Jus got back from my hols to some good news – I’ve passed my latest Open University module, M883 – Software Requirements for Business Systems. As you might be able to guess from the title of the blog entry, that technically gives me a Post Graduate Certificate!
Which sadly I won’t be accepting. OU rules state you can only count courses towards a maximum of 2 qualifications, which rules out this halfway house award if I want to go for the Masters. I’ve actually still got some choice about both the Diploma and Masters:
- Diploma in Computing for Commerce & Industry (CCI) -> Masters in CCI
- Diploma in Management of Software Projects (Mgmt SP) -> Masters in Mgmt SP
- Diploma in Mgmt SP -> Masters in CCI
This choice occurs because so far I’ve taken courses common to both degree paths. The CCI course is considered more generalist (amongst the academic community, at least) and if you choose a non Project Management based disertation you end up with a MSc in CCI anyway.
Ok, so, next step. In November or next May I’ll probably take Information Systems Legacy & Evolution. Sounds a bit boring but it’s a compulsory course for the specialist degree. After that, I have to choose: either kill myself doing a double module to finish off the Management degree, or do 2 more singles for CCI. At the moment I’m tempted to specialise. I’ve really been enjoying the non-technical aspects of the work I’ve done over the past 8 months – the skills I’ve learnt are interesting and useful in ways that don’t even relate to work at all. And I wonder what my general science degree has really done for me – wouldn’t evidence of my ability to study a subject in depth be more useful to an employer?