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Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? I don't think it's that automatic unless your bac

Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? I don't think it's that automatic unless your background is one that includes the "correct" college, an affluent background, and more. Many people end up pursuing an advanced degree in this field because they want to break into a new industry, make themselves more appealing to employers and make more money. If you can do a master's while working, you don't end up with 2+ years of lost salary as well. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't have a computer science degree and I currently find myself considering a master's for those reasons. It would be nice to avoid having to go that route.

pc86 10y ago
Well first of all the only advantage an affluent background will give you to getting a job at Google is the same advantage it'd give you for any other employer or any other industry (better school growing up, able to focus on that school instead of working, etc). And we're already presupposing that the person in question is sufficiently hard-working and intelligent that they could be a tenure-track professor at a major research institution. I would argue that the vast of majority of folks in that position could get a very good job at Google provided they had the correct skill set. And I don't know what part of CS you're most interested in, but my degree is in Political Science and after the first shitty one I haven't had any trouble finding development work in my tiny city.
munin 10y ago
> Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? Yes. from personal experience, if you can get into a good graduate program, you can also get an offer from {google,amazon,microsoft} for $150-$200. the predicate "get into a good graduate program" means you have a CS degree with a decent GPA from a well considered school and some research experience, which usually translates into some kind of job experience that you can talk up in your interview.
fnbr 10y ago
> Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? I think it is when you condition on the fact that someone is a professor at Berkeley/CMU. Roughly 5% of applicants are accepted to top PhD programs, and less than 20% of people with PhDs at top universities (like Berkeley/CMU) get tenure track positions. Of those with tenure track positions, a minority (<50%) get tenure, and of those who get tenure, a fraction become full professors. So the professors at Berkeley/CMU are well into the top 1% of people with computer science degrees, which makes it entirely plausible that their next best alternative is getting a high level finance/tech job.
- TheCowboy 10y ago
  I agree with that. I do think those limits just makes it a more obvious argument, but I thought the discussion was more general than an obvious subset of people who can have their pick of opportunities. Even "lesser" schools without top tier academic stars are having trouble retaining and attracting enough talent to accommodate the current demand, and this is even with salaries starting in the six figures. Which implies the market for people with graduate level degrees possibly has a higher demand, and should translate into a higher salary.
studentrob 10y ago
> Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't have a computer science degree and I currently find myself considering a master's for those reasons. It would be nice to avoid having to go that route. Whatever reason you have for going or not going is a good reason. I have a master's in CS. Getting it did help me break into a new industry. It may have earned me a better chance at interviews. It didn't get me a higher salary in the near term. I'd have earned more by sticking with my first job. For money alone, experience is best. And I knew that going in. Personally, I felt comfortable with my expected future earnings before getting the degree. I wasn't comfortable with the rate of my learning at my job. I was headed towards plateauing on a very specific proprietary programming tool (called Ab Initio) whose skills, I felt, weren't easily transferrable to other areas of programming. It turns out I was right and wrong. Anyway, later in my career, this degree may distinguish me somehow, but in the near term I don't find that it makes much difference to anyone but me. Ultimately, the interview is about how you sell yourself, and a degree doesn't sell itself. It may get you an interview but it doesn't make you a better fit for more organizations. The reason I went back was I missed classroom learning and wanted exposure to new fields of programming. I ended up studying machine learning. That was in 2006-2008. Now, I try to continue learning using available resources and communities online. Focus is tough though. School was great for forced focus. I thought a lot about the pros and cons of going back to school and decided it was right for me at that time. I'm glad I did it, I learned a lot, met some really cool students and professors who I wouldn't otherwise know, and it gave me some insight into what a PhD and life in academia entails. Good luck with your decision!

pc86 10y ago

Well first of all the only advantage an affluent background will give you to getting a job at Google is the same advantage it'd give you for any other employer or any other industry (better school growing up, able to focus on that school instead of working, etc). And we're already presupposing that the person in question is sufficiently hard-working and intelligent that they could be a tenure-track professor at a major research institution. I would argue that the vast of majority of folks in that position could get a very good job at Google provided they had the correct skill set. And I don't know what part of CS you're most interested in, but my degree is in Political Science and after the first shitty one I haven't had any trouble finding development work in my tiny city.

munin 10y ago

> Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? Yes. from personal experience, if you can get into a good graduate program, you can also get an offer from {google,amazon,microsoft} for $150-$200. the predicate "get into a good graduate program" means you have a CS degree with a decent GPA from a well considered school and some research experience, which usually translates into some kind of job experience that you can talk up in your interview.

fnbr 10y ago

> Is it really that easy to enter finance at that level (or at all), or even get a job at Google for $200k/year? I think it is when you condition on the fact that someone is a professor at Berkeley/CMU. Roughly 5% of applicants are accepted to top PhD programs, and less than 20% of people with PhDs at top universities (like Berkeley/CMU) get tenure track positions. Of those with tenure track positions, a minority (<50%) get tenure, and of those who get tenure, a fraction become full professors. So the professors at Berkeley/CMU are well into the top 1% of people with computer science degrees, which makes it entirely plausible that their next best alternative is getting a high level finance/tech job.

TheCowboy 10y ago
I agree with that. I do think those limits just makes it a more obvious argument, but I thought the discussion was more general than an obvious subset of people who can have their pick of opportunities. Even "lesser" schools without top tier academic stars are having trouble retaining and attracting enough talent to accommodate the current demand, and this is even with salaries starting in the six figures. Which implies the market for people with graduate level degrees possibly has a higher demand, and should translate into a higher salary.

studentrob 10y ago

> Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't have a computer science degree and I currently find myself considering a master's for those reasons. It would be nice to avoid having to go that route. Whatever reason you have for going or not going is a good reason. I have a master's in CS. Getting it did help me break into a new industry. It may have earned me a better chance at interviews. It didn't get me a higher salary in the near term. I'd have earned more by sticking with my first job. For money alone, experience is best. And I knew that going in. Personally, I felt comfortable with my expected future earnings before getting the degree. I wasn't comfortable with the rate of my learning at my job. I was headed towards plateauing on a very specific proprietary programming tool (called Ab Initio) whose skills, I felt, weren't easily transferrable to other areas of programming. It turns out I was right and wrong. Anyway, later in my career, this degree may distinguish me somehow, but in the near term I don't find that it makes much difference to anyone but me. Ultimately, the interview is about how you sell yourself, and a degree doesn't sell itself. It may get you an interview but it doesn't make you a better fit for more organizations. The reason I went back was I missed classroom learning and wanted exposure to new fields of programming. I ended up studying machine learning. That was in 2006-2008. Now, I try to continue learning using available resources and communities online. Focus is tough though. School was great for forced focus. I thought a lot about the pros and cons of going back to school and decided it was right for me at that time. I'm glad I did it, I learned a lot, met some really cool students and professors who I wouldn't otherwise know, and it gave me some insight into what a PhD and life in academia entails. Good luck with your decision!