As most of you have mentioned, trying to get a job right after you get your Bachelor's is preferred. However, without an established networking circle or prior experience in industry, this may prove too difficult and an MS may be needed to give students an edge over other applicants. If given the option, it would be more beneficial to start working in industry fresh out of undergrad. This may change the graduate's original interest and inspire him/her to pursue a master's in a different or more specialized field. If the student is confident that he/she is more interested in and suited for a career in Academia and research, aiming for the PHD right away should take precedence over applying for industry jobs.

As a current 4th year undergraduate just starting to look for a job, it seems like a BS is sufficient in obtaining an entry level job. Depending on the position you're interested in, I've found that having a MS is often equivalent to a couple years in an entry level position, and may be able to get you hired for a higher starting position and larger salary. 

My concern with going directly from the BS to MS and then into industry, is if there are only entry level positions available, will the MS over qualify you?

From what I've experienced, a BS degree in BME is what all companies look for as the minimum requirement. It is definitely possible to gain a good entry-level position straight out of undergrad, whether it be through a very hard-earned degree, professional experience, or just even through "connections". From experience and from talking around with other engineers, I believe it is best to get a graduate degree in BME at some point in your career. Try working in the industry for a year or two, whether it's an entry level position as a quality technician, it will still give you a perspective as to what the industry is like from the quality perspective. You can always speak with other professionals in different departments at the company to get a grasp of what their workday is like. When looking at today's industry, I think an MS degree itself will greatly help attain a well-paying job in the industry, but I believe its best to get a taste of the industry first so you can figure out which department or exactly what you would want to do before dedicating yourself to an MS degree. Now a PhD in BME is what you look for when you have a somewhat more focused idea as to what you want to specialize in for the long-run in your career. My best advice would be to utilize your BS degree to the best of your ability (get involved, apply learned programs like CAD and MATLAB to projects, do research and find what interests you, internships, etc.), then get some sort of experience in the industry whether it be an entry-level job or even shadowing/asking a professional connection what he/she does. Then work towards a graduate degree in a path of your choosing in BME. If you want to go into research/academia or even industry then a PhD would be the best way to go in driving your research or giving you a better chance at earning a high-paying job. Each degree has its perks, but I believe each degree can be used to get you where you want if you use it wisely and get some professional experience as well. 

As someone currently enrolled in the BS/MS program here at NJIT, I have pondered over whether to complete my master's degree directly after the completion of my bachelor's degree. The benefit I see in pursuing this route is that by taking graduate classes while still an undergrad will allow me to complete my master's degree in one full time semester after completing my bachelors. Originally, I believed this would be to my advantage because it could provide me a competitive advantage over others while looking to obtain a job following school. The concern I have in relation to this is that if I enter the workforce first, I can gain a better understanding of what graduate electives would be better suitable for me to take to advance in my respective career. Therefore, in an attempt to address this concern, I am hoping to obtain a co-op in my final semester as an undergraduate in a field that I hope to work in following my education. As a result, I believe obtaining a master's level degree before entering the industry will allow you to better stand out from the crowd if the courses you take in graduate school will allow you to better excel in the job you hope to obtain. On the contrary, I believe a PhD is better tailored for those looking to obtain a role in academia rather than using it to specialize for their career in industry. Overall, I believe a master's degree in today's time is a suitable degree to acquire before entering the industry if one is sure of the path in the industry they hope to pursue. Furthermore, it may be harder to balance the completion of a master’s degree while already having entered the workforce.

I believe that getting industry experience right after BS is best because it will help you decide which part of BME you want to focus on because as you know BME involves lot of stuff from other department just like ME. If you start MS right after BS then you won't know what you want to specialize in as there are multiple class when it comes to MS in BME because it is up to the student to select courses that fall in to their specialization. University also plays huge role when it come to selecting courses for your specialization as universities only open certain classes for students to take and most of those classes won't be what you want to specialize in, so you will pick those classes to finish your degree requirements. Industry experience is really helpful when you start thinking about MS because if you are working in BME industry and you realize that you don't want to work as BME then you have a choice to do your MS in other fields but if you started working in BME industry after your MS and you realize that you don't want to be BME then you wasted your time and money doing MS.

I suggest doing MS after you have worked for 6 months or a year in industry.

I think its absolutely necessary to do a bachelor's in BME exclusively (not some other program like electrical, mechanical, electronics,etc. though people say it's okay even if your undergrad is in different program, but I personally think it's not as I come from a non BME undergrad background and now doing a Master's in BME) and then masters atleast before getting a job. As we all know that BME is such a broad field, the knowledge and skills which one gets by doing his/her bachelors' is not gonna suffice to the industry standards. Infact what I believe now is, to get into core biomed industries, they really give preference to people who have done their PhDs, so keeping that on mind, I really think it would be very tough for a bachelor student to get a job in this industry, so one should always look for at least Masters' if not PhD before going for a job in this sector.

Good topic- I feel like this is a common struggle, especially coming out of undergrad. I believe a BS is the minimum requirement to obtain any sort of industry or academia job in BME. An MS/ME provides benefits of a higher pay entry level and better understanding of the field with not a long commitment period to obtain the degree. Depending on what the end goal is, industry or academia, a PhD might be beneficial as well. In my opinion, more appropriate in academia though. 

On the other hand, I am also a strong believer that first hand experience and knowledge trump any schooling. If someone had a BS in BME and a few years of industry experience, I can't say a Masters with no experience would be more likely to find employment. 

Overall, as long as you are doing something valuable with your time, I don't believe the number of degrees you have matters much at all. What I mean by that is- if you are working towards your end goal, whether that be in school, at a company, your own side hustle, and you have gained experience and knowledge from taking on this role, there should be no worry about if another degree is necessary. That is, of course, unless it is something of pure interest to you. But don't just do it for the "guaranteed" job or better pay. It has to be something you truly want. 

From all the discussions I have had with people with different levels of experiences in the industry and with my professors in my Bachelors, back when I was deciding between pursuing my masters right after college or gaining some experience in the industry before I pursue it, most of them said that each aspiring industry-driven BME student should strive towards a masters degree because just having a Bachelors degree is considered the basic standard now and the knowledge gained is not enough for what is required in the industry. 

Currently being a graduate student, I can confidently state that had I entered the industry right after my undergrad, I would have been quite lost with not enough knowledge. 

So I do feel that based on the current scenario and requirements, a Bachelors degree would be insufficient. A graduate degree will not only give you more knowledge but will also help you gain some clarity on which track you want to continue in.. research-oriented or towards the industry.

A thought here to stimulate more discussion:  Different strokes for different folks.  

There are people who like to go to work every day and do the same thing.  Maybe, as someone who is not like that, this is a weird concept to you.  However, it exists and is quite common throughout the developed world.

Having said that, even a regular BS degree is great for someone who just wants to be on a manufacturing floor making medical devices all day.  For some, that's a dream job indeed.

How does personality and a person's cognitive curiosity figure into what degree they should get?

I can see the appeal in going to work and doing the same thing everyday, i.e. working on a manufacturing floor as Dr. Simon mentioned, since it may be less stressful than creating novel ideas or constantly working on a new project. Therefore, one's personality does play a role into what degree they should get, but not solely. For example, if someone is more into intellectual pursuits and learning new material constantly, many would suggest a PhD degree for them. However, that person might also succeed with a Master's degree. There are people who love learning and seem to learn wherever they go, regardless of their degree (especially in today's society where you can learn so many things with the online educational resources out there). 

I believe people choose their careers based on their personality and cognitive curiosity, among other factors, and their career-choice determines what degree they should obtain. So one's personality/cognitive curiosity shapes which job positions they would be interested in, which determines which degree they should aim for. I think it really boils down to the level of specialization one aims for and what the particular industry position calls for. On the one hand, you're not very specialized in any field with only a BS in BME, but you can slowly gain specialization in a particular field with industry experience. On the other hand, you're very specialized in a particular field with a PhD degree, but you gained that specialization via a different route. 

I'd like to share a funny graph by phdcomics.com: 

Adding to what Dr. Simon said, I believe that personality and cognitive curiosity play a large role in the selection of a degree to pursue. From my own experience, I pursued biomedical engineering as a means to help people directly while also being able to develop and add upon what I know. My personality has always been described as kind and altruistic, and I know that played a role in me becoming a biomedical engineer. Even from there, I had the option to pursue medicine or stay as a biomedical engineer, and I believe I chose to stay as an engineer for reasons relating to cognitive curiosity. I have always been curious to learn more and took interest within medical devices. I enjoy learning about different devices that are available and how they specifically function. Therefore, from personal experience, I know that personality and cognitive curiosity can play a major role in young students deciding what degree to pursue, or even in older students deciding on careers.

On a little side note, I liked the graphic that @dyc6 shared. During my undergraduate studies, it was a major topic that just having a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering was not enough because we would come out knowing very little about everything. In other words, despite knowing about a lot, we did not know enough about each topic to be desired. I know that some students specialize in specific areas and that what I am saying is a generalization, but I know that this was a concern for a lot of students. 

Posted by: @karen-immanuel

Hello all,

I was just curious as to what level of education is best before getting into industry.

My thoughts are that BS is good enough to employ you with basic skills and knowledge. Later, you can specialize once you get into industry. Downfall to that is that you have to get into industry through low-paying entry level jobs. In these cases, I feel like doing at least a masters is good as it is just a couple years more of education and you can start in a higher level and there is still an option of specializing. PhD, I think is that specialization that one can get after getting a taste of industry.

In my experience, in terms of almost all engineering professions, an MS degree with a thesis is the best way to find a satisfying job both personally wise and financially wise. Especially in BME, technically, you don't learn anything that directly teaches you what to do in the field, so to increase your knowledge would be the best idea. An MS with a thesis also tells the employer that you are smart, and you can learn fast and independently, and This would qualify you for high starting levels, maybe even manager level. 

The question here is if that's the case, why Ph.D. is not a good idea, and it would be the right way of thinking. More education. More rank and more money, right? Unfotuentnly that's not the case. With an MS, you have the broadest range of jobs you can apply, but with Ph.D., there will be something called overqualified. If you happen to be Overqualified, that happens to be a big problem, more than being underqualified perhaps. You can always try to volunteer or earn certificates if you are underqualified, but if you are overqualified, that's it, and there is no turning back. Furthermore, you'll likely lose 4-7 years of your life, and there is no guarantee you'll be able to earn your title.

In a way, a Ph.D. is like getting married to your profession. If you are sure that you are a good fit for that job and only that job, you'll want to be the best you can be, but if you want to be more flexible and maybe not marry right away, you will want to explore a bit which you cannot do if you are stuck in a Ph.D. 

I think if you're considering working for an industry you can find jobs with just a BS in BME but since the job market is more competitive now getting a masters would make you a more competitive candidate for the job. In my company, to move up in positions and responsibilities you have to further your education and get a PhD. So to answer the question, it depends on where you see yourself working and what kind of work you would suit you best.  

A BS degree in BME should help students initially in starting out with an entry level position. Most companies actually require that a student has a BS degree. With a BS degree and an entry level job, students can make enough money and have some sort of experience if deciding to continue their education. An MS degree could be an option if the student wants to have a higher degree in the field. With having both degrees, starting a job could pay the same amount at first. Most jobs higher the pay after years of working in the company and promote to higher positions. That's where some don't see the need of going back to school and spend the money on a higher degree. Also, I believe that depending on whether the person works in an industry or academia, the degree comes in priority. A higher degree in academia is preferable because it gives students more informational courses/study and research work, and it gives them the ability to specialize in an area of study. But, finding a job in an industry after completing a BS degree might not be an encouragement especially if the person sees that they don't need to spend more money on informational courses if they are not in research. 

I do believe that trying to get a job first is industry is important before pursuing higher education because you can get exposed to certain careers you didn’t know about and see yourself working in other areas other than your concentration in undergrad.

from personal experience, I studied biomedical engineering and I was I wanted to pursue a career in prosthetics, however I struggled to get a job straight out of college in that field.when I got a position in r&d I found out that my true passion was something completely different which made me pursue BME masters over mechanical eng masters.