Is having a master's degree a must in the DC area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

Doesn't your post back up PP's post? DH has a LS degree because he has a liberal arts undergrad degree. And if he had a non-liberal arts degree, he wouldn't need the grad degree to get a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

Doesn't your post back up PP's post? DH has a LS degree because he has a liberal arts undergrad degree. And if he had a non-liberal arts degree, he wouldn't need the grad degree to get a job.

PP here. I meant Liberal Arts degree, not Law School (LS) degree. Sorry for the confusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

If your Husband had native fluency in three Tier 1 critical languages, wouldn't you say that is the skill that got him his job over the degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

If your Husband had native fluency in three Tier 1 critical languages, wouldn't you say that is the skill that got him his job over the degree?

First, it's my DS. The degree is a Liberal Arts degree in Languages. While it is the skills that got him the job (started studying languages in 9th grade with full immersion summers during high school throughout college), it was the college degree that was the 1st requirement for the position, not the languages. It is possible that a business degree would have carried the same weight but DS was astute enough to promote his liberal arts degree in languages to companies that do business internationally.

Additionally, there were several government agencies that wanted DS. However, the preference was private industry. FWIW, DS is 25 years old and is WASP born right here in the good 'ol USA. I think his liberal arts degree (which ranks along the liberal arts line of English, poli sci, philosophy, etc) has proven itself invaluable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

If your Husband had native fluency in three Tier 1 critical languages, wouldn't you say that is the skill that got him his job over the degree?

One more comment....that argument could apply to most college majors from languages skills to engineering skills to computer skills to get their jobs without a degree. Your argument carries weight if you look at people like Zuckerman and Bill Gates. But most companies ask for, at least, a bachelor's degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

unclench.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

if an accountatnt wants to sit for the CPA exam, 150 accademic credits are needed. So a Masters is a must.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

if an accountatnt wants to sit for the CPA exam, 150 accademic credits are needed. So a Masters is a must.

That's only true for recent grads. I have a CPA and no master's because at the time you only needed 120 credits to sit for the exam. And technically, you don't need a master's even now, as long as you have total of 150 credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

if an accountatnt wants to sit for the CPA exam, 150 accademic credits are needed. So a Masters is a must.

That's only true for recent grads. I have a CPA and no master's because at the time you only needed 120 credits to sit for the exam. And technically, you don't need a master's even now, as long as you have total of 150 credits.

What kind of academic credits? Do they have to all be in accounting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in IT consulting and only a handful of people have an MBA. It's not necessary to move up in my field.

My husband has a PhD in engineering and I don't anticipate him making 6 figures anytime soon - if ever.

Do you enjoy your career? I'm in an IT field and would love to move into consulting. How did your career progress? What are the best places to work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

unclench.

Agreed -- calm your shizz down, PP. Most of us with other degrees took liberal arts classes as part our of gen eds and had to pursue a language in college in addition to more specialized coursework. It's critical for the development of good analytical thought and diverse knowledge to have that liberal arts background, but a LOT of people (like, everyone) have that background and so it's usually less useful in distinguishing yourself in the workplace. I, for one, found time for a psychology minor and two languages in addition to my hard science undergrad (and yes, I have a masters, to make this somewhat germane to OP's question, and it has provided me with a huge career boost).

P.S. Singapore is heavily English-speaking, so unless he's working with like, construction workers there, I'm not sure how he's going to use those three languages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

OP here, I'm in the stats and data analysis field as well. I have a Bachelors in economics with a minor in statistics.

Ditto. I make $200k, but have peers without grad degrees

[Anonymous]

I make $200k a year and do not have an MBA (in business). Not planning to get a masters, at this point the opportunity cost is too high. If I can see the path to super success, ie, C-suite, I may consider getting a masters in accounting or a jd.... But right now I think I'm doing pretty well without one. I personally think MBAs are worthless unless you attribute all the benefit to networking opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:depends, if you have a stupid major like liberal arts, english etc... then yes.

Also the only place that employs the worthless public policy, poly sci etc... masters in the federal government

DS has a stupid liberal arts major in languages. Why in the world would a stupid major company in the global business community need someone who has a dumb LS degree and speaks three critical languages? Wow! I'll mention that in my email to DS when he arrives in Singapore to assist with cultural/business affairs that he is soooo just wasting his time with his worthless degree. The world needs more enlightened people like you.

unclench.

Agreed -- calm your shizz down, PP. Most of us with other degrees took liberal arts classes as part our of gen eds and had to pursue a language in college in addition to more specialized coursework. It's critical for the development of good analytical thought and diverse knowledge to have that liberal arts background, but a LOT of people (like, everyone) have that background and so it's usually less useful in distinguishing yourself in the workplace. I, for one, found time for a psychology minor and two languages in addition to my hard science undergrad (and yes, I have a masters, to make this somewhat germane to OP's question, and it has provided me with a huge career boost).

P.S. Singapore is heavily English-speaking, so unless he's working with like, construction workers there, I'm not sure how he's going to use those three languages.

Maybe you should calm your shizz down. I think you missed my point as I was being facetious towards a comment that liberal arts degrees are stupid. Anyone who partakes in any intellectual pursuit should not be considered worthless.

Your comments which have no basis or knowledge what DS is doing in Singapore are meaningless. On a final note, while you may think DS is undistinguished because you also took languages, we will leave it to the company that writes his checks to decide whether his fluency in Russian, Chinese, and Korean is beneficial to their company. Good luck in your endeavors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What field are you in? DH is an accountant, so no. I'm in stats/econ/data analysis so yes.

if an accountatnt wants to sit for the CPA exam, 150 accademic credits are needed. So a Masters is a must.

That's only true for recent grads. I have a CPA and no master's because at the time you only needed 120 credits to sit for the exam. And technically, you don't need a master's even now, as long as you have total of 150 credits.

Ok, it was not required for the older generation. I took the CPA exam in 2004 and 150 credits were required (might have been the first year or so) so it has been almost a decade, not only a recent requirement. Why would you pay for 30 extra credits if you would not be getting a masters for that? How competitive would one be without an MST or MS in accounting in the market place if everyone around them has a CPA and a master's?