University of Southampton

Southampton

Students doing their masters 2012

Haven't seen many posts for post grads who are doing their masters. Im doing mine in CompSci Web Tech, any others out there?

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Reply 1

syuuki

Msc Web Tech here as well (Y) see you there :tongue:

University of Southampton

Southampton

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Reply 2

jch

MSc AI.

I nearly applied for Web Tech, but JSP (which I think is what the prog modules are taught in) makes my eyes bleed.

Might see you in one of the shared modules.

Reply 3

GuyUK

I am thinking of applying for MSc Web Technology for 2013 entry.

Can I ask what your academic background is? Are you a home or international student?

Do you know what computing experiences you need to be able to cope on the course? Would a BSc in Computer science be enough to cope with this course?

Also, what made you choose MSc Web Technology instead of the other computer science masters at Southampton? What made you chose Southampton? and do you know the types of jobs students get after they finish this degree?

Personally, I like the look of the modules of Web Technology. The fee cost of £5400 isn't that expensive compared to CS course at other University.

Reply 4

jch

Original post by GuyUK

My reading of it was that a good BSc would probably be enough. You probably need to know some Java, at least one server-side languages/frameworks (JSP, PHP, ASP.NET etc) and have some knowledge about web services/general distributed systems.

I expect most students get jobs as web developers or go onto PhD study - you don't really need an MSc to be a web developer (I say, as a web developer without an MSc).

It looks a good programme. I ultimately picked AI instead, but mainly because I have 4 years experience of web development and figured I'd learn more new stuff on a different programme.

Reply 5

sampi

I have offer for MSc Wireless Communication. Anyone else going to pursue this course?

Reply 6

syuuki

Original post by GuyUK

Hey there,

Personally I think that it's better to have few years working experience prior to study MSc. The reason for that: is there anyone going to hire a MSc for Junior Developer position? I doubt it. Usually it's for higher position like Senior or even leader. And you can't be a Senior/Leader without any working experience :P can you? :tongue:

And the reason why I choose Web Technology instead of Software Engineering? Because I don't want to study the same thing again (my degree was a SE). Or maybe because everything are going to web nowadays, so why not?

Finally, my fee is £15,800....

Just my 5 cents, please do correct me if I'm wrong :smile:

Yuuki

Reply 7

GuyUK

Thanks for the replies.

I was wondering what sort of salary do people expect to earn after they finish there MSc in Web Technology, providing you do well, getting a distinction.

For someone with a 2:1 or a 1st in BSc Computer science with placement as well as a distinction in MSc in web technology. What sort of salary should that person aim for after they finish there MSc? and what sort of I.T jobs should they apply for?

I looked on the internet, and I notice that there are junior web developer and web developer jobs, with junior web developer having lower salaries then web developer jobs.

I assume people with a MSc web technology would not be working as junior web developer? As I seen salaries for those can be as low as £14,500. You can earn more working minimum wage as a checkout operator at a supermarket, assuming you work 40 hours a week at £7/hour.

Reply 8

syuuki

Original post by GuyUK

First of all let me make thing clear, I'm working in Singapore at the moment so whatever I said is what happens in Singapore. I'm not quite sure about the UK but maybe you can take it as a reference :smile:

Salary wise,

a1) A 2:1 degree without any working experience -> Junior Developer -> will get you 25k-30k $SGD
a2) A first class degree without any working experience -> Junior Developer -> will get you 28k-33k $SGD

b1) A 2:1 degree WITH working experience -> Developer/Senior Developer/Team Lead -> will get you 30k-45k $SGD
b2) A first class degree WITH working experience -> Developer/Senior Developer/Team Lead -> will get you 35k-50k $SGD

After graduated MSc in Web Technology, I think that
a1/a2) very slight increasement
b1) 45k-60k+++ $SGD
b2) 50k-65k+++ $SGD

And of course there are still many other factors which affect your salary like university (better university = better salary), nationality (locals = better salary)...

For job placement actually it's more on personal reference. After MSc you can either go for those Senior Developers if you're a hardcore programmer, or maybe you can take up System Analyst role which a bit more challenging since you will be involved in other stuffs rather than just programming. Or if you had a lot of working experience, you can be a Team Lead, or even Project Executive etc...

Hope these help (as a reference)

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 9

jch

Original post by GuyUK

In Web Development, experience is King. If you have A BSc an MSc and a relevant placement (your placement was in development), then you stand a good chance of getting an entry level position at a respected company, but you're not going to be able to jump the junior developer rung on the ladder, it doesn't happen. If someone does offer you a senior developer role straight off a MSc, I'd be suspicious of the quality of that company. Better to be a junior dev at a good firm than a senior dev at a bad one.

In general (this varies a lot) you're going to be a junior developer for 2-3 years (unless you're really really good), then you are either considered a mid level developer or you can sometimes land a senior developer role if you've exhibited the kind of skills needed for a supervisory role. You wont even get offered an interview for a senior position unless you have at least 2 years experience (after graduation) in a development role. University teaches you very little about how to code in a production environment and much of what they do teach you is either wrong or out of date.

Applying for junior roles, you're going to be looking at £21-26K. I wouldn't apply to anywhere offering less. The MSc might add £1-2K to your expected starting salary. If the job is in London, add on £3K.

If Web Development is what you want to do, building something will do far more for your employability than a postgrad degree. If you can point at a popular open source framework/library/tool and say 'I built that', then you're going to be fighting off recruiters with a stick.

Reply 10

dhimy.edp

I'll be doing MSc Engineering in the Coastal Environment in Sept 2012. Anyone taking up this course?

Oh I'm new here btw.. hello from malaysia :smile:

Reply 11

Lou_

I'm doing MSc Oceanography... has anyone applied for accommodation yet?

Reply 12

jch

Original post by Lou_

I'm doing MSc Oceanography... has anyone applied for accommodation yet?

Hey Lou, I applied, but I don't think there are many rooms available for UK postgrads, so I've been scanning private accommodation listings as a fall back.

Reply 13

syuuki

Original post by dhimy.edp

I'll be doing MSc Engineering in the Coastal Environment in Sept 2012. Anyone taking up this course?

Oh I'm new here btw.. hello from malaysia :smile:

Hello from Singapore :tongue:

Reply 14

andrewjb123

Original post by jch

MSc AI.

I nearly applied for Web Tech, but JSP (which I think is what the prog modules are taught in) makes my eyes bleed.

Might see you in one of the shared modules.

Hey - I wanted to do MSc AI as it relates somewhat to my interests and work i've been doing commercially, but given the current economic downturn i figured having a masters in web tech would be more generic and be a safe bet for the long haul, I'm hoping to apply some of the commercial stuff I've been doing to MSc project and link it back to web technology somehow - best of both worlds.

JSP isn't too bad these days, especially if you start learning in good frameworks before the course starts.

=)

See you there.

Andy

Reply 15

andrewjb123

Original post by GuyUK

Web technology is one of those subjects where if you are really good at it, you will progress very quickly through industry to be a high earner.

However i think MSc offers very little to pay difference between BSc / MSc within IT, and generally you do an MSc to improve your knowledge to be indispensable to a company and offer fresh insight to be ahead of competition (so important these days)! From industry i have somewhat hit a knowledge road block which only Uni can fill now, so this is why I'm going back.

I agree with previous poster, maybe 1-3k depending on location (if you consider a year lost earnings and the cost of course you won't necessarily make this back in the short term).

Andy

Reply 16

sampi

Any body going for MSc. in Wireless Communications?

Please guys can you give some info on what sort of jobs will be available on completion of the course? How is the prospect for this field in UK currently?

Reply 17

Narmada

Original post by sampi

Hello there !

Me too going for MSc in Wireless Communications this year :smile:

Where are you from ?

Reply 18

nikita tandon

Hi,

Anyone going for Msc Human Resource Management??
Also is anyone going for any Masters courses from India (Bangalore to be specific).

Reply 19

uzoexcel

wow...another M.Sc in wireless communication over here...I am from Nigeria though i just got ma CAS last week....so far itz only Sampi & Narmada doing ma course here.....i dont have much info on the job opportunities in this course though as someone said earlier, work experience really really matters...pleased 2 meet u both though and everyone else.....(I also knw someone from here coming for an M.Sc in Nanotech)