Do you count a Masters in CS as a negative?

Posted by Pete Hodgson on Programmers See other posts from Programmers or by Pete Hodgson
Published on 2011-02-12T23:29:24Z Indexed on 2011/02/14 23:34 UTC
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career

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interview

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computer-science

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Recruiting

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masters

In my experience interviewing developers I feel like candidates who've achieved a Masters in Comp Sci tend to be worse programmers on average that those who don't have a Masters.

Is that just me, or have others noticed this phenomenon? If so, why would that be the case?

UPDATE

I appreciate the thoughtful comments. I think I should have been clearer in the comparison I'm making. Given two candidates who graduated from college around the same time, someone who went on to gain a Masters seems on average to be a worse programmer than someone who spent all their time in industry.

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