Confused - Graduate School

Ok, say after me slowly: Computer Science is not programming [smile].
Not having any practical programming experience should not stop you from studying CS. If it's really your field of interest, you can always enter a CS program without any previous programming experience.

Good luck,
Pat

I as going to mention that too, that you don't necessarily have to be a great programmer to pursue CS in grad school.

You'd probably succeed by going with something you have background in, but you're most likely to succeed by going with something you're really interested in. If that happens to be the same thing you have a strong background in, then great! Grad school is a generally a pretty big undertaking, make sure you don't hate it :).

Good advice. I realize that CS is not just programming. But if you look at a lot of CS grad programs, a lot of programming is included. I guess I was just looking at it out of a "why hire someone with no practical exp, but a masters" perspective ...

Marc

Quote:

Original post by mbanghart Since I will be a mid-level manager in the Air Force - I am thinking about an Information Management degree. Would that help me step into a mid level management job with an IT company, or should I persue something else? ... I am also thinking about a Computer Engineering graduate degree or an Information Assurance grad degree. ... I guess I was just looking at it out of a "why hire someone with no practical exp, but a masters" perspective ...

Perhaps I missed something. You said you want to "step into a mid level management job" and you will have a few years as "I will be a mid-level manager in the Air Force". Why do you believe that you will have no practical experience?

Although engineering leads often do a lot of management, they aren't simple managers. You won't land an engineering lead as a game studio, obviously, but there are many other managerial jobs in IT.

Having already obtained a CS degree and management experience, you should be reasonably well suited for managerial work. Many companies want to hire middle-managers who care about discipline and order, and who can also speak geek.

Pure management has very little to do with the work implementation. For example, a manager over a bunch of plumbers doesn't need to know how to bend and solder pipes, they just need to know how to effectively manage the people who do know. That knowledge includes a basic understanding of what is involved, but not the intimate details. A manager over telephone operators doesn't need to know the details of operating the telephone banks, just how to manage the people and a knowledge of the high-level tasks. Similarly, an IT manager doesn't need to intimately know how to program, they must know enough about it at a high level that they can coordinate and manage those who actually do it.


Management in tech companies really varies. In my work history I've seen middle-managers who do a lot of things. Duties included purchasing decisions, coordination of cross-team work between the leads and other managers, pushing back on both upper management and the teams when creating budgets, coordinating staff, and rather importantly, effectively translating between "geek" and "executive" languages.

Regarding practical experience - I meant IT wise. If I am accepted in the USAF program that I am applying for, I will be a Navigator. In my opinion it is kinda of hard reconciling CS with being aircrew on a C-130.

I was drawing on past experiences that I have had in the AF; managers that did not know much about my career field were poor managers. But it is true that IT has many management positions that have nothing to do with CS directly.

So, would you suggest leaning towards a CS management masters?

Thanks
,

Programming is involved in graduate CS programs, but no one cares about your programming ability. The important thing is your ability to come up with ideas and algorithms -- this is the hard part. Then, implementing the algorithm to test your ideas should be fairly straightforward.

I don't see any reason why you current employment situation should determine what kind of graduate degree you should get. Any work experience you have will be helpful in whatever field you pursue. Most people coming out of graduate school have no work experience at all.

Well, I can tell you one thing about graduate school:
Now that I have my masters degree, I don't really feel like I know any more than back when I only had a bachelors.

Thanks for the advice everybody. Another question ... Which do you guys think is more important.

a) getting a masters from a well-known school (Columbia, Illinois etc.)

or

b) the degree program itself, even if its from an unknown school (like Regis)

Thanks

[Edited by - mbanghart on June 21, 2007 9:05:29 PM]

Quote:

Original post by mbanghart Thanks for the advice everybody. Another question ... Which do you guys think is more important. a) getting a masters from a well-known school (Columbia, Illinois etc.) or b) the degree program itself, even if it from a unknown school (like Regis) Thanks

Depends on your purpose.
If you want it for the knowledge, you're better off studying on your own.
If you want it for career potential, get it from a well-known school.
There are too many "online universities" these days offering masters and doctoral degrees for a very short period of "study" time at some cost. People won't believe you actually have the knowledge if they see name of a weird school, and they might think that you just bought off that degree from one of those places.

Quote:

Original post by Pouya Well, I can tell you one thing about graduate school: Now that I have my masters degree, I don't really feel like I know any more than back when I only had a bachelors.

To be fair, you were already a bit on the insane side before you even finished your undergrad.