how old is too old for a Masters.?

x in the city

Folks,

I am considering doing a MEng or something along the line to specialise in embedded systems, VLSI, Advance Lithography etc.

Only thing is I am 34, With a BEng in Microelectronics, impossible to get work as I don't have enough experience since I graduate, alot of my work exp is tech work and I am overlooked for that now as Im over qualified.

would age go against you after a Masters?

cheers

lg123

if you are not working what do you have to loose?

mr potato head

I'm guessing it's a 1 year masters... at 35/36 finishing isn't exactly old

Deciding you are going to do a Masters a few years after your BEng can be a positive thing and from my experience of my previous employers, they looked for more settled people, with some of the life experience that comes with age.

If you can't find work gaining more education will hopefully move you up the list at application time or change your speciality to access new jobs.
Good luck

Turbulent Bill

x in the city wrote: »

Folks,

I am considering doing a MEng or something along the line to specialise in embedded systems, VLSI, Advance Lithography etc.

Only thing is I am 34, With a BEng in Microelectronics, impossible to get work as I don't have enough experience since I graduate, alot of my work exp is tech work and I am overlooked for that now as Im over qualified.

would age go against you after a Masters?

cheers

To broaden the question, what work would you like to do (given the choice)? Your MEng topics look a bit varied (not necessarily a bad thing), so it's hard to tell what your ideal role is. The masters should be a bridge between your current technician experience and whatever role your aiming for.

I wouldn't worry about age, employers will look positively on anything that improves your skills. Check out the Postgraduates forum here for feedback from mature students.

x in the city

Well, I am interested in embedded systems [which are all the rage for now and the future] so things like minaturisation, low power mpu's

I am also very interested in automotive, ECU development. Flexray et all. As I would be interested in moving to Germany at some stage, these would be core requirements there.

I realise that the jobs I am interested in I dont have enough work experience and/or specific skills.

with the economy royally screwed I think 1 year would be a small sacrifice to make.

However its 2006 since I graduated, i am worried abit even if i could cope with a Masters...!

x in the city

This course at CIT seems quite interesting, what I cant understand is how can they cram all that into a year, seems like it would be impossible to complete..

I downloaded all the .pdfs and there is a load of stuff it seems...!


http://e-eng.cit.ie/MastersDetail.html

Turbulent Bill

x in the city wrote: »

This course at CIT seems quite interesting, what I cant understand is how can they cram all that into a year, seems like it would be impossible to complete..

I downloaded all the .pdfs and there is a load of stuff it seems...!


http://e-eng.cit.ie/MastersDetail.html

Maybe ask a prospective employer or past graduates what they think of the course? I'd imagine they pick and choose from the whole syllabus, i.e., you wouldn't do every part of every module.

x in the city

tis a brand new course, not starting till this year.

Black Swan

x in the city wrote: »

Only thing is I am 34, With a BEng in Microelectronics, impossible to get work as I don't have enough experience since I graduate, alot of my work exp is tech work and I am overlooked for that now as Im over qualified.

would age go against you after a Masters?

Numerous studies have shown, up through the masters (not doctorates because of the lower pay associated with higher education teaching posts), that increasing education is positively correlated with increasing income.

I'm temporarily across the pond pursuing my own education (although quite a bit younger than you). Talk over here is that the adverse impacts on retirement funds associated with the World Great Recession will force people to stay in the workforce well beyond typical retirement age. We are talking about people age 60 and above. Their community colleges over here are now seeing an explosion in enrollments from all sorts of people coming back to learn new skills by those laid off from jobs, and those older adults who cannot retire because their pension funds have been halved.

I believe that this older worker phenomena will be a trend not only in the States, but also in Ireland, and other parts of the world. So compared to 60 year olds, you are still a young spring chicken! Get that masters!