are postgraduate degrees worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Masaken]

q in title. does it affect your job prospects too much (in respect to having the extra qualifications, spending a few extra year(s) in uni to complete one)? what are the practical benefits to doing a postgraduate degree as opposed to just completing an undergrad degree? etc etc

i was wondering what a general consensus on this q would be cos i did ask my parents for advice, and they're heavily pushing me toward pursuing one after completing undergrad degrees to be better qualified for employment, but they both have postgrad degrees that are recognised in australia (my dad has a master's and my mum has a doctoral), so i was wondering if a wider perspective/opinion on this was required

 

[its_ace21]

i feel like it might be a waste of time/money if u can still work with an undergraduate degree but idk might differ from course to course and idk what u wanna do

 

[Masaken]

i feel like it might be a waste of time/money if u can still work with an undergraduate degree but idk might differ from course to course and idk what u wanna do

true

i've been considering to go into a tech based field as it feels like my most realistic prospect from here so i'm not entirely sure if it's worth it esp since my parents have postgrad degrees but in the financial/economic fields

 

[carrotsss]

for some degrees eg psychology or engineering you have to do honours/masters to be recognised

for some stuff like comp sci it’s not super important from what I’ve heard

and for basic science/arts degrees I’ve heard masters or honours is pretty important for jobs prospects

doctorate you’ll know later on if ur dead set on researching something I reckon, but that’s ages away

 

[sheppy123]

true

i've been considering to go into a tech based field as it feels like my most realistic prospect from here so i'm not entirely sure if it's worth it esp since my parents have postgrad degrees but in the financial/economic fields

What degree are you doing at uni?

 

[cossine]

q in title. does it affect your job prospects too much (in respect to having the extra qualifications, spending a few extra year(s) in uni to complete one)? what are the practical benefits to doing a postgraduate degree as opposed to just completing an undergrad degree? etc etc

i was wondering what a general consensus on this q would be cos i did ask my parents for advice, and they're heavily pushing me toward pursuing one after completing undergrad degrees to be better qualified for employment, but they both have postgrad degrees that are recognised in australia (my dad has a master's and my mum has a doctoral), so i was wondering if a wider perspective/opinion on this was required

There are different types of master degrees beginner/advance. Depending on your case pursuing a master degree might not make sense if you have a bachelor degree as you would already know all the content. I think you can leave the decision of whether you want to pursue masters to later. Perhaps in the future your plans will change.

 

[Masaken]

What degree are you doing at uni?

computer science definitely (tossing between commerce or science to double it with), but my alternate option from what my parents have been talking to me about the past week is doing a sole adv compsci degree with an honours year to like make the pathway to masters 'easier' or smth like that

 

[cossine]

for some degrees eg psychology or engineering you have to do honours/masters to be recognised

for some stuff like comp sci it’s not super important from what I’ve heard

and for basic science/arts degrees I’ve heard masters or honours is pretty important for jobs prospects

doctorate you’ll know later on if ur dead set on researching something I reckon, but that’s ages away

The engineering honours degree is recognised by Engineers Australia. To summarise there is no need for master degree.

I agree about the Psychology though.

 

[liamkk112]

some roles it is not necessary to get postgraduate qualifications to be competitive. however, in general postgraduate qualifications (especially phds) can allow you to access higher jobs easier in many fields without the requirement for work experience as you will be much more competitive with other applicants, though this can usually be made up for by work experience (although, in some roles masters/phd is an expectation, but these are rare).

 

[cossine]

computer science definitely (tossing between commerce or science to double it with), but my alternate option from what my parents have been talking to me about the past week is doing a sole adv compsci degree with an honours year to like make the pathway to masters 'easier' or smth like that

If you want to do honours you can however the technical skills you get on the job are by far more important.

 

[sheppy123]

computer science definitely (tossing between commerce or science to double it with), but my alternate option from what my parents have been talking to me about the past week is doing a sole adv compsci degree with an honours year to like make the pathway to masters 'easier' or smth like that

Yeah don’t bother if you’re doing comp sci.

 

[liamkk112]

computer science definitely (tossing between commerce or science to double it with), but my alternate option from what my parents have been talking to me about the past week is doing a sole adv compsci degree with an honours year to like make the pathway to masters 'easier' or smth like that

tech roles usually dont care about postgrad stuff, most companys main care is towards work experience especially, and also having up to date skills with new technologies in most cases. only really advanced and technical roles, eg some cybersecurity stuff maybe for government, academia, or research and development roles is phd/masters really important for compsci.

 

[Masaken]

Yeah don’t bother if you’re doing comp sci.

If you want to do honours you can however the technical skills you get on the job are by far more important.

thanks for the advice, so I get that masters degree probs isn't worth it but would it still be worth considering pursuing that honours year then?

 

[Masaken]

tech roles usually dont care about postgrad stuff, most companys main care is towards work experience especially, and also having up to date skills with new technologies in most cases. only really advanced and technical roles, eg some cybersecurity stuff maybe for government, academia, or research and development roles is phd/masters really important for compsci.

thank you for the insight!! I'm not really interested in academia or research into tech but an advanced tech job in places like the govt ren't off the radar yet. I think I'll just stick with the undergrad degree and maybe consider an hons year but nothing more than that for now

 

[synthesisFR]

Should I try out compsci? I have no prev experience n idk if im interested in it but its good for future

 

[liamkk112]

thank you for the insight!! I'm not really interested in academia or research into tech but an advanced tech job in places like the govt ren't off the radar yet. I think I'll just stick with the undergrad degree and maybe consider an hons year but nothing more than that for now

u can always apply for honours in third year if u dont want to choose rn. but its not really necessary for the majority of industry roles, take a look at basically any software development or systems architect roles, half of them dont even list having an undergrad degree as a requirement and only list skills/technologies they want you to be familiar with, which really shows the emphasis on work experience in tech jobs. if they do, its usually a bachelors at the very bottom of the list. the only reason for honours is really to "differentiate" yourself from competition in your first job application, as i guess you could say you have more independent working skills, but past that point onwards work experience is really all that matters (or perhaps other certifications in certain technologies in some extreme cases)

 

[its_ace21]

Should I try out compsci? I have no prev experience n idk if im interested in it but its good for future

bruh.

 

[sheppy123]

Should I try out compsci? I have no prev experience n idk if im interested in it but its good for future

Literally do a free YouTube mini python boot camp. About 1-2 days in if you feel like you want to kill yourself, chances are you won’t like computer science.

Hope this helps.

 

[sheppy123]

thanks for the advice, so I get that masters degree probs isn't worth it but would it still be worth considering pursuing that honours year then?

I would get out of university as soon as you can. Job market is way too over saturated for you to be spending more years in uni which will provide almost 0 value to you.

 

[liamkk112]

I would get out of university as soon as you can. Job market is way too over saturated for you to be spending more years in uni which will provide almost 0 value to you.

(talking about compsci/it) past this i would highly recommend doing as much work experience/internships in your degree, im not sure how it works at unsw/usyd but at uts u can either do a bachelor of professional practice or somethin of that name and get a 9-12 month work experience built into the degree, or take an internship elective for a semester (so 6 months). i would really recommend maximising that especially in technology, as has been said it is so saturated now that you really need that to get your foot in the door, a bachelors simply doesnt cut it. im pretty sure usyd/unsw would have a similar internship elective/program, so if youre going there that could be a good idea.