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Comment by trhoad | Hacker News Reader

I studied for my MSc in the UK mid-career. I didn't really do it for the potential payrise (there is/was none), I just did it because I enjoy learning about computing and wanted to do something structured so that I stuck with it. It cost me about £10,000 and I paid monthly over the 2 years so it wasn't so bad financially. I think you can take a loan in the UK to cover postgrad stuff, but I didn't bother, I was in the fortunate position that I could afford not to.

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> I didn't really do it for the potential payrise (there is/was none)

In many places it's a matter of employability. Without a degree, you are simply not employable (or promotable) unless you have the right network.

Discussing the relevance of the contents of a master's is like discussing the relevance of leetcode. At no point does anyone, either from the university or industry, claim the contents are relevant to the job. It's also why many degrees are effectively interchangeable as long as they are similarly prestigious.

I think mid-career degrees can have the effect short-circuiting the elitism.

I did the same! It fitted well with a career break I wanted to take, and it's been helpful in rounding out some of the more theoretical parts of my knowledge. I suspect it's viewed positively by some employers for some roles, but mostly not as positively as staying in a job for the two years instead. Not everything has to be viewed purely as a career investment though.

Interesting thanks. Did you do an OU course? how did you find the curriculum/pace?

Birkbeck. Yes, I would recommend it - although as with all these things you get out what you put in.

Which Uni you had the masters from? Would you suggest them?

See above :)

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