Should I Pursue an MS, MBA or M.Tech ?
A friend of mine is working in a software company, with decent pay, and good work life balance. The work was exciting at first, but now it has become repetitive. The scope for growth in the current role seems limited. They are thinking of going for higher studies to advance their careers.
Should they leave their job and do further studies ? If yes, should they do an MS from the USA or M.Tech. from India or go into management by doing MBA ?
Many people in software face the same questions at least once in their career.
Will higher studies help ?
If you are in a tier-2 company or if your resume lacks a tag of some big organisation, you would already be finding it hard to get shortlisted for many roles. You might have skills to ace the interviews and perform well in the role, but getting to reach the interview stage itself must be proving to be tough.
A degree from a reputed college can easily solve this problem.
If you can get into a good college whether for Masters or Management, the tag of that college can open lots of doors for you. Not only this, you will be building a network of your peers who will be working at big companies in future. This network itself is a great asset for your career.
For example, getting a referral in a company would just be a Whatsapp message away to one of your college friends.
Should you do an MBA ?
If you are convinced that higher education is for you, then you need to decide whether you wish to remain in the tech industry or switch into management. This is purely a personal choice. Both these fields have enough scope in terms of good salaries and professional growth. If you want to switch into management roles like finance, consulting, product management and so on, you should go for an MBA.
M.Tech or MS ?
If you have decided to stay in the tech industry, you would have to opt between M.Tech or MS from the US.
MTech from India will require you to clear GATE exam with good rank so that you can get into the CS branch of top tier colleges.
You would need to study your B.Tech. coursework in detail. The benefit of this option over MS from the US is that you do not need to spend a ton of money on college fees.
MS from a good college in the US is an even better option than M.Tech from India as it will open far greater opportunities for settling in the US. It will require you to prepare for the GRE which is an exam on English & Maths. Apart from GRE, you would have to prepare your SOP to apply in US colleges.
So if you are ready to spend a good amount of money on college fees and willing to relocate to the US, MS is a good option for you.
Do you feel that 4 years of CS degree were insufficient and you still need a bootcamp to get a good job. Read all about it below.
