Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Assignment J

I have been considering potential career paths a great deal lately, as well as the experience I will need to pursue those careers. Thankfully, I have had the privilege of participating in the MIT program and have already learned a great deal. However, the recent decline in jobs has drawn many individuals who are involved with IT either in school or in the workplace to grow their knowledge in their own personal time, making them more competitive in the job market. There are a wealth of sites out their that can assist one's self-teaching in sharpening programming skills or perhaps learning another language via step-by-step tutorials. A few sites that I really learn a lot from include Landofcode.com, w3schools.com and java.sun.com. All three of these sites offer a brief overview of the topic, a few examples, and opportunities to practice on your own.

I was talking with a friend the other day concerning the increasing need for higher and higher degrees of education in order to obtain a job/salary of choice. Over the decades, the average level of education seems to have grown from high school diploma, to bachelors, to masters... and most recently, many of my friends and associates are looking into going back for their doctorate! I had finally concluded not too long ago that getting a masters has become a given requirement like the bachelors of a few years ago... only to now wonder if getting a doctorate degree will be what is needed to self oneself apart in this increasingly competitive job market.

1 comment:

  1. My opinion is that the PHD is very specialized towards work in an Academic environment. It's not as necessary for other industries. A Masters should be sufficient and pretty good towards helping you be competitive.

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