Quitting an MSc?
Discussion
I left my job in the summer and went back to study a masters degree in Computer Science (2 year course). I think I may have made a bit of a poor decision.
The reason for leaving my old job is that it was very repetitive and the management were pretty open that their main aim was to get the turnaround time down, which meant it was getting dumbed down. I definitely needed to get out, but I'm beginning to think I should have held out for a new job & I've gone back to education for the wrong reasons.
The problem was I was running into is that my technical skills are merely OK, simply because I've not been in that ultra-technical environment for the past few years. I'm pretty reasonable at picking stuff up, but I've been doing stuff with unusual scripting languages rather than any of the usual Java/C#/C++ stuff. I've not got the greatest of qualifications, either (red brick 2.2). While I was frequently getting calls from recruiters that wanted to place people for support jobs, I didn't have any success with the more development based jobs I was applying for.
So now I'm here, I'm finding that while some of the content is interesting, I'd rather be working than doing study assignments and I don't really have enough enthusiasm for it.
I've given it a fair shot rather than just disappearing the moment the "honeymoon period" of it wore off, but I really don't see it going anywhere more interesting. The course advertises itself heavily on the option of doing the thesis in industry, which kinda attracted me to it in the first place, but I'm a bit unsure of the value of spending a year doing something I'm not particuarly enjoying just to get to something thats still a maybe anyway.
So, really, should I bail on this? Or is it a case of "I've started so I'll finish"?
The reason for leaving my old job is that it was very repetitive and the management were pretty open that their main aim was to get the turnaround time down, which meant it was getting dumbed down. I definitely needed to get out, but I'm beginning to think I should have held out for a new job & I've gone back to education for the wrong reasons.
The problem was I was running into is that my technical skills are merely OK, simply because I've not been in that ultra-technical environment for the past few years. I'm pretty reasonable at picking stuff up, but I've been doing stuff with unusual scripting languages rather than any of the usual Java/C#/C++ stuff. I've not got the greatest of qualifications, either (red brick 2.2). While I was frequently getting calls from recruiters that wanted to place people for support jobs, I didn't have any success with the more development based jobs I was applying for.
So now I'm here, I'm finding that while some of the content is interesting, I'd rather be working than doing study assignments and I don't really have enough enthusiasm for it.
I've given it a fair shot rather than just disappearing the moment the "honeymoon period" of it wore off, but I really don't see it going anywhere more interesting. The course advertises itself heavily on the option of doing the thesis in industry, which kinda attracted me to it in the first place, but I'm a bit unsure of the value of spending a year doing something I'm not particuarly enjoying just to get to something thats still a maybe anyway.
So, really, should I bail on this? Or is it a case of "I've started so I'll finish"?
First of all, you want a development job, yet dont have any experience of the languages correct?
What languages do you have?
What is the average job that you have been going for? Write out a bullet point spec.
What is the computer science masters specialising in?
Do you want to be a developer and if so of what?
What languages do you have?
What is the average job that you have been going for? Write out a bullet point spec.
What is the computer science masters specialising in?
Do you want to be a developer and if so of what?
Nope no up-front fees so from the cash point of view its more about if I'm throwing good money after bad on the living costs. To be honest though, money isn't a major factor for me.
In terms of 'having' languages, I've used Java, C# and C/C++ but I'm well aware of the difference between having used something a bit and knowing it inside out. My C and C++ is quite ropey, but my Java and C# are generally okay. Professionally, I've only written in TCL. I've had to read through C++ to track down bugs, but never write any. So I feel like the experience I've got is like having some nice icing on a pretty bland cake.
The jobs I'd been applying for were general entry-level development jobs in C#/Java across a range of industries. I'm not focussed on getting into any one area, really. A lot of the guys I used to work with have found it a lot more simple in jumping around within the boundaries of support/set-up/BA roles but I don't really know anyone who has made the jump to actual development of stuff.
The masters is focussed on Parallel programming, image analysis and machine learning, pretty much in that order. The parallel stuff is pretty interesting and useful, the rest of it is obviously more specialist and less transferable.
In terms of 'having' languages, I've used Java, C# and C/C++ but I'm well aware of the difference between having used something a bit and knowing it inside out. My C and C++ is quite ropey, but my Java and C# are generally okay. Professionally, I've only written in TCL. I've had to read through C++ to track down bugs, but never write any. So I feel like the experience I've got is like having some nice icing on a pretty bland cake.
The jobs I'd been applying for were general entry-level development jobs in C#/Java across a range of industries. I'm not focussed on getting into any one area, really. A lot of the guys I used to work with have found it a lot more simple in jumping around within the boundaries of support/set-up/BA roles but I don't really know anyone who has made the jump to actual development of stuff.
The masters is focussed on Parallel programming, image analysis and machine learning, pretty much in that order. The parallel stuff is pretty interesting and useful, the rest of it is obviously more specialist and less transferable.
Problem you have is you missing commercial experience and I assume your CV has no mention of any of the C#/Java on it, hence the knock backs...
Did your original degree have any element of programming?
Have you looked a grad/junior roles in software warehouses?
Or maybe go in with a role you can do and make noise that you would like to develop too, then see if you can do some work for an under resourced team and help them out.
Debugging someones code is not the same as developing it from scratch which is a lot harder, but I assume you knew that.
Parallel programming is fun, Im reading up on it at the moment, along with that Im looking at:
Asynchronous
metaprogramming
parallel programming
functional programming
All to see if it can assist me in my job.
Did your original degree have any element of programming?
Have you looked a grad/junior roles in software warehouses?
Or maybe go in with a role you can do and make noise that you would like to develop too, then see if you can do some work for an under resourced team and help them out.
Debugging someones code is not the same as developing it from scratch which is a lot harder, but I assume you knew that.
Parallel programming is fun, Im reading up on it at the moment, along with that Im looking at:
Asynchronous
metaprogramming
parallel programming
functional programming
All to see if it can assist me in my job.
Du1point8 said:
Debugging someones code is not the same as developing it from scratch which is a lot harder, but I assume you knew that.
You haven't seen some of the code written by Quants! Back to topic, I think it's worth staying on to finish the MSc on an intellectual/learning basis, even if you feel it's not going to land you a job in the short-term.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff