So what job is that going to land you that you couldn't have got without it?

I imagine he will apply for jobs that require a master's degree now. :p

Other than teaching I want to know what that is.

Surely you don't think only teaching could require a master's?

I would add that I think in his particular case, that degree sounds like one of those ones that helps you stand out from those with just the experience. It will probably fall into that "master's preferred" section of most job requirements.

It's a simple question. Why did he get his masters in that area and how is he going to use it? I am not sure why it is becoming anything more than that.

This times a million.

It doesn't get you a job, or a promotion, or even a raise, but it will make you someone who will be better at what you're doing and will get all those things down the line.

The most successful people I know don't have masters but there are a lot of people that have masters that work for them.

No, your question was "what job will you get that you couldn't have gotten without it?" Completely different than how is he going to use the degree which could range from personal growth to professional goals. Obviously in the job market, he will look for jobs that require or prefer a master's degree.

I have two: an MA in Philosophy, and an MS in Library Science

[quote'Are you currently or recently worked in the field that pertained to your field of study?[/quote]

Yes, I'm actually working in a job where I'm using both degrees (I was hired as a librarian, and was asked to teach an ethics class once the Dean found out I had a MA in Philosophy

I'd do the MS in Library Science again, but NOT the Philosophy degree. When I started grad school, my intent was to get a Ph.D. in Philosophy and teach, but the program I was in had crap for financial aid and tuition was high, so I only finished the MA. Also, I don't like writing at that level well enough to write papers for the rest of my life only to make what I am now without all of that. I'd work in a library, so that was an easy transition and in academic libraries, a second Master's degree in almost any field is required for tenure.

I haven't looked in other fields, but I know librarians who have left the field and are doing quite well working in the corporate sector (usually in some kind of knowledge/data management capacity).

Hopefully a job in a federal agency or nonprofit that works with political and economic development. There are no guarantees, though.

Also, in most gov't jobs, education is a substitute for experience, so at worst, I've incurred a little extra debt while making myself eligible for better paying jobs.

Education for the sake of education is lame. IF you don't know where you are going and how you are going to use it you are a far less attractive candidate to me, masters be damned. There is nothing worse than a graduate shotgunning.

You want a government job I get it. Were you trying to land those same jobs before you got your masters?

Is that bad? Also, not necessarily. Non profit jobs would also interest me, but they are harder to find.

I flamed out of grad school a semester short of my masters, and never even tried to go back and finish it. I think that's one of the bigger (defining) failures/mistakes of my life. Even though I don't and would never work in anything at all related to the programs in which I got my undergrad or worked on my masters (see: hamas' comments about higher education).

Ever thought about returning to finish it?