Graduate studies or full-time job?

I have just gotten my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and I have to make choice. Whether to continue with my full-time job I just got or put the job slightly in the background and concentrate on getting a Master's degree.

I am currently working as an embedded C developer in a small company. The cool thing is that, because the team is quite small, my engineering ideas really play a part in the final product. Not to mention that I get to work on very different areas of embedded programming: device drivers and development of a Real Time OS. I am very enthusiastic about my job and what I do.

On the other hand, in my country there isn't really a master's degree that focuses on embedded development so my gain from getting this degree will mainly in the field of general computer science knowledge.

That being said, is it worth giving up all my spare time which I now use to study different areas of embedded devices and work mainly to get a degree rather than pure knowledge and experience in the field I want to work in?

Well, it depends a lot on what your goals are.

Computer science is a very applied field. There are some studies where a masters degree or doctorate degree is practically a requirement, but computer science is definitely not one of them.

It sounds like you enjoy your job and are gaining good experience from it. At a first job those two attributes are extremely valuable.

As far as hiring goes, on-the-job experience is far more valuable to potential employers than a masters degree.

If embedded programming is the area you want to work in then I would definitely focus on the job you have now. If you want to learn more for the sake of learning, then sure, work on a masters; but I wouldn't focus heavily on it, maybe just take one class at a time.

Thank you for this valuable information. I want to focus all my energy on gaining experience and skills in the field of embedded development. A master's degree wouldn't help me very much as far as embedded knowledge goes.

Alex