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I have both a BSc and MSc in physical Meteorology from one of the top colleges in my region, but since I was a sophomore in my program I was really disenchanted and willing to moving on. I got very good Math grades and did my undergrad Research in the applied Math department, solving PDEs with computational methods. I stayed at my department because I was an older student with a tracking of a 'quitter' and the people at my department were supportive of me staying there. Also, in my sophomore year I found out that I was really passionate about Computer Science and that I should put my guns in that direction, so I did every CS class I could and learned by myself, but I didn't quit Meteorology, due to a lack of guts.

Right now I want very much to move on to a 'better' job, working with more advanced mathematical / CS problems, but I'm failing every normal CS job interview I manage to get and I'm stuck in my current job situation.

I've been planning on getting back to college for a full on CS degree or a masters, but I'm not sure if the situation will improve, since I'm not getting younger either...

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  • What are you calling a "CS job interview"? Computer Science isn't specifically programming and there are more than a few roles within IT based on my experience. – JB King Aug 8 '13 at 19:28
  • My current job is as front-end developer, which is the same job I held 10 years ago and the only one I could find after finishing my masters... – Draconar Aug 8 '13 at 21:15
  • Hi Draconar, we can't really tell you what to do here, but take a look around our site. there is some great material on how to do well in an interview. Good luck. – jmort253 Aug 8 '13 at 21:16
  • The college part seems to be a distraction. Create programs (and hardware, if you're up to it) that demonstrate a good synthesis of metrology, math, and programming. Figure out who would use them, and try to 'sell' them to those users. This would be very heavy on instrumentation and calibration. In short, go after people that would use 'everything you've got' rather than programming generically. – Meredith Poor Aug 9 '13 at 6:22
  • @MeredithPoor thank you very much for your suggestion! – Draconar Aug 9 '13 at 16:18
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As long as you have the basic education needed for a specific career, the thing that will get you furthest in that career is experience, not more education. Getting additional education instead of experience does not help and can hurt. Because, while you're getting additional degrees, the other people who will be trying for that same job are getting experience.

Research what minimum education is needed for the jobs you are interested in, make sure you get that, and then get better work prospects by working and being a valuable employee.

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  • Thanks for the insightful answer. Unfortunately I can't vote it up since I don't have the attributes to do so... – Draconar Aug 8 '13 at 21:16

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