Is going for a Master’s degree worth the trouble? Of course, your CV will look much more impressive in these days of severe competition, you know that you have developed professionally, and if you have some work experience to throw in, you sound like an eminently worthy employee. It cannot but tell on your salary.
What do we have on the other hand? Studying for a Master will set you back a formidable sum, take a lot of your time and interfere with your life to an undreamed-of extent. So, before committing yourself, you better make sure that you have a solid reason to. For instance, you want to:
- try a new occupation;
- enhance your professional skills;
- take up a new vocation;
- move up to a grade of a Doctor;
- make a bid for a higher position in your company;
- concentrate on studying a subject;
- specialize in your chosen field.
Below are the main reasons why you should pursue a Master’s degree.
Satisfy your keen interest
There are people who feel strongly about their chosen vocation, whatever it may be, no matter how prestigious it may seem. Having embarked on receiving a Master’s degree for the subject of your keen interest you amass knowledge and achieve a better understanding of what you are doing, leading to a deeper gratification from your profession.
Better chances of landing a desirable job
A higher degree is expected to enable you to choose better jobs. There are quite a few applicants with undergraduate degrees under their belts, from which you will stand out with your Master’s. Your employer understands immediately that you are clever, goal-oriented and hard-working. Those who aspire to become university professors surely need a Master’s for entering a Ph.D. program.
It emerges from a study that people who attained their Master’s draw a salary higher by 23% as compared to those holding a Bachelor’s degree only.
Understanding Leadership
While attending a graduate school you begin to understand more about leadership. Graduate programs are designed so that you regularly find yourself having to assume leadership roles. It is an excellent way to develop individually and shows to your employers that, given an opportunity, you will be able to handle leadership issues. For example, getting a human resources MBA gives you the knowledge and the leadership skill that are of vital importance when applying for better jobs in HR.
You may get a stipend for further education
There are stipends attached to quite a few graduate programs which can take off the financial burden of studying off your shoulders. Some of them come up to more than your education fees. Of course, this is purely financial, but it’s nice to have your way paved for you.
Undergraduate courses fall below graduate ones
Generally, a college student has to enroll for General Education Courses (GECs) that have nothing or little to do with their majors, while with a graduate school you dig the subject that you really like. Undergrad majors have to deal with assignations that get them nowhere, but grad students study only what they wish to know.
Graduate school allows for changing your vocation
Here is a vivid example of point four. Suppose an individual came to a decision that they are not so satisfied with their education choice as they expected to be. In this case, their Master’s can earn them an educational opportunity in the sphere that stimulates them more which would be relatively expedited. Say an engineer has gotten himself s dream of turning a manager. A couple of years in a grad school will give him the desired opportunity.
You earn more respect
Well, we all want to feel appreciated, and with a Master’s you can count on commanding people’s respect. There’s a vast difference between being a college graduate and the ability to stump up a degree to your credit.
For some jobs, you have to have a grad degree
You know about the jobs that you will never be able to land if you don’t have a degree. It is impossible to become a lawyer or a doctor if you go without one. Naturally studying for those jobs requires good consideration of financial and commitment issues, but then again, the fruits to be gained are also irrefutable.
A grad school means you develop intellectually
Undoubtedly you are aware of benefits to be achieved by getting higher education; some of them are pretty weighty even if they are often not taken into account. Better education offering intellectual challenges causes steady cognitive development that takes you to a higher level of intelligence. Just like an athlete never loses with more training, a clever person begins to feel more powered after a few years of extra schooling.
Come to think of it, reasons for pursuing a higher degree are many and alluring, not to mention a welcome addition to your salary. You may have your own reasons for working for a diploma, but whatever they may be, you will hardly be dissatisfied with your achievements.