In today’s increasingly competitive job market, however, certification alone may not be enough to stand out. To try and answer the question of whether having a master’s degree, or higher, leads to a more satisfying engineering career, engineering.com surveyed 311 members of our audience of engineering and technical professionals to determine their feelings of job satisfaction and other career-related factors. In Northeastern’s masters in project management degree, for example, students are able to choose from a number of concentrations to find the option that best fits their career interests and goals. Given a median starting salary for petroleum engineering jobs requiring bachelor degrees of around $103,000, losing two years of active employment to pursue a degree represents serious opportunity cost. According to the PMI, a project manager overseeing a project with a budget of more than $10 million can expect to earn about 18 percent more than someone overseeing a project with a budget of less than $1 million, and 40 percent more than someone overseeing a project with a budget of less than $100,000. No matter where you are in your career—whether you’re fresh out of undergrad or a working professional with loads of job experience—surely, at some point, you’ve asked yourself, “Is a master’s degree worth it?”. Biomedical engineering presents an even clearer case, in some respects: the field is intellectually demanding and demonstrably poised for rapid growth (the BLS forecasts an astronomical 62% growth in biomedical engineering jobs). Stay up to date on our latest posts and university events. The lowest 25th percentile of petroleum engineering, by salary and education, earn nearly as much as the top 75th in materials and biomedical engineering. Earnings in the 75th percentile of mean wages in materials engineering are double that of the lower 25th, hovering around $96,000 by our most recently available data. One way to advance your career in this industry is by obtaining PMP certification from the PMI. Is a mechanical engineering Masters worth it? “Teams may no longer be comprised of traditional resources,” Bolick says. These include: , the skills that you can learn during the pursuit of a. . Employers: 4 Keys to Effective Job Listings, 62% growth in biomedical engineering jobs, Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018, What’s It Worth? Does the program offer a concentration specifically in your desired industry or field so that you can gain the industry-specific knowledge you’ll need for success? In top programs like Northeastern’s, faculty members will have direct experience working in a variety of industries and concentrations, which they will be able to share with students as they embark on this kind of specialized training. It also tends to lead to a salary boost; according to the PMI, the median annual salary of a project manager with PMP certification is $111,000, as compared to $91,000 for non-PMP holders. Learn what you need to know, from in-demand skills to the industry’s growing job opportunities. Perhaps the two strongest examples for the general case, where pursuing a Master’s in engineering is of unquestionable value, are materials and biomedical engineering. For more information about how a master’s degree in project management can help advance your career, download our free guide to breaking into the industry below. “You have to think about your return on investment,” says Kristen Tolbert, founder of Career CoLabs, a human resources company. Intuitively, we expect materials engineers to serve a critical role in the development of new technologies and process solutions through the development of improved photovoltaic cells, processor substrates, and similarly game-changing materials. These include: Even if your career path eventually takes you in a different direction, the skills that you can learn during the pursuit of a master’s in project management will help you in whatever new role you take. */. Sign up to get job alerts relevant to your skills and experience. Plus receive relevant career tips and grad school advice. “For certain programs,” Bardaro says, “the salary boost that you’ll see might not actually be that much relative to how much you have to pay for the program.” In light of this info, ask yourself again, “Is a master’s degree worth it?” (As in, is it literally worth it?). We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. Half of all working biomedical engineers hold graduate level degrees, which is almost to be expected, but the startling 48% earnings bonus from graduate-level education is an eye-opener. On the other hand, certain specialized jobs require candidates to have a master’s degree—and some of those jobs offer salaries that make the additional education worth it. Certification helps demonstrate your proficiency in managing projects and teams. Project teams, like the companies that employ them, are increasingly global, with employees based in disparate locations and representing a variety of cultural backgrounds. 360 Huntington Ave., Boston, Massachusetts 02115 | 617.373.2000 | TTY 617.373.3768 | Emergency Information© 2019 Northeastern University | MyNortheastern. This need comes at a time when many project management professionals are retiring, which will create even more of a demand for early- or mid-career professionals with the right skills and project management experience. It’s becoming clear that an MBA degree in 2020 is a risk that’s simply not worth it. This alone may make a master’s in project management worth it to some, as a PMP certification will not address the nuances of interpersonal communication in the same way. Have the program’s faculty members actually spent time working in the field as a project manager? 7 Business Careers You Can Pursue with a Global Studies Degree. Deciding whether a master's degree in civil engineering is ''worth it'' is a very personal decision. Project managers’ earnings increase as they take on the added responsibility of managing larger project teams. Larger projects tend to have larger teams and tend to be a higher priority for an organization. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average median weekly earnings for a person with a master’s degree is $1,434, compared to $1,198 for people with a bachelor’s degree and $730 for people with a high school diploma. Again, partly correct: materials engineers are split almost down the middle on pursuit of graduate degrees. Management. “They may not be centrally located. Get Your Resume Noticed. On one hand, you’re taking on additional debt right when you want to be earning money. When trying to. While it’s possible to bypass education requirements for certain jobs, some occupations, such as speech-language pathologists, biomedical engineers, and data scientists, demand a master’s degree, no exceptions. to find the option that best fits their career interests and goals. It’s not an easy question. First, the projected job growth for materials engineers hovers around 9%, low-average for engineering disciplines – for all the interesting and important work going on in the field, it doesn’t seem to create many materials engineering jobs. Specialized jobs may require you to have a master’s degree. Advancing in a project management career requires the development of a specialized set of skills. Getting a master’s degree from a state school may also help you save money. These reports were developed by the Georgetown Public Policy Institute’s Center on Education and the Workforce, based on 2010 BLS research and a survey of contemporary industry and economic data: Dear Huddie: Can You Really Find a Job on the Internet? For example, moving from a Project Manager II role to a Project Manager III role typically comes with a 13 percent raise. : Release resources that are no longer needed, close contracts, pay invoices, archive project files, and lead a post-implementation review. A high-quality master of project management program like Northeastern’s will offer students multiple opportunities for, Through these experiences, students acquire knowledge and skills through observation and experimentation in a professional setting. . Whether you decide to get a master’s degree or not, you should always be nurturing your career. Today’s emerging project management trends reflect the changing nature of how organizations define and organize teams. Grad school isn’t right for everyone, especially when you consider that the cost of tuition alone can reach well into the six figures. Petroleum engineering is one of the highest-paid specialties in engineering. until 2027. Brian Eastwood is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience as a journalist. One way to advance your career in this industry is by obtaining, from the PMI. Petroleum engineering does serve to illustrate the case against reflexively equating higher education with higher salaries or chance of employment. Though there’s no set age at which you should stop pursuing your education, how much longer you have left in your career matters when weighing this decision. We offer a variety of resources, including scholarships and assistantships. There’s prestige in having a post-graduate degree, but is it worth the time, effort, and money? By providing us with your email, you agree to the terms of our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. This doesn’t mean that petroleum engineering is a lower-paid or -skilled profession, as intuition may suggest; it is the highest-paid specialty in modern engineering, with a mean salary of $120,000, nearly twice that of biomedical engineering. In other cases, though, having a master’s degree—while it makes you a more attractive job candidate—is a “want” for employers and not a “must,” says Katie Bardaro, lead economist at PayScale. Pro tip: Depending on your work schedule, getting a master’s degree online—and studying at night and on weekends—might be your best move, says Jaime Klein, founder of Inspire Human Resources, a New York-based HR consulting firm. Industry Advice These skills can include developing cultural awareness, managing interpersonal conflict, and leading remote teams, among others. According to a recent report from Burning Glass Labor Insight, 34 percent of project management job postings prefer or require a graduate degree in addition to requiring PMP certification. Is an MBA worth it in 2020? The most stark example which comes to mind is petroleum engineering. Find out the steps you need to take to apply to your desired program. Therefore, look at it the way you would any other financial commitment. But this isn’t the case for all jobs. Does the program have enough flexibility to allow you to, continue working while you pursue your degree, Each of these criteria is a hallmark of Northeastern’s. Of course, the reputation of the university is important, too. This alone may make a master’s in project management worth it to some, as a PMP certification will not address the nuances of interpersonal communication in the same way. A more detailed look at salary distribution further supports the value of graduate education. The General Case: Materials and Biomedical Engineering.
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