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Should Web Developers and Designers Have A Masters Degree?



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Should Web Developers and Designers Have A Masters Degree?

If you provide any kind of web design or web development services where you have some experience and knowledge under your belt and you have work coming in either regularly, consistently or now and then. You can end up wondering if the level of knowledge you have in web design and development is enough and whether or not you should do a masters degree to further your knowledge and skills and services that you can offer and sell.
Should Web Developers and Designers Have A Masters Degree?
When thinking about furthering your web design and development skills and knowledge, and whether or not you should go for a master's degree. You'll want to put a lot of thought into it! Before you can even take the test which would last for 4 hours, you'll need to take the GRE and that alone can take months and months of study and learning before you can even enroll for it! And as if that wasn't a big enough hurdle for some people, the enroll fee could cost twice as much as normal first scholarship degree's. But if you don't pass the test and it doesn't work out for you in the end, you could have just wasted a lot of timer and money on an wasted education.

So before you jump right into all of that and it's something you feel you want to have. Plus it would be a learning curve and you'd learn a lot even if you did fail! There are some things you'll want to take into consideration, mull over and sleep on before you pay your enrollment fees and get into something you might not actually be able to ace or whether you even can or not!

A Minimum Level of Education is Required

It's not that hard to get a job in web design and you don't require many or a lot of skills to find a job as a trainee or apprentice web designer/developer. In reality, there are a lot of web dev's out there that started without any education or schooling at all. However it is getting harder to find a good paid job in web design if you don't have a lot of provable skills and knowledge if you can't demonstrate any of your skills or knowledge. Nowadays, businesses wont even give you an interview if you don't have anything to show on your resume if you don't have some basic or intermediary education and usable skills.

You will have a better chance of bagging an entry level job in web development/design if you do happen to have an associate's degree with an average salary of around $40k a year. And most businesses and companies now want at least a bachelors degree which can get you better paid work that ranges from programming to design. And web developers can earn up to around $65k a year with one of those in this industry.

What Have a Master's Degree in Web Design and Development?

Having (I should say earning) a Master's Degree in web dev and design comes with several benefits and rewards depending on how you look at it and what it is you're trying to achieve. It's not just being able to say you have a Master's Degree in web dev and design but in case you are wondering what some of those main benefits are and could be I will explain.

  • Better Pay Rate - Obviously the better education you have, the better your average pay grade will be. Although it's on about par with what you might earn with a Bachelor's Degree.
  • Better Education - And of course, if you love web dev and design, learning programming and everything about it all. Then you can't really put a price on that can you?
  • More Experience - Getting a Master's Degree in Web dev and design can increase your chances of finding a good paid job in that industry which is great for people who find it hard to find work!
  • Specialized Skills - Sure you can learn about web dev and design online nowadays. There's a billion videos and articles out there on it you can learn from. A lot of it old stuff! But the degree will be relevant stuff for today.

Should You Get A Bachelor’s Degree or a Master’s Degree?

It's obvious that having a master's degree in web design and web development would aid in gaining work and making a living in that area. And if you're passionate about it then it can help to fulfill a bigger purpose in your life. Taking either will require much dedication and determination to learn where diligence is rewarded. And gaining a master's degree will give you a higher level of education which can help you land a job with a very prestigious company later on down the line. The fact that you could put that on your resume would probably put you leaps and bounds ahead of other applicants when they know you have that intelligence, experience and skills.

It might not land you the job at the top. But it will definitely help you get a foot hold and a foot in the door to some medium range entry level job which you can then work your way up from. And it might take a bit longer to get there and advance to those minimum required levels with just a Bachelor's Degree but the rewards are worth it in the end and the decision you make to increase and improve your education can only help you achieve your goals.

Are you currently working as a web designer and developer?

Have you ever considered furthering your education/skills and thus opportunities for increasing your work and career in web design and development?

Do you think it's possible to get a high paid job without a master's degree in web design and development?

Comments

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TommyCarey
I think it's kind of annoying when people get over looked for positions because they don't have a degree. A couple years ago I wasn't doing too well and I just wanted to get a job so I had financial security in order to pay my bills and have some extra cash in my pocket. Now I don't have a degree but I've been doing online marketing and SEO since 2003 so I know my stuff... But I couldn't get a job because all these big companies only wanted people with degrees. You could actually have a degree in english and they probably would have hired you over me even though my resume was flawless and did way more than what they were requiring lol. I was never told that I was over qualified, I was just told that they wouldn't hire me because I didn't show dedication in school lol.

Like wtf? I can run circles around anyone who is just out of college even if they have a degree in marketing.

New start ups are the only thing that I have seen that will hire someone without a degree because they usually can't afford to pay much lol. I actually applied to a tech startup who was working with car dealerships and they were super excited to see me apply. I got a phone call almost immediately after I applied because they knew that I was super experienced and could dominate anything they wanted. The only downside to this is that they only offered me 30k a year Should Web Developers and Designers Have A Masters Degree?

Well I should stop with my rant now lol.

Anyway, I think it's good to have a degree but not exactly necessary. It's good to have a degree in case you need to fall back on it. You can actually find a lot of good schools today that specialize in web design and the sciences related to computers. You can actually find a couple that are now offering degrees in online marketing, not just marketing, which I thought was pretty awesome Should Web Developers and Designers Have A Masters Degree?



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Lynne
Yeah I have seen some companies that would rather hire someone that is wet behind the ears but has a degree or good qualification of some sort than someone that has no qualifications but a huge amount of practical experience. For me it makes no sense.

If I were to hire someone I would even take someone with no experience at all if they have the characteristics that I look for such as hardworking, loyal, willingness to learn, intelligent, can use own initiative, can work well alone without any micro managing......



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Lynne
Well I can't see anything wrong with having a Masters degree, the more educated you are the better and of course having a degree is always impressive and when you are looking for a job in the industry I am sure it will come in handy.

That said I just don't think it is needed in this day and age where you can learn everything you need to know about web development and design without going to study for a good couple of years and spending a fortune.

I never studied anything for web development and I am a blogger with 3 websites, working on my 4th and earning a full time income online.



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RaduV
Frankly speaking, i don't know how a Master Degree can change or improve your programming skills since most of the programmers are self taught and most of them haven't attended any programming college. I'm not supporting not going to college but it's not like in medicine for example where you have to start with basics and you don't have a chance to get hired without the diploma.

To me it looks like a lot of hiring is done just because you are the guy with the right documents at the right moment. The recruiters don't focus on skills as much as they should and that's why you see a lot of skilled guys not doing much or working in a completely random department just to get some payment.

I am presently attending Master and I can't say I feel more educated doing it but in order to get a promotion in my field I need the diploma regardless the experience and the skills.



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EliteWriter
I know web designers who have a degree, another one who has a masters, and another who does not have any formal qualification from a university but he has managed to learn through work experience and some rather basic courses. I believe that it is not about the type of course you attend, but more about your skills, and the willingness to do what it takes to deliver a great job. All of the web designers I know are great and they are committed in what they do. So if you already have the experience, I would not devote time and money on getting a masters, because as long as you are up to date, qualifications do not matter that much.



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Cristian
Employers see school as a test, if you have many years of school under your belt it shows you can follow up with the system and you are a good sheep.
That's why they'll always hire the one with the Master's degree over the one with Bachelor degree and they will always hire the one with bachelor degree over the one with the high school degree, it's that simple.
They also have rigid "positions" in which the one occupying that position must legally have a degree in that specific position, that's why they've turned you down Razzy.

Overall I don't see why a Masters degree is important, I personally have a bachelor of engineering and I work in SEO, so yeah, depends a lot of the company.



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vinaya
Web desiging and web development is skill based work. People will judge you based on what you can do instead of what you have scored academically. Therefore, more than the degree, you need skills. You gain better skills through practice and experience. Having said that a master's degree is also very helpful. If you have a degree and good grades, you can easily convince your clients and employer to hire you.



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Corzhens
When the computer was getting to be noticed by the public in the decade of 1970, the programming courses were offered in vocational schools. Even IBM, the largest manufacturer of mainframe computers had an educational arm that provides short courses in programming. But now we have the university course for IT. Maybe in the near future there will be a university diploma for web designers.



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Kakashi2020
First of all there's nothing wrong in having a Master's Degree but it shouldn't be a prerequisite in becoming a Web Designer or Web Developer. I have friends who don't even have a university degree but have become successful web developers after finishing some short term courses.



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RayanSmith
Hi, honestly, you don’t need a degree. It’s all about what you know and what you can do. College is one of the worst places to learn web development, because it is an ever-changing field where what you learn today might be obsolete in a year or two! Thank you everyone!



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RayanSmith
It is highly complex to answer this question. I think you don't need a master's degree to be a web developer and designer. I have seen some brilliant web developers who have not even completed their undergraduate. But It's true that having a Master's Degree in Web dev and Design can increase your chances of finding a well-paid job. As a student of computer science, I am using this educational website myacademicprogram.com which is specially made for college students to provide various academic tips and guidelines. In this digital era of this world, practical knowledge is more demandable than theoretical knowledge that's why most companies don't care about academic qualifications. But if you have both degrees and skills in a specific field so you surely be ahead of other applicants. Thank you for this topic!



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