Academic experience

[Anonymous]

Afternoon,

I’m debating on whether to go back and finish my MSc – I’ve had to defer the rest of the year due to a serious illness – and part of the pros and cons list I’ve been making up is, does having an added academic qualification (provided it’s relevant to the job, I’m doing a non-GOFAI MSc) count towards experience that companies look for?

I’m trying to put some polish on my current games portfolio (when I’m not in the hospital) and I’m wondering if it would be better to put my efforts into looking for a job and (hopefully) get started in the industry that way, rather than do the MSc and still start out at a junior level?

Being sick and having to take the year out has really taken the buzz out of the masters, but I guess having the portfolio and the extra qualification would be to my advantage – so maybe I’ve answered my own question, but I’d appreciate any more knowledgeable opinions please!

Thanks,

Anthony

[Anonymous]

You have answered your own question and I’ve never heard of any person who was looked-over at a job interview simply because they had a masters degree, quite the opposite.

You don’t say exactly what subject your doing your MSc in, but in my experience, I worked with a bloke who had a primary CS degree and went on to do an MBA. He felt it was very beneficial to his career and certainly gave him the edge over a lot of other candidates going for the same job. (He still programs by the way).

Doing a masters simply opens up more opportunities for you, simple as that. Better to do it while your young as you may find it very difficult to do when your working, especially when your in games!! You do not want your final exams and a release deadline clashing, that’s for sure.

Working and doing night college is very hard (especially on your social life). I know, I’ve been doing it for the past four years, and hopefully next year I’ll be starting my MSc as well. I seriously wish I had done it years ago.

Ultimately though, you make the decision. Think long and hard about it. If you do decide to enter the workplace now, try to envisage yourself in five years time, are you really going to regret going for your masters when you had the chance and all the extra opportunities that you may have missed out on?

Hope that helps..

[Anonymous]

Finish the MSc dude, it’ll piss you off thinking about it otherwise…

I ended up in a similar situation after illness knocked me for six in the research module of a taught games programming MSc. I never managed to motivate myself properly again to finish my thesis and found that having moved home to Ireland to do so offered as many obstacles as it did support. In the end I refocussed to produce an excellent* demo with the skills I had and settled for a Grad Dip.

I know I’ll end up studying towards more academic qualifications sooner or later. But for now I’m happy enough acquiring whatever skills and experience I can at the coal face in the industry.

*in my opinion anyway :wink:

[Anonymous]

Getting your first job probably won’t be easy either way, so if I were you, I’ll look to continue the MSc and at the same time look for a job. Should you find a job quickly then come the dilemma of continuing it in the evening or deciding that you don’t really need it but I think thats probably a preferable decision to the one you have now.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the replies!

Ultimately though, you make the decision. Think long and hard about it. If you do decide to enter the workplace now, try to envisage yourself in five years time, are you really going to regret going for your masters when you had the chance and all the extra opportunities that you may have missed out on? [/quote:6577cf9bd0]

Taking a longer view, having the MSc would be more advantageous to me plus it would bug me in later years to have done 1 term and not finished the course.

I’ll use the rest of this year to hopefully bring the game side of things up to scratch, and then sort out the academic side next year – it’s just a pisser having to deal with being sick!! :evil:

But these things happen!

[Anonymous]

Hey Anthony,

It seems as if you know what the right choice for you is. Just imagine yourself at 60 years of age. Would you really like to remember not having finished the course because of a delay?

Don’t beat yourself up over this. Look at the situation in the best positive light. The fact is you have time to rest and work on other areas of your career and life. Like you wrote, you can now improve your game development skills.

Good luck with whatever you go for.

[Anonymous]

Thats a tough question. I think (feel free to correct me, dont really know…) games companies don’t put too much emphasis on qualifications for entry level poeple, more so on your ability to work large projects, write efficient code, knowledge of DirectX or whatever and the work youve produced in your own spare time.

Then again a MSc is a huge asset to your CV for general jobs in programming. It made life an awful lot easier for me landing jobs (not in games).

If its games you want to get into and you say you have some work done yourself then why waste more time getting an Msc they may dismiss at interviews?

[Anonymous]

I think (feel free to correct me, dont really know…) games companies don’t put too much emphasis on qualifications for entry level poeple, more so on your ability to work large projects, write efficient code, knowledge of DirectX or whatever and the work youve produced in your own spare time. [/quote:461e4d37ff]
Correct

[Anonymous]

I think (feel free to correct me, dont really know…) games companies don’t put too much emphasis on qualifications for entry level poeple, more so on your ability to work large projects, write efficient code, knowledge of DirectX or whatever and the work youve produced in your own spare time. [/quote:ec3f13aaf1]

And, if after a couple of years he discovers that he doesn’t like programming games and wants to try something different. Is the masters going to be of no significance then?

I wonder how a games company would look at it, if Anthony had an MSc in maths. I fail to see how a games company would put little emphasis on an MSc in maths. All things being equal, (i.e. good coder,knowledge of DirectX), would having an MSc as well not give you an edge in an interview?

Also, If Anthony you are reading this, what subject are you studying for your MSc?

[Anonymous]

Morning,

Thanks for all your opinions on the subject, I really appreciate it.

Also, If Anthony you are reading this, what subject are you studying for your MSc?[/quote:81a1663363]

I just realised that I missed the second ‘AI’, I thought I had typed ‘non-GOFAI AI MSc’ in my original post – apologies!

My aim is to work as an AI programmer, however I chose to do the MSc I’m doing (Evolutionary and Adaptive Systems) because it would give me a taste of less traditional approaches to AI (not just gaming AI).

I knew I could cover the "traditional" Game AI aspects in my own time (which is actually what I’m doing in this year I have off) and also it would give me a lot more scope for future jobs / research if I found out that I enjoyed making games more as a hobby than a career.

[Anonymous]

And, if after a couple of years he discovers that he doesn’t like programming games and wants to try something different. Is the masters going to be of no significance then?

I wonder how a games company would look at it, if Anthony had an MSc in maths. I fail to see how a games company would put little emphasis on an MSc in maths. All things being equal, (i.e. good coder,knowledge of DirectX), would having an MSc as well not give you an edge in an interview? [/quote:0cf1950ac4]

Sure, an MSc will give you extra marks in an interview, but if you can’t prove you can write good code, its pretty much useless really.
The main use of an MSc is to give you a few extra browny points in the interview and it’ll probably mean your starting salary will be a couple of K higher. After you’ve got your first job, and have some experience, will anyone really care that much about education, its the experience that’s worth much much more if you ask me ( hence I didn’t bother completing my MSc )

[Anonymous]

it would give me a lot more scope for future jobs / research if I found out that I enjoyed making games more as a hobby than a career.[/quote:28bb081eb9]

Looks like you have your decision made. :D Youre right, a MSc will be of beneifit especially if you continue on in research. Not so much in jobs though as Omen said, maybe for your first 1 or 2…

[Anonymous]

Looks like you have your decision made. Very Happy Youre right, a MSc will be of beneifit especially if you continue on in research. Not so much in jobs though as Omen said, maybe for your first 1 or 2…[/quote:1cc3c66149]

Yeah I’ve decided to definitely go back and finish it. But I’m glad I asked about it here, gave me a few things to consider and it’s always good to get the views of people with more experience than me!

Thanks again :D

[Anonymous]

Glad you came to a decision. It seems like you’re certain you’re making the right choice.

Good work!

[Anonymous]

Nice one

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