We are a UX recruting firm and work with a lot of Fortune companies as clients. I have recently seen that in a lot of UX positions companies are increasingly asking for a Master's degree in design, HCI or related fields. We recently got some body interviewed at Microsoft who has 8 years of strong experience in Usability and User Research and the comment that came across from the hiring manager was if she had a Master's degree it would open up a lot of doors for her at Microsoft. I would say it will make sense for senior ixda Professionals to go for a degree only if it is from a top design school and I see now a trend for more and more companies looking for a Master's degree when they advertise their jobs. Thanks
Harvinder Singh 210-614-4198 O 210-884-1311 C [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.bestica.com Bridging the IT Talent Gap http://www.linkedin.com/in/harvindersingh -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Fred Beecher Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 9:16 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Importance of Masters Degree for IxDProfessionals On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:37:59, dave malouf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Fred, are you kidding? How can you compare a week, a week there > conference experiences to the experience of school? What are you doing > is saying that a vacation is the same as living there and learning the > language? It ain't! No no no no... I was just responding to some of Uday's specific points about the benefit of a degree program and how you can still get some of those benefits in non-degree training and professional activities. This also assumes that you've got several years of experience under your belt, which is the situation that the original poster is in. My basic argument is that as your professional experience and life-responsibilities increase, it becomes harder and harder to justify the time, expense, and likely re-location involved in attaining an advanced degree. So someone at the beginning of their career would benefit more than someone with more experience and responsibility. Believe me, I would LOVE to have the opportunity to get an advanced degree! I would LOVE to have the opportunity to go through studio classes and the like, as my formal education is in technical communication rather than design. I can see what I'd gain from such a degree, but when it comes down to comparing the cost of attaining it (tuition + two years of not earning my salary + moving my family somewhere else) with the potential reward in increased salary and opportunities, it just doesn't balance out. The theory stuff I think is easy to pick up on one's one. The deep > level of personal and creative exploration, studio experience, and > concentrated craft practice is what a design degree offers most. I completely agree with that, and will add intense, design-focused collaboration to that mix... because in the professional world, often times you're the only IxD on a project and the collaboration you're involved with is with people who have other specialties... F. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.3.0/1505 - Release Date: 6/16/2008 7:20 AM No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.3.0/1505 - Release Date: 6/16/2008 7:20 AM ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
