<p>I agree with Inmotion12. I think what this all comes down to is adaptation to the current times. </p>
<p>For example, I happen to have a BS and happen to get a job 2/3rds of the way through an MS program. In the Master’s program, I noticed that about half ‘already had jobs’ (1996-1997). And most were having their MS paid for by their companies.</p>
<p>The last time I checked, alot of the Master’s students that didn’t work while they got their degrees, still didn’t have jobs. And probably lost in competition to the MS students that were working while going to school.</p>
<p>Not all companies work the same, but it almost seemed like there is a ‘secret back door’ of networking. I didn’t get recommendations through professor’s aid, but through peers I worked with in the class environment ‘that had jobs’. </p>
<p>Once in the company and having worked at a lower level for a while, I was told it was unnecessary for me to go through an astringent interview process for the promotion they were giving me because they already knew how I worked. At about the same time, I noticed another section in the company, interviewing MS recent grads for an entry level engineering position. This interview process was going over months and with requests that the NCGs give formal presentations, which in the end, resulted in hiring no one, because no one would agree with each other on who to hire. In the end, managers seemed more than likely, to internally promote a BS engineering student that strangely slipped in through operator, then tech, because that person was much more trustworthy for the company’s processes.</p>
<p>I’ve also seen employees get laid off for having a higher salary for their expected roles in the company. Either they expected more from that person, or they could find a BS employee that is paid less but with higher performance. And in reality, these days, some BS grad students are just happy to get their first job and their first promotion. The unsaid, is that the lower paid, high performance employees are probably a threat to the stability of some other, higher degreed, higher paid employees.</p>
<p>I’m really torn about going back for anything higher than an MS, just because, unlike an MS, you have to be a full time student to finish a Ph.D. Which, under logic, calculates to a negative cash flow for an extended period of time. That, and people at work have been talking about NCG Ph.D’s becoming custodians because of the economic situations these days.</p>
<p>Refer to PurdueEE under:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/716462-whats-average-entry-level-engineering-job-like.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/engineering-majors/716462-whats-average-entry-level-engineering-job-like.html</a></p>
<p>As I am somewhat convinced that a Ph.D should only be pursued if you are “truly awesome”. And if money is not an issue, you really like the field of topic and passionately want to teach it and do research in an academic setting. So, although I’d want to participate in the bandwagon Ph.D effect, I find turning down a steady income, these days, terrifying. </p>
<p>Anyways, it’s good to get the feet wet in the working world, and after realization of needing more education, get a higher degree as a supplement to current work experience. That in addition to it’s who you know (I’m sure this could start a new thread of stories).</p>