Developing Qualifications after degree.

Gabriel-Ernest

Phil - are you sure that all this Masters stuff isn't your particular subconscious way of avoiding having to get a job?

studentphil

Gabriel-Ernest wrote:

Phil - are you sure that all this Masters stuff isn't your particular subconscious way of avoiding having to get a job?

It is not avoiding a job because I am looking at PT study or distance learning, so I will need a job as well!

studentphil

ringo_24601 wrote:

I've stolen from here: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/study/cpd/subject_index/diabetes/newstudents/whatis/

Masters degrees are awarded to students who have demonstrated:

1. A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice.
2. Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline.
3. Ability to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.

Typically, holders of the qualification will be able to:

1. Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
2. Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level.
3. Continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level.

In a sense I do most of that at UG level now. I probably do not do as much on the reasearch side as that says.

BigBouncyBall

whinge whinge whinge! God try thinking for yourself for a change, if you want to do a masters you're going to need to have an original thought for yourself every so often, go away and think about what you want rather than finding fault with everyone elses suggestions

[Deleted User]

I still think that if you don't actually know which masters you want to do then you aren't ready to do one.. you're just prolonging your education for the sake of delaying starting a 'proper' career. The end of university is scary and if you've not decided what you want to do with your life then it's very daunting.

Go find a decent career's advisor and have a long chat with them. For most fields of work you do not need a masters. If you truly have an interest in lots of subjects, great. Go buy a bunch of books and have a read - you don't need to be on a course to study things.

studentphil

I went to a careers advisor and sort of the stuff she came up with IT trainner
or probably a job in recruitment might suit me well and are available jobs in my area which seem both reasonable things I might be good at.

I could probably turn my hand to a lot of jobs as I do have wide interests and I would work hard at whatever job I had.

I might well go back to the careers advisor and see if I can get anymore info that might help me.

[Deleted User]

Guess what Phill, i've also done that (IT trainer) as part of my current job. I too am quite a 'jack of all trades'. One major part of my work's earnings come from training people in our software. One of my mates here is a senior instructor - he use to do freelance IT training and earnt a fortune doing it, but decided to 'settle down' and join a firm.

He's told me that with IT training, you end up having to be constantly learning as new courses come along, new versions of software are released ect. It's very lucrative if you can get into it - you're better off doing IT qualifications (microsoft, oracle, networking.. that kind of thing) than a masters for those.

If you want to go into recruitment.. don't bother at all with further training, it's one of those jobs you start at the bottom and work your way up. Learn your buzz words and industry terms. They're always looking for staff as turnover is pretty high (stressful job i hear)

3plus1

studentphil wrote:

I went to a careers advisor and sort of the stuff she came up with IT trainner
or probably a job in recruitment might suit me well and are available jobs in my area which seem both reasonable things I might be good at.

As an IT trainer, you would have to do a lot of training yourself to keep up-to-date, and despite what you say, I'm not sure how much you would enjoy continuous study. A job in recruitment could potentially pay very well if you're good at it, but it does involve a lot of sales work, and not everyone is cut out for that.

Without a background in IT, you would probably have to do a computing relating masters first, before being considered for a decent IT based role, but you could go into recruitment directly and receive training on the job. Have a look at milkround.com - there are still lots of recruitment vacancies open.

Going through the process might actually help you decide if it's something you want to do - I know that with a few companies I've applied to, my opinion has completely changed since going through the application process with them. You learn a lot about a company when you're applying for them - it's all about the way they treat people who aren't on their payroll. Gives you a real insight into their actual company culture.;)

studentphil

There is one milk round sort of job I am interested in, but I hear it is rubbish firm and that is where staff leave like mad and that is why they are allows recruiting, so I think I am best avoiding them. Plus 8-8 upto 6 days a week( that is okay once in while but week in and week out- no) does not sound like it is a right good firm and they will not fund extra study-- so whilst it reads good on the web when you speak to people who work there I am put off.

studentphil

Thanks for the advice on IT!! IT training does really attracts me as I am always into new software and it has a more human element than a hardcore IT job. Anyway for a Hardcore IT job I would not be able to get such jobs over computing/ IT graduates if I am being honest. But I suppose even on a computing degree you only learn about a piece of software or a method for about 8 weeks-- so even as an non-IT grad I am not hugely behind considering you would not need to know everything that was in a degree to do a job.