Why You Shouldn’t Do A Master’s Degree

Graduating is an exciting milestone in every student’s life. Especially, if you’re just about to receive your master’s degree!

You might be thinking: this is it. I’m going to be respected, recognised and I’m going to find a job that I love! No more flipping burgers for me. Life’s officially just become 90% easier.

Truth is, graduating with a master’s goes something like this. Fancy ceremony, here’s your paper, goodbye and good luck. Accentuate the last part of that sentence.

Having a master’s degree, sadly, doesn’t open any magical doors that’ll make your job-hunting life so much easier. In fact, it can make it harder. Here are several reasons why.

You’re overqualified

If you’re planning on getting a job position in the humanities you may or may not want to hide that shiny MA of yours.

Having a master’s degree can, sometimes, make you appear more educated than what’s needed for a certain position. And who wants to hire a person who might leave after a couple of months, because this job’s below their standards?

This is a big fear many employers have. This means they’ll have to go through the same process of hiring a new candidate soon after you’re gone. That’s not a beneficial outcome for their company name and time.

Debt

Another thing worth considering is can you afford to do a masters? Will having a masters be worth the costs induced on doing one?

Tuition fees cost around £5901 for a one year course, however, some courses can cost as much as £16,000.

You have to pay this upfront in instalments (or in one go) however you can get a loan of up to £10,609. Whilst this helps, it will put you in even more debt that you’ve already incurred from your undergrad.

Stress

Here’s another issue with getting a master’s. It’s the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. If you get a master’s you might be considered to be overqualified for certain positions. However, in some careers you’ll need a really good grade like a merit or distinction.

Masters degrees are notoriously difficult. If you waltzed through your undergrad, you may still find a masters degree a shock to the system. They require a lot more independent work, a thesis (a more tricky dissertation) and a lot of independent research.

If you are prone to stress under pressure, then a masters may not be the right decision for you.

On the plus side..

To be positive, there are many reasons to do a Masters. You get to prolong university life for another year, gain more specialist knowledge in your chosen subject, and open the door to more careers.

Moreover, some research suggests those with a masters have an easier time finding a job after graduating and end up earning a higher salary.

In conclusion, it’s really worth thinking twice about getting a master’s degree. It’s not just about the grade. It’s a test of discipline. Your degree will become evidence to potential employers of how much you’ve tried.

It’ll be the document that says that you’ve got the resilience, will, knowledge and discipline to commit to a certain amount of working hours. If you don’t give it your all, you’ll give an impression of a lazy student. And lazy students don’t become successful employees.

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