who on this site actually has a master’s degree?
is it in indutrial design? if not, what is it?
was it a worth investment for your career?
i have a bachelors degree in industrial design
now doing a masters degree in interaction design
having a graduate degree will open up a lot of new doors beyond work: you can publish papers, be involved in research, policy making, teaching, etc…
education, no matter what, is always a worthy investment
No, but I’m hiring Interaction Designers and I’m specifically looking at grad students. This is mostly due to a lack of undergrad programs and the newness of the specialty.
Since our focus is designing for people, I tend to prefer candidates that have a background in ID, anthropology, english etc. over engineering or the typical HCI disciplines.
I have repeatedly looked at masters programs but have found little that I would gain from them beyond what I’m doing now. Because design is about the intersection of culture and commerce, the real world is the best place to learn.
I will graduate in August with a Master’s degree in Industrial Design. I chose to get a Master’s because my undergraduate was in a related, but different discipline, Architecture. The best way for me to “change” my career path, was with a Master’s degree.
The advantage to getting a Master’s in ID is mostly for teaching purposes. I want to teach at some point in my career and have found that my degree program has prepared me well for that. It has also prepared me well to work in ID just like my undergraduate peers. My curriculum has given me design work for my portfolio as well as the opportunity to explore design related research for my thesis.
While my master’s degree won’t be the one thing that gets me a job, I believe that it has been well worth my time and effort and investment.
hmmm that is a good point doing a master’s in interaction.
i am at a point of my career where i feel the need to learn more, and this seems liek a really good time to go back to school, but am trying to figure out just what type of master’s to do.
i am a happily employed industrial designer w a bachelor’s degree, but feel the need to expand my knowledge and horizons…
what about that scary thing that exists in the design world which is called “overqualified”?