Hi Allison, Thought I'd chime in here also as I am in a similar boat to Adam (with looking at an advanced degree to further my interest in the field). I too would have to relocate my entire family, wife and kids, in order to pursue an advanced degree at a school worth going to.
Relocating for a job is a lot different than relocating for school. For a job, there would be relocation assistance from the company (I've already interviewed a number of places who were willing to add a relocation package into the deal). May not happen for everyone, but at my experience level, that's always been part of the deal. I also wouldn't take a significant hit on my income as I'm just working somewhere else. If I were single, no problem. But not when you have a wife and kids to support (especially if you are a single income family). Lastly, I have gotten to a point where my house payment is a very small portion of my take home pay. That's because I've owned a house for about 8 years now. If I were to move somewhere else, that would no longer be the case as housing is now pretty darn expensive where most of the good schools are. So, to your question... no, it financially would not make sense to do something like that for me unfortunately. :( But, I would be curious if there are people on the list that have made that change (with a similar background as me). David On Mon, Jun 23, 2008 at 9:23 PM, Allison <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Rich, I think you have a very good point - from what *I* see, the > tradesman/maverick/"rock star" is how I see immediate advancement > in this field. > > Adam, if you went back to school at this point in your career I > don't see that it would be that useful for you to advance your > career, unless you were interesting in changing fields, (as I did). > Work experience is worth a lot and you clearly don't *need* a degree > to advance; your own work history is an example of that. However, I > agree with Uday et al's comments, that there is more to grad school > than coursework. Besides all of the reasons that were mentioned > above, I'd also add the pride of accomplishment in yourself and the > sheer satisfaction of obsessing over something you're completely > passionate about, with others, and not worrying so much about it's > business practicality. It's been a few years since I left grad > school and I miss all the time - for the challenge, rigor; learning > incredible things that would barely have much practical, applicable > use for me after graduation, socializing, the camaraderie and > friendships. > > I'm disappointed to see that anyone with a PhD would be put so low > on a list of potential employees, just because they have a PhD. (That > was my interpretation of the statement.) They should have just as much > of a chance at a job as anyone else. I see a PhD - and I'm looking > into returning, BTW; for full disclosure - as someone who simply > followed a field of study that they felt passionate about and took > the time to research as much as they could about that topic. > > If I could, I would follow this field more at a more advanced PhD > level. Not because it would lead to an academic degree, but because > *I would like it*. However, I'm not so sure about the program - that > they even exist or that the base of knowledge that they're drawing > from is academically/theoretically sound. (You do learn a lot on the > job, esp if you have *enough* to get you started. Plus switching jobs > means you have to learn a bunch of new stuff anyway.) > > One of the worries that I have about higher level academic programs > is, honestly, that there seems to be more more disagreement from the > "leaders" of the fields of IxD (IA, Usability, etc.) that it would > almost seem like a waste of time and money to study something so > undefined. Seems like I'd get more out of studying anthropology, > psychology, or HCI. (I'm not saying this to be inflammatory; it's > just an observation.) I'm pretty new so I may not have fully > complete understanding. > > Back to the post, I'm curious if for those who are worried about > relocating, if you would relocate your family for a new job? > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=30391 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > 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 > -- "Art provokes thinking, design solves problems" w: http://www.davidshaw.info ________________________________________________________________ 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
