Value of Work Experience for Graduate School Applications

[MTBcrazy1993]

Hello,

 

     First time poster on these forums. I am currently a 4th year Electrical Engineering student at a top 15 engineering school, and will be graduating this fall with around a 3.2 GPA. My depth in undergrad was machine learning and control theory, and I would eventually like to study this topic in further detail in order to obtain a career that has to do with this specific topic. However, I have no immediate plans to go to graduate school. I will have had two internships at the same company by the time I graduate, and I am planning to go into the workforce for a while before I apply for graduate school. After 2 or 3 years of work experience(maybe more?), how much does work experience in a specific field affect the strength of the application vs other factors(school, gpa, etc)? I realize my question may be a bit vague, just want to know what other students in a similar situation have ended up doing. 

[victorydance]

Negligible impact either positively or negatively. If your work experience can be tied directly to your research interests it may provide a bit of a bonus but other than that it's not worth anything really.  

[tip3r]

It's hard to say. Usually it will have negligable impact. As victorydance mentioned it may be a bit of a bonus if it is related to your research area. However, there is a bit of a trend for people who get laid off in the bad economy going to grad school to fill in the void in their resume. You don't want to look like those people.

 

I have 1.5 years of industry experience between my M.S. and PhD and that actually was what lead me to getting into my current program. I think mostly because my employer was a "big name" company.

[crontab]

I've discussed this question with multiple professors (because I'm leaving an industry position to go to grad school), and all of them said that it can be a positive. Having work experience can show that you are a professional - you've proven that you can be given tasks and complete them in a timely fashion, are proficient at learning new things independently, and can put in regular (required) hours. Those points may seem like they should be a given for most grad students, but the point is that these things are proven for you, whereas they are potentially not for someone straight out of undergraduate. If you are working in an field related to your graduate work (and you probably are), you are also probably already familiar with some of the open questions in your field - and how current research is being applied in the "real-world." This can definitely be a strength.

 

That being said, all of them cautioned that while industry experience can look good - it can also start to be a negative if there is too much of it. After about 2-3 years, there start to be questions about why you want to leave industry for graduate school, so articulating that becomes an important part of your application. Also, there is the (true) concern that after years in industry you will be out of "academic shape", and dropping you into graduate classes will be setting you up for failure. No advisor wants that for a student. That's not to say that it is impossible (I've been working for more than 4 years), but I think that if you are planning on that you need to make sure you can prove that you are still sharp academically, and also looking to be involved in research while you are working so that you can demonstrate strong research experience when it comes time to apply.

[MTBcrazy1993]

Thanks for all the input. I always thought I would go to graduate school right after undergrad, but I just feel I need a break from academia. Through my internships, I felt that I learned material better in a work environment than I have in school, and I thought that would give me a up vote for graduate school. 

[soumya213]

I also have a work experience of roughly 1.5 yrs.

Its practically impossible to predict if work experience is a curse or an advantage for grad applications.

Will be applying for grad schools this fall.

[Texan_Air]

I agree with Crontab statements. I actually had ~2.1 years of mechanical engineering work experience before applying for an Aerospace Eng. Masters program (.5 years at my new job after apps before school starts) for the Fall 2015 applications. My GPA was a 3.26 and I had 1.5 years of research experience during my undergrad. On the negative side, I actually got rejected by some of the 1-10 high ranked school in my program: A&M, UT-Austin, and University of Minnesota. So my work experience wasn't enough to sway them. I honestly think I could have had a better shot if I connected with a professor first to get in their funding.

 

But on the positve end I got accepted in the top 10-20 with great chances at scholarships.

Virgina Tech (rank ~13th) (Accepted but lost at a chance for a 22k teaching assistantship (1 out 5 selected for it)

North Carolina (rank ~20th) (Accepeted and Attending and with 19k research assitanship(Free Health insurance and only paying In-State Tuition too!))

 

Then I got accepted to all the 20th-50th I applied too with some small scholarships offered as well.

Both major scholarships opportunites chances from Virginia Tech and and North Carolina all were given to me from professors who said they liked my industry experience. Honestly I agree that some professors care and others don't, but I can't see how it is a negative influence to an application. But the real beauty of work experience before a masters comes when applying to jobs after a masters. Don't know how big of an advantage that will give e but I am excited to find out in 2 years from now.

[diegouriarte]

But the real beauty of work experience before a masters comes when applying to jobs after a masters. Don't know how big of an advantage that will give e but I am excited to find out in 2 years from now.

 

I hope you are right. My plan is to go for a MSc. in USA or Canada (I live in South America) and then find a job in the industry to immigrate permanently. It is quite unlikely someone would hire me from abroad, but I expect that my work experience in my country (about 3 years now) could help me land an industry job after I finish an MSc. 

[sleepyhead]

I'm entering a PhD program in aerospace engineering this fall after working for a defense contractor for 2 years. Like others I'd say that if your job experience is relevant to your research field then it definitely helps your overall application. Your personal statement is your chance to explain how your job experience makes you better suited for research than applicants coming straight from undergrad. Personally my job was directly related to my research field and one of my main points in my statement was that I wanted to gain more expertise as I found industry to be restricting. Good luck!

Edited July 31, 2015 by sleepyhead