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> A university recently accepted me into its MA in Technical and Business
> Writing program. The university is well-known and respected in my area. I
> already have a graduate-level Technical Writing certificate (and plenty of
> outrageous college loans to go with it :)!).
> I was wondering what the pros and cons were for continuing into a Master's
> program. Would it help me advance further in my career (aka: make it easier
> to get a higher paying Technical Writing job) or would it make little or no
> difference?
> I would like to have an MA for personal reasons (prestige, etc..). However,
> since grad schools are expensive, I need to be able to directly benefit
> professionally and economically from having an MA. I would appreciate any
> advice on this matter.
25+ years of experience in Silicon Valley has taught me that anything beyond a
BA/BS doesn't matter as much as knowing programming languages, applications,
various desktop publishing packages, etc. I happen to have an MBA and a lot
of experience both running small businesses and consulting for others; nobody
in the market for tech writers gives a fig about that. The single factor in
making me salable is a resume that is top-heavy with the right buzzwords.
If I were you, I'd go ahead with the Master's program, but grab every technical
class you can find in programming, engineering, usability, etc.
