Hi everyone,
I want some advice on what to do next regarding studying further and fitting that in with leave and employment and all that.
Okay, before I start, I live in South Africa, so things over here work a little differently to the States. I have a BSc (Honours) in Computer Science, which meant I did a 3 year BSc in Computer Science and information systems, and then did a further year to get my Honours in computer science, which involves graduate level courses and a small research project. That was 2006, I have been working in the industry since then, but want to upskill myself so that I can move forwards in my career.
Since starting a business last year, I've become very interested in IT and business leadership, and I think I have more to offer than just programming. I want to study industrial engineering so that I can move to more of... well a management/solution architecture type role. I gave up my business of game development, having learned a lot from it, and now want to move into more professional, larger projects. Another part of the reason I want to study industrial engineering is so that I wont be limited to just software engineering - it is more of an interdisciplinary course.
A good university in Johannesburg - Wits University - offers a Masters in Industrial Engineering, which comprises 10 graduate courses and a small research project. Of those 10 courses, a lot of the options are (apparently) MBA level finance, management and HR courses. So, I'd want to do some of those too. It is offered part time, and the way it works is that some of the courses involve evening lectures, while others involve what they call block release lectures - you attend lectures from 8:30 till 17:00 every day for a solid week. I think there is also additional practical work after that, and obviously an examination.
Which brings me to the real problem - study and/or annual leave required to attend those block release courses. I want to do 3 courses per semester - I dont think 4 is achievable. In the first semester next year (January to June), I can do two block release courses and 1 evening lecture course. But, that is 10 days of leave.
I can probably get that at my current company, fairly easily, the problem is that I dont want to stay where I am. I signed a 12 month fixed term contract at the beginning of March. So, end of Feb, unless I sign anything else, I am out of here, which would suit me well. However, at least one of the block release courses runs over end of Jan, and probably another in Feb. So, if I give notice that I want to terminate my contract, they would probably deny me my leave.
Why do I want to not stay here? Because I dont think I'm growing here. Its a tiny company that barely does any software development - I am literally the only software developer. There are other database people, some of whom have a programming background, but I am the only one for whom programming is a day job. So, the projects are smaller in scope, which means the experience I gain is of limited value to me.
I've moved around a bit more than I would have liked in my career, so I want to find something that I can stick with for a while. Perhaps it is worth my while staying here for a while? But if I do sign a new contract (permanent or fixed term) in February, what if I want to move on later on next year?
Another possible option is to not get my employer involved, but to save up my annual leave until next year. Then, I give notice middle of Jan, and beg and plead for my leave to not be cancelled - working weekends if I have to. That way, they dont even have to know that I am studying anything.
Cliffs:
1. Have 4 year degree in Computer Science - want to study further part time.
2. Further studying requires lots of leave - employer would give it to me if I became permanent.
3. Dont want to become permanent because I feel my growth is limited here.
I want some advice on what to do next regarding studying further and fitting that in with leave and employment and all that.
Okay, before I start, I live in South Africa, so things over here work a little differently to the States. I have a BSc (Honours) in Computer Science, which meant I did a 3 year BSc in Computer Science and information systems, and then did a further year to get my Honours in computer science, which involves graduate level courses and a small research project. That was 2006, I have been working in the industry since then, but want to upskill myself so that I can move forwards in my career.
Since starting a business last year, I've become very interested in IT and business leadership, and I think I have more to offer than just programming. I want to study industrial engineering so that I can move to more of... well a management/solution architecture type role. I gave up my business of game development, having learned a lot from it, and now want to move into more professional, larger projects. Another part of the reason I want to study industrial engineering is so that I wont be limited to just software engineering - it is more of an interdisciplinary course.
A good university in Johannesburg - Wits University - offers a Masters in Industrial Engineering, which comprises 10 graduate courses and a small research project. Of those 10 courses, a lot of the options are (apparently) MBA level finance, management and HR courses. So, I'd want to do some of those too. It is offered part time, and the way it works is that some of the courses involve evening lectures, while others involve what they call block release lectures - you attend lectures from 8:30 till 17:00 every day for a solid week. I think there is also additional practical work after that, and obviously an examination.
Which brings me to the real problem - study and/or annual leave required to attend those block release courses. I want to do 3 courses per semester - I dont think 4 is achievable. In the first semester next year (January to June), I can do two block release courses and 1 evening lecture course. But, that is 10 days of leave.
I can probably get that at my current company, fairly easily, the problem is that I dont want to stay where I am. I signed a 12 month fixed term contract at the beginning of March. So, end of Feb, unless I sign anything else, I am out of here, which would suit me well. However, at least one of the block release courses runs over end of Jan, and probably another in Feb. So, if I give notice that I want to terminate my contract, they would probably deny me my leave.
Why do I want to not stay here? Because I dont think I'm growing here. Its a tiny company that barely does any software development - I am literally the only software developer. There are other database people, some of whom have a programming background, but I am the only one for whom programming is a day job. So, the projects are smaller in scope, which means the experience I gain is of limited value to me.
I've moved around a bit more than I would have liked in my career, so I want to find something that I can stick with for a while. Perhaps it is worth my while staying here for a while? But if I do sign a new contract (permanent or fixed term) in February, what if I want to move on later on next year?
Another possible option is to not get my employer involved, but to save up my annual leave until next year. Then, I give notice middle of Jan, and beg and plead for my leave to not be cancelled - working weekends if I have to. That way, they dont even have to know that I am studying anything.
Cliffs:
1. Have 4 year degree in Computer Science - want to study further part time.
2. Further studying requires lots of leave - employer would give it to me if I became permanent.
3. Dont want to become permanent because I feel my growth is limited here.
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