I have friends at the code camp, BS, MS, and PhD level; PhD enables you to go into research or stay in academia, but my buddies with Masters really haven't seen

I have friends at the code camp, BS, MS, and PhD level; PhD enables you to go into research or stay in academia, but my buddies with Masters really haven't seen any benefit. They're still competing for the same jobs as the BS folks: the degree gets you an interview, but after that nobody cares what your degree is or where it's from. Disclamer: this is my experience in a secondary market, SF might be different.