Given my background in mechanical engineering and seven years of experience in computer science, should I pursue a master's degree in computer science to formalize my skills and expand my career options?

Seven years of real software work already answers most of what an employer would ask a fresh CS graduate, so the return on a second degree depends entirely on what it adds that another year of work cannot. Treat this as a program-level eligibility and return-on-investment question, not a blanket yes or no about computer science degrees in general.

When a Computer Science Masters Is Actually Worth It

• Formalise a credential gap: useful if a specific employer or country's skilled-visa route screens explicitly for a CS degree that your mechanical engineering bachelor's doesn't satisfy.
• Specialise technically: valuable for areas your seven years of practical work never covered in depth, such as theoretical algorithms, distributed systems or applied machine learning.
• Go toward research or a PhD: a taught or research-track masters becomes far more relevant here than it is for continuing as a working engineer.

Why Admission Prerequisites Matter More Than Your Experience

Universities frequently assess your transcript separately from your professional history. Don't assume that seven years of CS experience automatically satisfies a program's required undergraduate coursework in algorithms, discrete mathematics or operating systems; some schools still require bridging courses from applicants without a CS or closely related bachelor's degree, regardless of how senior your job title is.

This Information Is Also Available On

The University of Copenhagen's own MSc Computer Science programme page states that applicants from other bachelor's degrees must demonstrate substantial coursework in programming, computer systems, theoretical computer science and mathematics. DAAD's international programmes database similarly lists prerequisite coursework requirements for several German Computer Science master's programmes accepting non-CS bachelor's holders.

My Advice

In my experience, engineers with your kind of experience regret a generic two-year masters far more than they regret skipping one, because it rarely teaches anything a senior engineer hasn't already learned on the job. Map your seven years against ten to fifteen actual program syllabi first, and only commit if a program's prerequisites, thesis options or specific specialisation genuinely open a door your resume currently can't.