Sorry, some people here might find this stupid, but i want to seek advice.
I work as a design engineer with current responsibilities of an embedded systems engineer. I feel stagnant in my career in my current company. Because of my limited language capability, it is hard for me to learn anything while working. Furthermore, my working hours usually leave me too exhausted to study.
I am considering getting a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering, but I don’t know my options. also, if i quit work to study, i will need a scholarship to pay for bills and cost of living.
I do really want to learn more and do more in my field. But would it be practical to get a master’s degree?
3 comments
Do you have responsibilities? If not, go get your advanced degree abroad and then come back. It’ll be recognized better by foreign firms if you’re interested in career growth and being more than the gaijin who can read all the English data sheets and prototype stuff for senior Japanese engineers. You may not get scholarships abroad but at least in North America you can get stipends from a college for working as a research assistant or a teaching assistant in EE.
I went back and got my masters, it was grueling because I was working full-time, I don’t necessarily recco that route but I had responsibilities and no choice. I don’t regret it at all. Feel free to hit me up if you want to chat about that more.
I wouldn’t bother getting an advanced degree in Japan unless you’re committed to working in Japanese companies. Your advisor will be instrumental in helping to place you in a company post graduation most likely. If you’re committed to your company you can ask them about sponsor. My first employer in Japan, a small traditional company specializing in microwave engineering, put quite a few Japanese employees through masters programs. I think they prefer doing that then raising wages!
You mention that language appears to be the thing holding you back from advancing in your career/field, would grad school be most appropriate for that?
If you are stagnant in your career, either because a) the company doesn’t see you as a candidate for long term growth and you are simply just a laborer, or b) you just can’t keep up or see yourself doing what you do for the company, I think considering a career change first may be a “less risky” option.
The thing is, if you are working now and then you go back to school, it can (though not necessarily) be viewed as a downgrade in your career. You won’t have the negotiation leverage when applying for jobs as a college grad than if you were a regular worker. So you would really have to bank on the fact that you can do some really phenomenal work that gets your name out and build some really good connections during your grad study.
A word of advice: If you are already here and working the number of available scholarships is very very few at the masters level. (As opposed to coming here and entering a program after applying from abroad) This improves greatly at the PhD level.
One thing also to consider is your taxes and health insurance are calculated on the previous year’s income and on a student visa you can only work 28 hours per week. This is incredibly painful the first year after you quit work.