Summary:
- What is a master’s degree?
- The importance of pursuing a master’s course
- When doing masters is not such a good idea
On completion of your graduation, you might find yourself at the crossroads of your life. You may be in a dilemma – should you start your career right away and start your life’s earnings or should you complete a post-graduation first.
This article focuses mainly on the question- is doing masters worth it? Here, we try to assess the value of a master’s degree and whether your time and effort is with it.
Before we begin to evaluate the worth of a master’s degree, we will define what exactly is meant by a master’s degree.
A master’s degree is a degree bestowed upon a student who has completed a post-graduation in a particular discipline.
The master’s degree is awarded by the college or university where the post graduation is completed.
It denotes the completion of a higher degree of academic qualification or in other words a mastery in a particular area of study.
Now the question arises – is a master’s degree necessary? Though the answer to this is highly opinionated, it can be unanimously agreed that a master’s degree will always be beneficial and never detrimental to one’s career.
If you have just completed your graduation and are in two minds about pursuing a master’s degree or not, here are a few pointers that can help you decide to take it up.
13 Stunning Benefits of Master’s Degree
1. More Weightage
A master degree as defined above is a more specialised study. Higher academic knowledge in a particular field is always beneficial when it comes to career building.
The simplest example would be a medical degree and a post graduate medical degree. Think for yourself. If you had an underlying heart condition, would you visit an MBBS doctor or a cardiologist for treatment.
An MBBS doctor may be as good. It must not be misunderstood. However, a postgraduate degree will always have more weightage than an undergraduate degree.
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2. Higher Degree of Knowledge
A master’s degree or a postgraduate degree is a higher level of knowledge in a specific area. Therefore, with increase in knowledge in a specific area, there will always be more benefits.
Taking the same example as above, an MBBS graduate has fair enough knowledge of all fields or areas of treatment, whereas a cardiologist has overall knowledge of the body illnesses and more specific knowledge of the heart, its ailments, diagnosis and treatment.
Pursuing a master’s degree gives you in depth knowledge about the subject. Since a master’s degree is attempted after the completion of a bachelor’s degree and presuming that you have chosen an undergraduate course of your liking and choice, a master’s degree gives you more knowledge of the subject you like.
3. Higher Remuneration
One of the benefits of a master’s degree is that it can get you a higher salary. It is a given fact that the more you educate yourself, the higher salary you can expect.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, a survey conducted in 2019 has shown that the higher the education, the higher is the remuneration.
A doctoral degree fetches a higher salary than a master’s degree and master’s degree fetch more than a bachelor’s degree and so on and so forth.
A George Town University research-based article written by Anthony P Carnevale, Ban Cheah, and Andrew R Hanson and published in 2015 stated that masters or major degree holders in the health sector earned 137 more times than those with a bachelor degree.
4. Lowers the Rate of Unemployment
The same survey also showed the rate of unemployment increased with a decrease in the level of education.
The survey concluded that each level of education you complete may help you develop more skills, give you access to higher paying occupations, and signal that you’re able to follow through on important tasks, such as planning ahead and meeting deadlines, that employers value.
In other words, a master’s degree gives you more job opportunities. With this added benefit you can easily answer for yourself -is a masters degree necessary?
5. Masters Degrees Necessary for Research Oriented Programs
One of the master’s degree benefits is that with a master’s degree you can easily apply for an academic program in research.
The usual norm is that students who wish to pursue a PhD or doctoral degree must have a masters degree in hand. So a master’s degree is a must to complete a doctoral degree.
6. It Always Looks Attractive on Your Resume
Another one of the advantages of doing masters is that it will act as an attractive piece of information on your CV.
A prospective employer who looks at a CV which holds a master’s degree will always be more attractive than a CV without a master’s degree.
Pursuing a master’s degree may give you an upper hand when it comes to securing that dream job.
Apart from looking attractive on your resume, having a master’s degree lets the employer know how willing you are to further your career.
It shows how interested you are in career building. Obtaining a master’s degree requires hard work and effort.
The very fact that you are a master’s degree holder means that you are willing to put in all your hard work to further the prospects of your career and in turn, the company.
7. Skill Builder
A master’s degree builds the skills required for the particular field of study. A bachelor’s degree gives you an overview of the area of study whereas a master’s degree gives you a more specific connection with the subject.
It builds the skills that are needed in the particular job. A master’s degree gives you an upgrade or advancement in the particular area of study. This is one of the major advantages of having a master’s degree.
8. More Credibility for The Company
An employee with a master’s degree has more credibility and is often portrayed as the face of the company. Companies are always trying to win over new clients and retain old ones.
For this purpose, companies usually bring out a face for the company that clients are able to trust.
In more cases than one, companies usually portray the face of the company as someone who is highly qualified and experienced.
This shows that clients may be able to trust a highly qualified employee of the company rather than one who is not as qualified.
9. Career Advancements
Another reason why doing a master’s degree is worth it is because it helps you in the advancements of your career.
Many companies specifically look for employees with a master’s degree or a certain number of specialisations.
The best example would be the health sector which employs doctors specialised in certain fields rather than undergraduates.
According to a survey conducted by career builder and published on their website in March 2021, employers have raised the minimum education level when looking for candidates to fill up vacancies.
This is because with a minimum demand of higher education, employers noticed positive impacts in the outcome such as higher quality of work, increased productivity, and more customer retention.
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10. Minimum Requirement
Some students often question- is a master’s degree necessary? To answer this question, let’s take a look at some of the career opportunities that have a master’s degree as a minimum qualification.
Many Government teaching jobs require candidates to have a master’s degree or PhD. Let’s single out an example of an advertisement for a teaching position at NITK (National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal).
Here, the advertisements specifies that all candidates applying for a teachers post in the college should have a PhD in the relevant discipline or its equivalent.
Many such job opportunities are available only to candidates that possess a master’s degree. Therefore, it is safe to say doing masters is worth it.
Especially when it gives you a wider career choice. Remember, you cannot even apply to the jobs which have a minimum masters requirement, if you do not have the degree.
According to the U.S Bureau of Labor statistics, jobs requiring a minimum masters qualification are said to increase by 18.4% from 2012 to 2022.
This growth is largely due to the concentration of these occupations in the fast growing healthcare and social assistance industry, which is projected to add a combined 255,000 of the 448,500 new jobs in occupations requiring a masters degree.
11. Networking for Better Opportunities
While nursing a master’s degree, you will be exposed to different levels of learning.
For example, many masters programs offer internships and training programs in various companies. These training programs introduce you to different people.
This kind of interaction with different people at different levels serves as a great way to network. Networking is one of the best ways to build your career.
12. Allows You to Stay in The Competition
The value of a master’s degree is felt only when you compete with others around you.
Nowadays, the competition level is so high that you need to keep yourself up to date at all times. Possessing a master’s degree will give you a competitive edge in the market.
13. Master’s Degree During an Economic Slump
The economy goes through its highs and lows every now and then. When the economy is in a slump period, jobs are hard to find and incomes are low.
It is during this time that pursuing your post-graduation or master’s degree can help advance your career options when the economy picks up later, rather than settling for a miniscule and unsatisfying job.
Therefore, the advantage of doing a master degree is to make use of the time during an economic slowdown.
When Doing a Masters is Not Such a Good Idea?
Now that you have an idea of all the benefits of doing a master’s degree, there is a situation where doing a master degree is not such a great idea.
Confused?
Well, many times students continue to study more only to avoid facing employment. This may be due to an underlying fear, or any other reason.
Some students may not be able to perform well as an employee or may even be a failure when it comes to launching their careers.
In such cases, students tend to further their studies to waste time. This is the situation where studying for the sake of it and simply doing a master’s degree may not be advisable.
Conclusion
In the past, earning good salaries with a minimum educational qualification was possible.
However, today, with the increase in competition at every level, advancing your educational qualification and knowledge has become necessary. Nowadays, a post-graduation or master’s degree is a must to establish your career.
It is a given fact that if you want to stand out from the rest, you must pursue a master’s degree and build your career.
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