a thesis general builds a higher level of knowledge in that area, and I have yet to see where that is not a good thing - assuming of course that it does not cost significantly more in time and money!</p>
<p>There are tons of master programs (I am talking about the top ranked ones) that don’t require doing a thesis but instead require either more courses or a capstone project… I am sure your employers are aware of this.</p>