Ask HN: when you're hiring, how important is a MS/Ph.D? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: when you're hiring, how important is a MS/Ph.D?

5 pointsdzlobin4 comments

As someone who is graduating fairly soon, I was curious how important employers think it is for someone they hire to have that graduate degree. If the candidate was, let's say, 24, good hacker, a (possibly failed) startup under his belt, would the lack of a graduate degree matter?

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At our tiny branch of a division of a subsidiary of a large fortune 500 corp, a degree is neither a hinderance nor a help for technical staff. At higher levels, management staff can't get promoted without a masters degree in a business field (usually an MBA, but I'm working on a masters in accounting as an alternative to an MBA). So this means that one needs the masters in business-ish degree by the time one is a manager with the actual worker bees being 3 levels beneath one. Years ago, when I worked at the large bankrupt car company, at the division I worked for, one needed a masters before getting promoted from first line manager (where the people that did the actual work were 1 level beneath oneself).

We don't get to see resumes until after HR has screened them for buzzword compliance. Prior to the absolute hiring freeze, we didn't see too many programmers with a degree at all.

First, it clearly depends on the position and organization. Some (especially when dealing with the government or large organization) will require it.

With that said, for the mid-level developpers I have personally been involved in interviewing, I find it to be a positive mark but hardly decisive. I have personally always given an interview to someone with a master's degree on their resume.

Of course, more than one of those people with masters did poorly in the interview, while I have also seen people with no degree at all do very well.

So in short, I think that a master's will normally help you get an interview, but rarely play much of a role in actually getting the job.

I personally look at any degree information last. Sometimes it figures more prominently; like if someone had a grad degree from MIT for example. Otherwise, I'd much rather have someone that I think can write software well over someone that can write papers well.

I think getting a masters really separates the wheat from the chaff, education wise.

It's part of an elite.

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