What kind of jobs you can get with a computer science degree locally?

MBA vs MS or M.Tech in Computer Science?

• This is one conundrum I am not able to crack and whenever I think about it I am lost in some circular deductions, I have the option to pursue MS in Computer Science from US this year, but I am not really sure about the consequences of doing MS from US, I will be spending somewhere about 20-30 Lks to get an MS degree and even then I am not sure whether I will land a job that will offer some hefty pay packet, moreover I am highly unsure about the job scenario currently in US, news channels present an entirely different story but when I talk to currently enrolled students I get a completely different picture, also I guess masters degree will be the last degree of my life, and on the second hand there is an option to do MBA in India from top 15 colleges that more or less seals your fate as you surely would land a job that will be secure enough and I will be spending much less cost than I would in MS. These are some questions I need answers to. 1) I believe MBA is more general a discipline while if you are in technology industry you have to keep yourself updated with the latest technologies as no company is stagnant and most of the job lurk in private sectors hence there is always a risk associated with such kind of jobs, What is the wisest decision in such a case? 2) The cost of doing MBA in India is half of what I would be spending in doing my MS from US and that too without any certainty of landing up a cool secure job, what are some reasons that make the latter one a lucrative option as compared to the first one? 3) Which career would pay me handsome paychecks more quickly when compared to the other?

• Answer:

  For answering this question, it would be vital to consider what you prime motivation is for doing a post-graduate degree.. From the details mentioned, I will assume that paycheck is the paramount factor in consideration. Now the thing you should be asking yourself is not "Should I do X?" but rather "Why should I do X and nothing else?". All the people who go to a good school do not end up being successful. Success matters a lot on how good you are at what you do compared to others. No matter what path you choose, you will get big bucks IF you are good enough.... enough money to not worry about the cost of the degree. Therefore, select something to do which you won't get tired of. Explore the opportunities at the end of each line that you would like to pursue. Try to find out which of those you would love doing day after day... Therefore the two primary considerations you should have are: 1. What are your career plans? Do you plan to work in the US? If yes, for how long? 2. What are you good at? What do you enjoy? Do you like designing algorithms? Do you like programming?    Optimization? Can you spend hours at them losing track of time??   Would you rather meet up with people? Do you want the bigger strategic picture rather than the specifics of the product? Do you have plans for  opening your own venture down the line? Would you rather try another industry other than computer science and IT?? The first question provides an answer as to which degree would give the most bang for your buck so to speak. It may be noted that a degree from a  well recognized university in  US would give you a greater mobility in  the US job market but might not make that big a difference in the Indian  job market compared to a degree from a well recognized university in  India and vice-versa. If you only want to work in the US for a short while, it does not make much sense to go for a degree from US. You could rather try to join a MNC in your field and go on internal company transfers. However, if US offers an opportunity that you will NOT get in India (say entry into a niche sector/company) then go for it! The second provides an answer to whether you should shift to an MBA. MBA offers a huge diversification in the nature of opportunities that you get. You can enter fields as diverse as finance and supply chain management. However, in many of these fields, your people skills will be crucial for success (in addition to the domain knowledge). So if you are not much of a people person and would prefer work involving specific knowledge... you are better off in the technical arena. Ultimately you have to decide which option is least likely to make you regret not taking the other option in the future.