According to a survey conducted by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the percentage of jobs that require a master’s degree is expected to increase by 18 percent from 2012 to 2022. More than 16 million Americans — approximately eight percent of the population — already had a master’s degree. It is predicted that this rate will increase even more due to the development of learning models. Besides, during a critical time like this, the rate of a career change and labor mobility takes place extremely high, postgraduate education will be the savior and an effective tool to move specialize.

Owning a Master’s degree is no owning a magical lamp, but it somehow does support your future career as well as provide you more extensive professional knowledge. While graduating with a bachelor’s degree is enough for you to nail your dream job, a master’s degree can help you differentiate yourself and gain a competitive advantage in today’s increasingly competitive job market.

Whether you’re about to graduate with a bachelor’s degree or have already graduated, we think we can all agree on the importance of earning a master’s degree. So now, the question is: Should I study for a Master’s right after graduating with a bachelor’s degree? Or should I work for a few years and then study? What is the right decision to make?

Of course, there will be no exact principle to help you decide whether to study immediately after graduation or work first and study later because we are all on different paths. So we have listed out different reasons for each case. Let’s have a look!

Reasons to study a master’s degree right after graduation

You are younger and have more energy

This is possibly one of the most important reasons to get a master’s degree as soon as you graduate. Many people delay their studying start working, save money, buy a house, start a family, or pay student loans, but this delay keeps getting delayed.

Choose to study for a master’s degree right after graduation, you will be more motivated to go to school because you are still getting used to going to class, doing homework, writing assignments, and studying for exams. If compared to those who have been working for a few years and are familiar with the workflow, you will have more advantages.

Studying for a master’s degree soon will help you define your goals more clearly

Most of us go to college/university by default after graduating from high school. Therefore, many young people are still wondering about their future career paths. This leads to the fact that after four years of studying for a bachelor’s degree, they realize that they are not passionate about the career path they have chosen.

However, when studying for a master’s degree, it’s a different story. Once they have decided to look higher, they are passionate about their chosen major. Studying for a master’s degree will help them better understand their chosen profession and field and help students better outline their goals, career path, and aspirations.

A master’s degree will make it easier for you to find a job that you love

Indeed, a master’s degree also helps secure your employment in the long run. Especially during the economic downturn; Firstly, in the context of a competitive job market, when applying for a job, you will have an advantage over candidates without a master’s degree; secondly, when the company has to cut down on human resources, suppose both of you and another employee with a bachelor’s degree are equally qualified, the percentage of you being fired will be lower than for those with a bachelor’s degree.

Not to mention, with a master’s degree in hand, you can easily negotiate a higher salary.

The reasons you should study master’s degree after working for a few years

More experience

Compared to those who study for a master’s degree right after graduating from a bachelor’s degree, you have the advantage of possessing industry knowledge. You have a better understanding of the current job market, have a clearer idea of how to solve a problem posed in the graduation thesis.

Classes will also be easier. And since the courses will support you with more professional knowledge, plus the accumulated practical experience, you will grow dramatically.

You know what your learning goals are

When you enroll in a postgraduate program after a few years of working, you know exactly what you want to achieve; hence, make the best out of programs and classes.

For example, when you were studying for a bachelor’s degree, you enroll in the Hospitality Management program; but after a few working years, you realized that you needed more knowledge about risk management, especially in the context of the economy being severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You know exactly why you need to sign up for the Master of Risk Management class.

Studying for a master’s degree is one of the easiest ways to change your career field

Assuming you’re working in marketing after graduating with a bachelor’s degree and realized you have a passion for data science, a master’s degree will make it easy to jump over to the IT industry.

Even if you don’t want to change career field, gaining knowledge in other industries will help a lot in your future career path.

Earning enough to pay for your studies

This is understandable, after having worked for a few years, you must have been able to saving enough money to pay for your tuition fee. If you are an excellent employee at the company you’re working for, you can also be sponsored to go back to school. Not to mention universities nowadays also have scholarship programs for excellent students.

Final advice: Start your learning anytime!

With the above reasons, whether you study a master’s degree right after graduation or study after working for a few years, there are different advantages. There is no perfect formula for any study-related question.

So, study whenever possible. Only you will know when you are truly ready to pursue a higher education. Think carefully before you decide. Good luck in your master’s study!

The Swiss Institute of Management and Innovation is currently running master’s programs in specialties such as Master of Risk Management, Master of Business Administration, Master of Logistics and Supply Chain Management, etc. 

See more about master’s programs here!

Source: The Swiss Institute of Management and Innovation