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Before you jump on the bandwagon to call me out on my judgmentalism, hear me out first. Please read this article so you may understand why I have this viewpoint. You do not necessarily need to agree with me. However, there are certain truths to that opinion and belief.
People pursue Masters and Ph.D. because they want to go into academia or think they have something useful to be contributed to society. They believe they have certain ideas and theories that society can benefit from. However, not everyone who pursues Master’s and Ph.D. wants to go into academia or have something useful to offer.
Pursue postgraduate degrees because you need it
Let’s be real with ourselves here. If you pursue a Master’s and Ph.D. degree after your Bachelor’s degree because “you don’t know what else to do after that”, then you are in for a rude awakening. I see where you are coming from as I used to be in that situation too. I have no idea where I was going in life. I thought having a Master’s degree will allow me to find out where I am headed in life. Wrong way of thinking.
Anything that is worth mentioning is that if you really want to pursue postgraduate studies, do it because it opens new doors for you. Again, do postgraduate if you intend to pursue academia or wish to be in the research field. Or if you think you have the experience and can contribute meaningful ideas and research for society, you may pursue postgraduate studies too.
“I have no idea what to do in life now” is not a good reason to want to pursue postgraduate studies. As a matter of fact, it’s not even a valid reason to pursue postgraduate at all.
Pursuing a Postgraduate degree and not utilizing it can become a very “expensive” mistake
Never mind if you don’t land a job in the same industry you did your postgraduate for. The worst thing that can happen after getting your post-graduate studies is when you don’t even have a job at all. I have recently come in contact with 2 ex-uni mates who pursued their postgraduate studies. One was doing all right despite not being in the same industry he did his postgraduate for. This person at least has a “job” but in the gig and freelancing sector. Just not within his field of study. This fellow at least is earning back the money spent on their postgraduate studies.
The other one, in fact, is not as lucky. After pursuing their postgraduate studies, they have not been able to find decent-paying jobs. Never mind if they are able to find a decent-paying job, they cannot even land a job at all. Last I was told, they said they are not able to even find work in the gig or freelance sector either.
See how this can become a very expensive mistake? Are you sure you want to pursue a postgraduate degree when the job climate is not as solid in our country?
Pursuing postgraduate studies used to be a noble idea
Once it was seen as something that’s really good to have. Everyone will praise you for having such high levels of intelligence and studies. Now almost everyone has a postgraduate degree (or at least almost everyone). It’s so common that it doesn’t even have value at all. What’s worse is when people actually did a postgraduate degree, graduate, and only to become TikTok influencers. Anyone can be a TikTok influencer now you don’t even need a degree for that.
In the present day, not every field of study is useful. Some fields have produced so many graduates they have become really redundant. If you come from such a field, I am sorry to say that you will have a hard time in life. Unless you come from a wealthy family, then it’s a different story.
Experience is still king
By all means, you do need to get yourself a lot of relevant work experience. Bosses don’t care if you have a Ph.D. in some obscure research field or if you don’t know how to work. They don’t care if you don’t have experience. Again, this will be another expensive price to pay as you have paid so much for your tertiary education. You will see how you do not have a job to even cover any of that tuition fees you have paid before.
Not earning anything or sufficient to cover the tuition fees is one thing. Sometimes, the salary you are earning (assuming you do land a job) is so low. Some people think that having postgraduate studies will grant them a higher salary band. Though that logic may be valid, in Malaysia it’s not the case.
From what I have gathered from my friends who have post-graduate degrees was that not all of them get higher paying salary bands. Some mentioned that there weren’t even any changes to their salary bands when they have a postgraduate degree. However, from what I have observed and gathered was that the friends I know who have a Bachelor’s degree and years of working experience actually have a higher salary band.
It may be coincidental but it does seem like having experience is the winner here. Guess it’s best to have experience after all.
Lydia is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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