If you’re thinking of undertaking a master’s or a PhD, you’ll need to carefully consider how continuing your studies can help you achieve your ambitions.
Career essential or desirable
For some career areas, further study or professional training may be a requirement for entry into a profession, such as psychology, law or medicine. A PhD is now essential if you want to pursue an academic career in most subject areas (clinical academia is an exception).
In other career areas, such as journalism, science or marketing, a master’s – although not essential – can be advantageous due to the in-depth subject knowledge or the additional skills gained through postgraduate study. The same can be true for a PhD, for example if you’re looking to become a patent attorney: a PhD is not a requirement, but it is desirable. Spend some time researching your career ideas to understand how a future employer will view your qualifications.
Passion and expertise
You may be motivated to continue your studies simply because you have a passion for your subject or want to deepen your knowledge in a particular area, without a future career in mind.
In this case, while an employer may not actively require a master’s degree or PhD, they will still be interested to know what you have achieved during your further studies. This might include extending your knowledge, building industry specific or general employability skills, and your own personal development.
Time to develop
Undertaking further studies should be an active career decision, so continuing your studies purely to give you “more time to decide what you want to do” is not always the best reason to do a master’s or PhD. However, whilst studying at a higher level, take advantage of the wide range of extracurricular activities available to help you explore career ideas and enhance your personal and professional development.
Take advantage of work experience opportunities and don't forget, develop your skills by getting involved in the Nottingham Advantage Award.
Get in touch with us if you need support with your decision making.
Unlike an MSc, which typically includes taught modules and exams, the MRes is entirely research-focused.
That structure gave me the freedom to focus fully on a single research project I was genuinely passionate about, without being pulled in different directions by taught modules.
Prospective PhD students should passionately choose a research area which translates into their career plans because you are trained to become an expert in a particular field. Being passionate means your motivation will carry through tough times.
Additionally, prospective students should research potential supervisors thoroughly as they are central to the success of your scholarship.