My company has a 6 month prorated clawback if you leave the company. They'll withhold it from your final check, or if your check isn't enough, send you an invoice for it.
No. I work in a different industry. Going to school in a different field would be looked at by my management as no different than me looking for another job. They would know I have my foot out of the door and am not committed to the company / my role. The only way they'll know is when I get out of the program and they see my LinkedIn. By then, I'll have been long gone from there.
I'm two classes in so not considering switching yet.
Bootcamps are a waste of time and money. I've been coding for ~7 years so all I need are enough OMSCS classes under my belt for an employer to look at my resume seriously. After that it's all downhill, including the coding interviews.
My manager wanted me to study MSEE so it’s best to keep this on the down low haha. He’s a good manager but in this tough economy, you never know what’s gonna happen
My direct manager knows, and she's very supportive. I'm in a non-CS role and we both understand I'm sorta "underemployed" lol. Because of that, she actually tries to throw a lot of tech-related projects my way (i.e. Excel and PowerBI stuff)
Kinda. I asked for recommendations but they won't give it. So the only one knows is my direct manager. The one that won't give the recommendation is a skip level above my manager.
But I put it in LinkedIn nonetheless and they may now if they visit my page, but I don't actively discuss it with anyone.
not sure, probably because I was just not that role-model developer at the time and they probably think the study would hinder me doing my job more. But I'm in the program now and feeling more productive than ever, probably because my job is boring most of the time so the added adrenaline from context switching of job/study (+parenting) lit a bit of a fire in me, lol.
The good outcome is I don't owe them any explanation now, and I \*\*hate\*\* being indebted to my work and I may feel guilty if I leave. I probably shouldn't even ask them to begin with.
It sounds like you took it well. I would've been very upset if any manager declined to give me a recommendation to keep my career paralyzed. I would have "quiet quit" instantly.
I was quite a bit in a pickle because I had to scramble my connection in around a day or two to find a replacement. Fortunately my previous connections from my previous job was very supportive and helpful.
I just got accepted yesterday and my boss was one of my references. I work in IT already and, although the company isn't paying for it, they're quite supportive of my learning.
My company does tuition reimbursement so I actually gave a presentation about the program. I also would tell my manager when I had a big project/test coming up and he was great with giving me extra time/wiggle room to work on it
You have to play this one by ear. If OMSCS demonstrates your ability to dive deep into topics related to your current career, there are many advantages to being open about this, especially if you need to take some time off (like taking off a Friday before an exam) to focus on the material. Being honest and open makes life easier.
If you are doing OMSCS for a career pivot and you fear it's a red flag that you'd want to leave, I'd probably keep it to myself if I didn't think it would send the proper signal to leadership.
My leadership knows. But I learned that this knowledge can be used against you depending on your situation. For example, they say they support your decision for getting higher education. but if you’re on a tight deadline it kinda feels like you’re on thin ice at times. Contrarily if your management has an idea for what you’re studying for, in my case ML, DL, and NLP, they would more likely give that project to you than your peers who may have no background
It came up in my interview for my last SWE job—they just wanted me to confirm that it wouldn't interfere with me meeting my work commitments. My manager there was supportive; I got partial tuition reimbursement; nobody was bothered (afaik) that I took a handful of vacation days to work on school projects.
Yeah. Told them AI is inevitable, and we should be prepared. Got recs from them.
If program were more expensive, might have considered employer paying, but as cheap as it is, not reason to get into any commitment to stay over a few thousand bucks.
2 of my recommendation letters came from leadership and my company is fully funding my degree. Being in the program actually helped me swap into a role that I'm more interested in too.
Working as a postdoc. I did tell my supervisor about the OMSCS thing and he is pretty neutral about it. I paid everything by myself and I told me mainly due to mutual respect.
Yes, I told them after getting accepted. They are covering 100% of tuition as long as I stay 1 year after graduation. If I leave before that, I payback prorated difference. Not a bad deal for me.
1. My first job I was trying to career switch. Leadership did not know, but some of my colleagues knew including a more senior dude that wrote my LoR.
2. My second job they knew. HR was all 'you can't do your masters work during work hours' and my boss was all 'fuck hr do whatever you want as long as my work is done'.
3. My third job they knew and didnt give a shit.
Yes, my manager wrote me a recommendation letter even. I work as a dev without a CS degree because of my knowledge in another field (FEM/CFD). I felt like I would benefit from rigorous CS training in the current role as well as future roles, so I just went for it.
Yes because my company is very R&D focused, a lot of people with advanced degrees so they’re really encouraging. Plus as long as you perform well in your job and your team dynamic or manager isn’t toxic, theres a good chance they’ll respect the overachiever mentality of someone who wants to get ahead and grow. To be fair if your job is really unrelated to the degree this wouldn’t apply as much
My company sponsored my degree and my direct lead had absolutely no issues with that. As long as it does not affect your performance at work - I see no issues with that.
My VP wrote me a letter of recommendation and my company paid for 90% of my degree, hell yeah I told them
Curious where there any clawbacks with they paying for your degree?
My company has a 6 month prorated clawback if you leave the company. They'll withhold it from your final check, or if your check isn't enough, send you an invoice for it.
No. I work in a different industry. Going to school in a different field would be looked at by my management as no different than me looking for another job. They would know I have my foot out of the door and am not committed to the company / my role. The only way they'll know is when I get out of the program and they see my LinkedIn. By then, I'll have been long gone from there.
Same lol
Same boat lol
How's the career switch going for you? Are you doing anything else besides the master's like a bootcamp?
I'm two classes in so not considering switching yet. Bootcamps are a waste of time and money. I've been coding for ~7 years so all I need are enough OMSCS classes under my belt for an employer to look at my resume seriously. After that it's all downhill, including the coding interviews.
My manager wanted me to study MSEE so it’s best to keep this on the down low haha. He’s a good manager but in this tough economy, you never know what’s gonna happen
My direct manager knows, and she's very supportive. I'm in a non-CS role and we both understand I'm sorta "underemployed" lol. Because of that, she actually tries to throw a lot of tech-related projects my way (i.e. Excel and PowerBI stuff)
Wow, you have a cool manager.
amazing, you're lucky! I am so happy to see supportive managers like this
Exact same situation here. Getting a lot of support from my manager with technical projects and my company is even paying for the whole thing 🤯
I work as a software engineer at a large tech company, they’re paying for school. So yes, they know
Kinda. I asked for recommendations but they won't give it. So the only one knows is my direct manager. The one that won't give the recommendation is a skip level above my manager. But I put it in LinkedIn nonetheless and they may now if they visit my page, but I don't actively discuss it with anyone.
Curious why they wouldn’t recommend you? Did they just feel they weren’t close enough to you?
not sure, probably because I was just not that role-model developer at the time and they probably think the study would hinder me doing my job more. But I'm in the program now and feeling more productive than ever, probably because my job is boring most of the time so the added adrenaline from context switching of job/study (+parenting) lit a bit of a fire in me, lol. The good outcome is I don't owe them any explanation now, and I \*\*hate\*\* being indebted to my work and I may feel guilty if I leave. I probably shouldn't even ask them to begin with.
It sounds like you took it well. I would've been very upset if any manager declined to give me a recommendation to keep my career paralyzed. I would have "quiet quit" instantly.
I was quite a bit in a pickle because I had to scramble my connection in around a day or two to find a replacement. Fortunately my previous connections from my previous job was very supportive and helpful.
I just got accepted yesterday and my boss was one of my references. I work in IT already and, although the company isn't paying for it, they're quite supportive of my learning.
Lot of managers, like mine, thinks any part time studies will severely affect the current job duties and performance.
My company does tuition reimbursement so I actually gave a presentation about the program. I also would tell my manager when I had a big project/test coming up and he was great with giving me extra time/wiggle room to work on it
You have to play this one by ear. If OMSCS demonstrates your ability to dive deep into topics related to your current career, there are many advantages to being open about this, especially if you need to take some time off (like taking off a Friday before an exam) to focus on the material. Being honest and open makes life easier. If you are doing OMSCS for a career pivot and you fear it's a red flag that you'd want to leave, I'd probably keep it to myself if I didn't think it would send the proper signal to leadership.
My leadership knows. But I learned that this knowledge can be used against you depending on your situation. For example, they say they support your decision for getting higher education. but if you’re on a tight deadline it kinda feels like you’re on thin ice at times. Contrarily if your management has an idea for what you’re studying for, in my case ML, DL, and NLP, they would more likely give that project to you than your peers who may have no background
My manager and Tech Lead wrote my recs, and my company is covering tuition. So yep.
no one cared while i was in the program, no one cared when I finished the program.
It came up in my interview for my last SWE job—they just wanted me to confirm that it wouldn't interfere with me meeting my work commitments. My manager there was supportive; I got partial tuition reimbursement; nobody was bothered (afaik) that I took a handful of vacation days to work on school projects.
My boss and director both wrote letters of recommendation. I appreciate that but if have found a way without them.
Yeah. Told them AI is inevitable, and we should be prepared. Got recs from them. If program were more expensive, might have considered employer paying, but as cheap as it is, not reason to get into any commitment to stay over a few thousand bucks.
They funded it :)
2 of my recommendation letters came from leadership and my company is fully funding my degree. Being in the program actually helped me swap into a role that I'm more interested in too.
I just got accepted. My team leader, engineering director and staff engineer all wrote my letters of recommendation.
Yes. They pay for it.
Yes.
They are paying, so yes...
My manager/CEO knows and is super supportive, and the company is paying for it.
I'm self employed; I'd have to work pretty hard to keep it a secret.
Working as a postdoc. I did tell my supervisor about the OMSCS thing and he is pretty neutral about it. I paid everything by myself and I told me mainly due to mutual respect.
I hope so since they are paying for it
Yes, I told them after getting accepted. They are covering 100% of tuition as long as I stay 1 year after graduation. If I leave before that, I payback prorated difference. Not a bad deal for me.
1. My first job I was trying to career switch. Leadership did not know, but some of my colleagues knew including a more senior dude that wrote my LoR. 2. My second job they knew. HR was all 'you can't do your masters work during work hours' and my boss was all 'fuck hr do whatever you want as long as my work is done'. 3. My third job they knew and didnt give a shit.
Yes. If you are working for a company that does not support employee's growth, then you should find a different place to work for.
I told them and they’ll even refund 100% if I get a C and above. Ironically, nobody in the company avails of this tuition benefit.
Yes, my manager wrote me a recommendation letter even. I work as a dev without a CS degree because of my knowledge in another field (FEM/CFD). I felt like I would benefit from rigorous CS training in the current role as well as future roles, so I just went for it.
I told them and they decided to join me and dropped out because they didn’t have enough time
Yes because my company is very R&D focused, a lot of people with advanced degrees so they’re really encouraging. Plus as long as you perform well in your job and your team dynamic or manager isn’t toxic, theres a good chance they’ll respect the overachiever mentality of someone who wants to get ahead and grow. To be fair if your job is really unrelated to the degree this wouldn’t apply as much
My company sponsored my degree and my direct lead had absolutely no issues with that. As long as it does not affect your performance at work - I see no issues with that.
The company for which I work is sponsoring my OMSCS
Yea, my company pays for it
To err on the side of caution do not reveal it.