Hello,
I am a mechanical engineering senior and have found myself in a position where I could earn my MS in mechanical engineering very conveniently (at no cost), but the research is a bit out of my future career goals. I eventually would like to design electrical systems or circuitry for consumer electronics or robotics, but the research I would be doing for the MS is a quite specific track of electronics testing and includes no design work.
My main question is, how close does the MS have to relate to my career goals to be worth my while? Would this MS be valuable to an employer who is looking for someone interested in circuit design, or would I be better off looking and hoping to find a job for a new grad that has to do at least somewhat with electronics? Though I have a very strong GPA I don’t have confidence that I could find my dream job right out of college, so my original thought is that this MS could give me a strong edge in the job market 2 years from now. However, I have begun to hear that this may not be the case.
Thank you in advance.