Hey guys ive been trying to weigh up whether or not to do a masters degree in my current field. Im currently doing Human Geography at Leeds. The one question I've been asking myself over the last few weeks is "is a masters degree worth it?" Ive been told to speak to others regarding the matter but its actually harder than you think finding someone who has one. So from anyone on this board who has one, who knows more than I do, are they worth it and what are their main advantages?
Masters Degrees - Are they worth it?
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Soldato
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Somebody with a masters degree and 3 years of experience is more likely to get offered a job over somebody with the same length of experience but only a standard degree I would expect.
Also it will improve your chances of internal promotion.
Also it will improve your chances of internal promotion.
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I signed up for mine as it includes a 6 month work placement although the system at imperial is weird. We do 4 years total for a masters not 5 as most places would be but we just come out with an Meng not a Beng and an Meng.
I would say the most advantages would be right now you have an advantage over colleagues of similiar age and in 5-10 years time when master degrees are more common place you will be of similiar qualification plus experience to younger people if you change jobs etc.
A huge advantage can be that if you specialize in your masters and this specialism lines up with a job would enjoy doing as you will have a way of proving competance in the specific field and be more quaalified than oter candidates.
And i guess you can factor 1/2 more yeaars of uni life a pro or con depending on how much you enjoy yourself
I would say the most advantages would be right now you have an advantage over colleagues of similiar age and in 5-10 years time when master degrees are more common place you will be of similiar qualification plus experience to younger people if you change jobs etc.
A huge advantage can be that if you specialize in your masters and this specialism lines up with a job would enjoy doing as you will have a way of proving competance in the specific field and be more quaalified than oter candidates.
And i guess you can factor 1/2 more yeaars of uni life a pro or con depending on how much you enjoy yourself
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They are never worth it in the short term - a Masters is a long term investment. You need to ask not what it can do for you immediatly but whether, over the course of your entire future 45 year career, it will net you at least £4-5k more in total than if you didnt have one.
A Masters is something which begins to matter when you are many years into your career and vying for senior positions. This is why most people on here think they are crap - we are too young to see their practical application.
The whole 'a years experience' as an alternative is utterly meaningless - in 25 years time when you are trying to get a very senior position the fact you only have 24 years experience whereas the other guy has 25 will matter even less than the colour socks you wear to the interview.
A Masters is something which begins to matter when you are many years into your career and vying for senior positions. This is why most people on here think they are crap - we are too young to see their practical application.
The whole 'a years experience' as an alternative is utterly meaningless - in 25 years time when you are trying to get a very senior position the fact you only have 24 years experience whereas the other guy has 25 will matter even less than the colour socks you wear to the interview.
Im thinking of doing one because im finding it hard to get into the security industry because I don't have any papers/vulnrabilities published so I want some extra time on that while I work on an MPhil (Research masters). Its one of these jobs which require experience but getting experience in the first place is a nightmare...
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I signed up for mine as it includes a 6 month work placement although the system at imperial is weird. We do 4 years total for a masters not 5 as most places would be but we just come out with an Meng not a Beng and an Meng.
I would say the most advantages would be right now you have an advantage over colleagues of similiar age and in 5-10 years time when master degrees are more common place you will be of similiar qualification plus experience to younger people if you change jobs etc.
A huge advantage can be that if you specialize in your masters and this specialism lines up with a job would enjoy doing as you will have a way of proving competance in the specific field and be more quaalified than oter candidates.
And i guess you can factor 1/2 more yeaars of uni life a pro or con depending on how much you enjoy yourself
off topic, i am doing an MEng at imperial too. what course are you on?
a masters as said above, will help you once you are employed and vying for a top position. it will also help you get a job over a person with a bachelors.
its a tricky one really - it really depends on the subject - i'm at leeds and the only people who do chemistry MSc's are the people that the lecturers don't know and don't trust enough to do PhD's and so they insist on them doing an MSc first. So for a science, from am employer point of view, an MSc is a waste of time and an MPhil is a failed PhD - so its either a PhD or nothing. But it may not work that way in your subject - maybe talk to any of the lecturers or postgrads you can trust?
See.. I got asked about the possiblity of staying on and doing a Phd but the 3 years and not wanting to go into academia puts me off. An MPhil would allow me to gain a masters qualification but be able to study what I want to study not just the taught material in an MSc.
As mentioned I reckon for people with a poor degree classification (2:2 or 3rd class Hons) it could be a reasonable way of disguising it.
I'm contemplating doing a Postgrad Diploma and then potentially Masters via the OU, alongside my work. Only problem is the lengthy timescales, as I'd basically be starting from scratch in a new field rather than putting my BSc to good use.
I'm contemplating doing a Postgrad Diploma and then potentially Masters via the OU, alongside my work. Only problem is the lengthy timescales, as I'd basically be starting from scratch in a new field rather than putting my BSc to good use.
maybe you should ask around - there is a lot of snobbishness in universities and i think most of my friends and I wouldn't take an MSc seriously - or at least no more seriously than a BSc - it is very snobby but thats the way most people with PhDs would respond - in chemistry anyway - again it might be different in your field.
however, you are not interested in academia so it may not be an issue. I wonder if there is someone in your dept with industrial experience who's opinion you can get - they will probably have a much better idea.
I would definitely say avoid an MPhil simply because few people actually start off doing an MPhil and its usually those that do a pretty bad PhD but find they don't have enough work for it after 3/4 years and it gets downgraded to an MPhil - i can go around 10 different professors and if i ask them what an MPhil is they will all reply 'a failed PhD'.
but don't take my word for it - ask your lecturers - they should hopefully be honest enough to offer you an unbiased opinion.
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Phrased that a bit badly , im in my 2nd year but am signed up for a Masters and am on track to be on it haha. Anyway i do Computing and am hoping to do the MEng in Computational Management.
How about yourself?
Soldato
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To sum up the other responses, no-one here KNOWS or can actually tell you whether a masters degree is 'worth it' with any authority. Not that this stops them extolling stories about the supposed value of 'experience' although I'm not sure experience is quite what many make it out to be, if you are crap at doing what you do 3 years into your job, you may still be crap at it after 10...
Ask yourself why you want a masters, if your career prospects are the only reason then there are lots of things you could do instead, if its because you want to do a masters anyway... then DO IT
Ask yourself why you want a masters, if your career prospects are the only reason then there are lots of things you could do instead, if its because you want to do a masters anyway... then DO IT
i do computing, am in my third year.
thats the most important thing - if you want to do it and enjoy the subject then it will be easy, if not then you will find it difficult and boring.