Masters Degree - worth it or not?

si1503

abdulinyourface wrote:

phil im not going to go into a tit for tat with you.

i myself have just recently graduated a couple of years ago and have been working ever since.

what i speak of is what i actually see day in day out and in my experience having a masters etc is more beneficial in the working world than just a degree. this is FACT, not my own opinion of what i think will happen in the future not because i have spent time with "soon to be graduates".

i have friends who have done degrees different to mine, accountancy, law , optometry, doctor, pharmacy, IT studies (I could go on) and it may not necessarily be masters but further studies like doing courses for say, chartered accountants etc are definately more beneficial than just stayin an undergrad.

in this instance si15 needs to find out all his options be it masters or more tailored courses to suit his career development as it will help him in the long run, when looking for a job initially and gaining the necessary experience.

undergrad will get you a job theres no doubt about it, but having that extra edge of doing further studies will place you in far greater stead and will open a lot more doors for you than just having a degree, because unfortunately some of the "easier" degrees as they say, like media studies etc have brought the importance of a degree down.

thats all i have to say.

Thanks! (apologies but the 'thanks' button won't work for me)

Interesting debate guys.

My current chain of thought is more in-line with abdulIYF. I just feel there are going to be so many business graduates coming out with degrees of a similar nature to myself, it might be difficult to secure one of the better jobs/positions. As I am at NTU that is a decent uni for business courses don't get me wrong, but I can't help but feel like i'll be outmatched from graduates from Russell Group institutions. Therefore a gaining a Masters from one of the Russell Group myself might put me in better stead to land something bigger and climb up the ladder that bit faster. Its all supply and demand at the end of the day. As as abdul mentions, supply of bachelor degrees is on the up and I'm not convinced demand is keeping up the pace, hence postgrad education might be what some employers will start looking for.

abdulinyourface

i will second what woof says though.....

employers will also look for experience and you may end up doing work where the pay would not be great initially, but that would be to gain experience in the working world and once you have that under your belt, your education will fast track you and "hopefully" leap frog you into better positions and roles.

studentphil

I would point out that business masters cost a ton so I would look at professional PG stuff like accounting rather than the straight masters. It is the case that in Business getting out there and doing stuff is important.

si1503

FYI my mum holds her own firm of accounts. I can do pretty much any accounts qualification under the sun (well, the majority of recognised ones, AT&T n all that) through her at her business if i want to. I'll see if it is possible for her to offer any more finance orientated ones. I already have accounts experience for her, so in that sense I do have a slight head up already.

Glad

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melancholly

if you're in your second year, hit the recruitment fairs big time and speak to people in companies you'd like to work for and find out what they say. you could also try and get an internship for your summer holiday - they are more difficult to get than a job, but it gives lots of experience of how the interview/test days will work and allows you to visit lots of companies to check them out.

it's very difficult for students not doing your degree and not aiming to work in the area you are to give specific advice, but you can speak to the companies directly or go to your careers service.

i know i interviewed for working in various investment banks, and insurance/reinsurance places straight after undergrad (complete change of direction for me now!), and it didn't harm me not having a masters, but that was a few years ago and the levels of recruitment do vary a lot from year to year. given that a masters is very expensive, i'd just find out whether the job you'll get with one pays a lot more or gives better career progression, becuase it's a lot of money to pay out if the benefits aren't guarenteed to be there.

thetope

Hard to say in your particular field what the best thing is, i think the advice given above about asking potential recruiters what they look for is very sensible.

but I work in a consulting engineering firm as an environmental scientists and unless you have decent work experience they won't look at hiring you if you don't have a masters. I managed to sneak in the "back door" by getting recruited as a temp with an agency and they liked me so kept me. But I'm one of only two people in the office of 25 (except technicians/PAs) that doesn't have a Masters or PhD.

The job market is so competitive as lots more people go to uni these days, you do need to have something that sets you above the crowd, be that good work placements during your degree/summer, being in the student council or something highbrow like that or else having a Masters in a useful subject (especially a research one rather than a taught one).

cupid_s

studentphil wrote:

I would point out that business masters cost a ton so I would look at professional PG stuff like accounting rather than the straight masters. It is the case that in Business getting out there and doing stuff is important.

Yes but is it easy to 'get out there and do stuff'? Whilst your ability to do the job is more important than whether you have a masters or not, you need to get that job in the first place. And as thetope said, there are so many graduates now you need something extra to even stand a chance of getting that job, without which you can't prove how good you are or not!

I know people who have graduated in many fields with and without masters. The ones with masters are doing well and have good jobs, the ones without struggled to get work despite having good 2'1s and firsts, and most are now back at uni doing a masters in order to even be able to get a job.

studentphil

cupid_stunt wrote:

Yes but is it easy to 'get out there and do stuff'? Whilst your ability to do the job is more important than whether you have a masters or not, you need to get that job in the first place. And as thetope said, there are so many graduates now you need something extra to even stand a chance of getting that job, without which you can't prove how good you are or not!

I know people who have graduated in many fields with and without masters. The ones with masters are doing well and have good jobs, the ones without struggled to get work despite having good 2'1s and firsts, and most are now back at uni doing a masters in order to even be able to get a job.

I do not doubt that is true but a 15-20 000 GPB business masters is a huge investment and you be sure it is the right thing to do. It is true a masters should put you in the top 1/4 of the 40 % of people in HE so in the top 10 per cent and so in the right subject a masters could be well worth it.

cupid_s

studentphil wrote:

I do not doubt that is true but a 15-20 000 GPB business masters is a huge investment and you be sure it is the right thing to do. It is true a masters should put you in the top 1/4 of the 40 % of people in HE so in the top 10 per cent and so in the right subject a masters could be well worth it.

Ahhh. I didn't realise a business masters was different to others masters in terms of cost. I assumed it was just the ~3k fees for a year like mine and my mates' were.

I know masters are obviously good things to have but I wouldn't have done one if it was going to cost 15-20k! It's ridiculous, I can't see how anyone can afford to do it which is quite sad.