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Hi,
I am looking to learn more about the NPI program manager role at Apple. Specifically want to understand the following:
1. What's exactly the day to day beyond the fluff job post?
2. What skills will be considered critical to be successful in the role?
3. How is success defined in the role?
4. What does the career progression look like?
5. What background is considered desirable for this role? Can one get into this role without prior background in NPI?
Thanks in advance!
Apple
I’m getting it because I DONT have a bachelors in CS (and because my employer is paying for it / I can do it part time)
It's great to consider this question about how to continue advancing in your field! I'm no longer a developer, but just for career development input, here are my thoughts.
* If you're looking to climb the Deloitte ladder, you can ask your mentor or SM as they understand what matters most in their promotion process
* For employers or recruiters, having a masters in a specific field can help you stand out, but I think having a conversation with a recruiter might also reveal how much weight they give it (anyone care to share?)
* For skill and knowledge development, you're aware that this can be obtained outside of a masters program, but this is one way to go about it in a "curated" way
* Being part of a masters program can be a way to build your network - relationships with a great school, alumni association, peer students, and professors can be valuable
* Companies sometimes provide tuition reimbursement so it might be something to consider if your company actively encourages it and sometimes make allowances for you to spend time in class
* All of this weighed against the opportunity cost to you - could you be building your own tech or startup or working on something else that advances your skill somehow?
Pro
I've never worked at a place that assigned any weight at all to a master's degree for software engineering roles. So from that perspective you'd have one fewer year of experience and nothing to show for it but less money (due to foregoing a year of salary and paying tuition).
A big part of it is that too many universities have found master's programs to be highly profitable, especially catering to international students who want to get a foot in the door with a US company to sponsor their visa. The universities want happy customers, so they tend to turn a blind eye to cheating and poor performance. (I went to a top CS university and more than one professor told me that they were simply not allowed to fail CS master's students.)
As a result, it's pretty hard for a company to trust a CS master's degree to mean much at all. It'd be way too difficult to try to maintain a database of the good programs, so most companies just ignore them entirely.
If you wanted to stay a code monkey then there isn't much point. If you wanted to focus on something like security or AI then it could be worth it.