Doing a Comp Sci masters while working?

magher

Hi,

I've been working with a company for a couple of years now in a support and QA role. In the last 6 months I've been lucking enough to transition into a development role, doing basic web dev work (highly guided). My lead Dev has said I'd really need a proper qualification if I was to seek work elsewhere in future.

I have a degree in Mechanical Eng and a masters in Energy Systems from UCD. What would be the most suitable masters course available in Dublin Centre/North? I think 2yr part-time masters courses are available?

Has anyone else done the same, i.e. a comp sci masters without the degree? Is the difficulty curve high if you haven't done the degree?

Or are there other course options?

L.Jenkins

You check back with UCD and see if they conduct a Post. Dip. Conversion course, which would equate to a level 8 degree.

bpmurray

I did a taught masters in DCU over 2 years, but I had a lot of experience making some of it easy for me. It's time-consuming, but definitely worth it. Since you have an engineering background, you could do the security course - the maths are tough, but it's an in-demand skill

The Corinthian

magher wrote: »

Or are there other course options?

http://www.dit.ie/postgrad/programmes/dt093amscinappliedcomputingfortechnologists/

conor.hogan.2

Itzy wrote: »

You check back with UCD and see if they conduct a Post. Dip. Conversion course, which would equate to a level 8 degree.

They do and it seems like the best course of its kind in Ireland (well Dublin at least)

percy212

Can't you just learn on the job? You are working as a webdev now. You will get good at it quickly. You already went to college so we know you are smart. Anyway a masters is not going to teach you anything you need for a job. You do not need compuational mathematics or formal methods for well anything really.

bpmurray

percy212 wrote: »

Can't you just learn on the job? You are working as a webdev now. You will get good at it quickly. You already went to college so we know you are smart. Anyway a masters is not going to teach you anything you need for a job. You do not need compuational mathematics or formal methods for well anything really.

Maths are pretty useless, except for security, analytics, performance, ...

magher

percy212 wrote: »

Can't you just learn on the job? You are working as a webdev now. You will get good at it quickly. You already went to college so we know you are smart. Anyway a masters is not going to teach you anything you need for a job. You do not need compuational mathematics or formal methods for well anything really.

I did plan on that originally, but I think it would put me in a bad position seeking future employment. Besides my work may cover some or all of the costs

irishdude11

bpmurray wrote: »

Maths are pretty useless, except for security, analytics, performance, ...

The thing about proper maths is that you are going to have to have studied to PhD level before you are eligible for jobs where you actually implement anything non-trivial. At very least is a degree (with a significant maths component) + a math based MSc.

No company is going to let someone who has done a bit of complex analysis, linear algebra and probability, etc.. write their core math code.

percy212

I don't know why you feel you need a compsci qualification if you already have a masters in a technical field PLUS experience as a developer. Your supervisor is either inexperienced or over cautious. Believe me when I say you do not need another degree. If you REALLY want to do more study and your employer will pay for the courses, then go for it, and enjoy. My advice would be not to kill yourself with a masters. Do a conversion course and make sure its an easy one. Anything you learn will be out of date or forgotten in five years anyway. Good luck

magher

I'm considering doing the negotiated learning 2 year masters in UCD, it seems perfect for me http://www.csi.ucd.ie/content/msc-computer-science-negotiated-learning

Does anyone know anyone that did it? Or how well is it regarded?

Manach

For the course content the Open University can be commended. However the prices for the modules are steep.

UCDVet

I did a masters in Computer Science while working. I'm sure it probably depends on where you study, but I have to be honest and say almost 0% of what I did while obtaining my degree is helpful in my day job. I'm a C# desktop application developer, working on some generic business application. My masters coursework involved a fair bit of maths and statistics, a lot of paper writing, a bunch of really interesting artificial intelligence stuff (that, while really cool, almost never lends itself to be implemented in a generic business application).

Some places have programs designed for working professionals, which is what I did. My grades were excellent, but my coursework dragged on and on. It ended up taking me four years to finish the masters.

In hindsight, I don't think it was worth it. I enjoyed the material, but I could have been learning things directly relevant to my job. You say you are doing basic web development. I can honestly say, not a single thing, covered in my masters program would be helpful to someone trying to do basic web development. Sure, sure, underlying theories like algorithmic complexity are universal - but when you're trying to get an image to align properly, experience with CSS is far more important.

I'm actually looking to get an HTML5 certification myself now, and yeah, I really think it's many times more useful to spend time doing web development and learning what web developers do, than getting a masters. It's just another line to add to your CV, but I really feel like employers care more about the job you can do, than the mostly unrelated things you've studied.

bpmurray

irishdude11 wrote: »

No company is going to let someone who has done a bit of complex analysis, linear algebra and probability, etc.. write their core math code.

I wasn't referring to core math code, but rather performance, analytics, security, etc - all of these require maths and it is good to have them in advance, rather than trying to understand the concepts on the job. They do not normally require a PhD in some niche corner of mathematics.

Aswerty

I only have engineering qualifications, Mechatronic B.Eng and Telecomms M.Eng. In no way whatsoever would I worry that my qualifications are insufficient for getting a development job. At the very start of your career it can cause a minor hinderance but if you're able to put down 2 years experience working with Java (or whatever) in a Software Developer/Engineer role you'll be fine.

If you want to fill in the gaps in your knowledge then sites like Coursera are good for computer science subjects such as algorithms and data strucutres. See https://www.coursera.org/course/algs4partI for example.

I think what UCDVet posted is very good information. Though iff you still think a Masters is the way to go you need to find something that covers the fundamentals and doesn't just specialise in advanced material.

irishdude11

bpmurray wrote: »

I wasn't referring to core math code, but rather performance, analytics, security, etc - all of these require maths and it is good to have them in advance, rather than trying to understand the concepts on the job. They do not normally require a PhD in some niche corner of mathematics.

If you are working for a company writing core performance, analytics or security software libraries that require mathematics then you will have a PhD in mathematics (or a Comp Sci PhD that focused on that particular functionality and involved plenty of math).

If you are instead you mean wiring up and applying the functionality of such libraries like 99.9% of developers it is no harm having studied some mathematics but it's not going to make difference as the whole point of these libraries is to make such functionality available to other developers who don't need to know the ins and outs of them.