Advancing your career with the right degree

Many of us eagerly try to pursue higher levels of education and degrees with the hopes such an achievement will help to climb higher on the career ladder or possibly obtain better jobs. While these reasons might be logical and valid for pursuing an advanced degree, the critical question is that, is this the best approach for your career advancement? We see in the Kingdom of Bahrain, many organizations, especially in the government sector, provide a step up for employees who earn such higher degrees, but the direction should be if business benefits are realized from obtaining these degrees and then the step up should a consequent.

 An advanced degree will not guarantee you a certain level of success— just as a lack of one won’t necessarily limit you. The good news for IT professionals is that the computer science field remains dynamic and growth oriented. According to some studies, it is estimated that the market for software developers will grow 30 percent by 2020. Computer programmer jobs are growing at a pace of 12 percent.

Here’s the bottom line: You don’t need an advanced degree to get ahead in IT. But in some cases, it can offer a huge benefit. To help you decide, consider these factors.

First, you need to ask yourself, where do you want to take your career? Many positions in IT don’t require a college degree at all. In fact, some of the industry’s titans made it to the top as college dropouts. However, for certain positions, an advanced degree might be a requirement, such as jobs in academia or research. You will need to research the field and start talking to people already working in it. Did they need an advanced degree to get to where they are? Having that insight will greatly help you make your own decision.

The other concern is the cost. Master’s degrees are expensive. We have seen how tuition feeding the Kingdom of Bahrain are climbing up, and there are only very few scholarships available.

So, you’re likely looking at funding your own degree, which means taking on significant amounts of debt. Can you afford it? Does the job or career you’re pursuing pay enough to justify the expense? Remember: going back to school also means you’ll be removed from the workforce for two to three years.

Furthermore, higher degrees in the IT field don’t always have to be technical in nature. IT professionals are expected to be well-rounded these days and, in many cases, must think like business people. If you’re considering an advanced degree, are you certain it’s more technical skills that you need?

For IT professionals who want to advance through the management ranks or work more closely with the business, a Master’s in business administration can be a real boom. Likewise, professionals who are attracted to certain industries, like public policy, can make themselves a better fit by complementing their technical skills with a graduate degree.

And completing an advanced degree is a huge undertaking, one not suited for the faint of heart. Which is why additional education tends to be a point of social admiration. Do you enjoy the rigor of being a student? The essays, the lecture halls, the midterms, the finals—do you have the time and energy to handle it all? Do you enjoy the skills or knowledge that you’ll be learning so much that you could potentially stay up all night doing schoolwork, if you had to?

No one should be afraid to pursue an advanced degree—but anyone who takes it on should be prepared. Nothing would be more wasteful than getting halfway through and not finishing.

Beside educational and academic degrees, there are many other certifications that add big weight to any resume. In some cases, getting an extra certification might be just the ticket to advancing your career to the next level or making a lateral move. Certifications are very cost-effective, and many can be achieved in a very short amount of time.

Figuring out whether an advanced degree is the right path for you will require some introspection and research. It might be a great option for you. Or it might be totally unnecessary. Just be sure you’ve done your due diligence before you take the plunge.