I have a B.A. in Computer Science, but absolutely no job experience in programming. My only experience that is computer related is technical phone support. I was unable to apply for an internship in college because my gpa was below a 3.0. I took several classes that I didn't put any effort into and didn't drop them in time.
I finally got my act together and graduated, but I have spent the past year looking for a job. I have had 2 interviews since, but no job offers.
The first interview I got was for a tech support position, but the girl interviewing me didn't realize I had a degree. During the interview I got the impression that a degree meant very little to them. So I asked her, how important was a degree compared to experience and certifications. She said that experience is more important, followed by certifications, and degrees came in third.
My second interview was the result of lieing. It was another tech support position so I changed my resume to so that it didn't show that I had graduated. I got all the way to the second interview, but encountered another problem. They kept asking me if I planned going back to school and if so how would it affect my job. I told them that the job came first, but I was not sure if I was going to go back to school. I didn't get the job and have had no interviews or offers since.
So I decided that I'm going to go back to school and get a Master of Science in Information Systems and improve my gpa to get an internship. I have to take some Business Foundation courses since I was a CS major and not business, but it's giving me an opportunity to pad my gpa. So far straight A's, but it will be 2 semesters of A's to get my GPA back to 3.0 and qualify for an internship.
In the meantime, I'm also working on getting some certifications like MCSE and Java Certified Programmer. Hopefully I can get an internship and the job market will be a lot better when I graduate in a few years.
If you get a PHD, it will open up more job opportunities for you. But it will also close some opportunities because employers are looking for someone to work a specific job. Your education will more than likely be a hinderence in those particular cases. My advice would be to get the PHD, but don't advertise it for jobs that don't list it as a requirement.
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I have a B.A. in Computer Science, but absolutely no job experience in programming. My only experience that is computer related is technical phone support. I was unable to apply for an internship in college because my gpa was below a 3.0. I took several classes that I didn't put any effort into and didn't drop them in time. I finally got my act together and graduated, but I have spent the past year looking for a job. I have had 2 interviews since, but no job offers. The first interview I got was for a tech support position, but the girl interviewing me didn't realize I had a degree. During the interview I got the impression that a degree meant very little to them. So I asked her, how important was a degree compared to experience and certifications. She said that experience is more important, followed by certifications, and degrees came in third. My second interview was the result of lieing. It was another tech support position so I changed my resume to so that it didn't show that I had graduated. I got all the way to the second interview, but encountered another problem. They kept asking me if I planned going back to school and if so how would it affect my job. I told them that the job came first, but I was not sure if I was going to go back to school. I didn't get the job and have had no interviews or offers since. So I decided that I'm going to go back to school and get a Master of Science in Information Systems and improve my gpa to get an internship. I have to take some Business Foundation courses since I was a CS major and not business, but it's giving me an opportunity to pad my gpa. So far straight A's, but it will be 2 semesters of A's to get my GPA back to 3.0 and qualify for an internship. In the meantime, I'm also working on getting some certifications like MCSE and Java Certified Programmer. Hopefully I can get an internship and the job market will be a lot better when I graduate in a few years. If you get a PHD, it will open up more job opportunities for you. But it will also close some opportunities because employers are looking for someone to work a specific job. Your education will more than likely be a hinderence in those particular cases. My advice would be to get the PHD, but don't advertise it for jobs that don't list it as a requirement.