8 Reasons to Pursue a Master’s: Understanding Its Importance

So you have just done-and-dusted your Bachelor’s, and are trying to figure where to head next. Or maybe you are in your penultimate year of college and are flustered by the range of options you would have when you graduate. Amongst thousands of other things, a constant question keeps pecking at your mind, “Is Master’s the right move for my career?”
Many students at this point in their lives are puzzled by this very question, wondering whether they should go for a master’s or job. Some even end up wondering whether a Master’s degree has any point at all, and they should give up on the idea altogether. If you too have pondered on this issue, we are here to help!

 
8 Benefits of Getting a Master’s Degree
 
1. Power Your Knowledge

Don’t see a Master’s as just a degree to be completed, because you have to. It can be much more than that if you open yourself to taking full advantage of it. A Master’s degree can be a golden opportunity to equip yourself with vital knowledge and skills, that can come in handy when you’re working in the field, notably in highly specialized or academically-oriented fields. Furthermore, a Master’s course is designed to polish certain universal skills such as analytical and critical thinking, time management, reasoning, etc., which play a decisive role in your work-life and career. Thus, there are some things which you learn at the university, which you can learn nowhere else.
 
2. Navigate the Rat Race

However much you want, you cannot deny the reality that it is a competitive world out there in the job market. With a plethora of candidates flaunting multiple degrees, a Master’s degree has become somewhat of a staple than a supplement. In a world where organizations have a repository of over-qualified candidates to choose from, being a “B.A Pass” just won’t suffice. To have a standing chance in this race, a Master’s degree is sometimes indispensable.
 
3. Master Your Craft

A Bachelor’s degree is intended to give you a wide purview of your field, allowing you to explore your options. It sometimes touches base with a lot of fields, leaving you without in-depth knowledge of any field in particular. A Master’s degree rectifies this by letting you specialize in your field of choice, helping you become well-versed and proficient in it. Thus, a Master’s degree is your one stop on the way to mastering your subject.
 
4. Step Up your Game

While a Bachelor’s helps you test the waters, a Master’s helps you move your way up the professional ladder. In order to build the right kind of competencies needed to perform in the professional space, you need a more precise focus and exposure than what a Bachelor’s provides you. A Master’s degree helps you gain industry knowledge through internships, advanced projects, and has a keen focus on developing professional skills. It helps you bridge the gap between student and professional life.
 
5. Polish Your Intellect

Let’s not forget the more traditional purpose of education, which is to develop your intellect and understanding.  A Master’s degree provides plenty of opportunities for that, with its focus on classroom discussions and critique. You are encouraged to go beyond the material to form a deeper understanding of the subject and see it through a critical lens. Not just that, Master’s programs are usually research-oriented, and universities require you to conduct regular research, publish research papers in academic journals, and keep up-to-date with ongoing research in the field. Most Master’s degrees culminate in the writing of a Master’s thesis/dissertation, which adds value to your profile, especially for academically-oriented fields.
 
6. Detour Your Career Path

Not all of us have our career paths sorted. For those of you who are unsatisfied with their current fields and wish to opt for an alternate route, a Master’s degree can be your steering wheel. To switch to any other field, a Master’s degree in that subject is crucial. It can also be a chance for you to experiment with the particular field to understand what it entails, and explore its feasibility as your lifelong career option.
 
Recommended Read: 6 Tried & Tested Ways To Choose A Career After Graduation
 
7. Fast-Track Your Career

A Master’s degree can be a boon if you desire to boost your career. Companies realize the value and skill addition a Master’s degree entails and thus they give strong weightage to it. Many organizations set a minimum eligibility criterion of a postgraduate education for their recruits, and they also assign more advanced projects to such employees. Thus, post-graduation enhances both the quantity and quality of the job opportunities you get. Additionally, you can also expect higher salaries and a faster career growth following your post-graduation.
 
8. Advance Your Personal Growth

Education is not just about academic and professional learning; it goes above-and-beyond this traditional function to aid your personal development. A Master’s program is much more demanding and gruelling than a Bachelor’s, it requires determination, commitment, and resolve; and as a result, you come out stronger and more confident in your domain of interest. The sense of accomplishment also goes a long way to boost your self-worth. Thus, the experiences that you gain during your program all work to enhance your growth and development.
 
These are all noteworthy reasons to pursue a Master’s. Yet not having one won’t be the end of the world. Sometimes a Master’s degree is not necessary to help you realize your goals and dreams, and here are 3 reasons why!
 
1. It’s All About the Field
For certain professional and applied fields, a Master’s can be optional, case in point being engineering. Contrary to popular belief, an M.Tech is a completely optional degree, and one can easily hold a successful career without it. Professional courses are designed in such a way that you do not require any other degree following it, and only people looking to enter research or teaching choose to go for a Master’s.
 
2. Keeping it Real
There are many of the view that a Master’s provides just theoretical knowledge, as at the end of the day, it’s a classroom program. The classroom environment is often miles away from the real world, and thus fails to inculcate the professional skills that one learns whilst actually working in the field. A year in the job will generally triumph a year in the class as it provides valuable hands-on knowledge.
 
3. Skills and Talent Matter
Skill and talent based fields such as entrepreneurship, blogging, design and the like also don’t demand higher education, since it’s what you do that matters more, than what you have studied. The best example is entrepreneurship. There are several skills required to build your own business from the ground up, which a classroom might not always teach you. Thus, in such a case a Master’s may not add much value to the person’s career and is easily dispensable.
 
In conclusion, there are strong points both in favour and against a Master’s degree. It is up to you to weigh them against each other to decide!
 
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