Employment or postgraduate study?

If you’re considering postgraduate options you might still be trying to work out whether you should apply for a postgraduate program or if it would be better to enter, or to remain in the workforce.

If you have already been in the workforce for some time, then you need to think carefully about the lifestyle change associated with the return to study — do you have the time and money required for further study? If not, do you want to make the social and financial sacrifices?

These costs will need to be weighed against the benefits you calculate you will receive from the extra qualification or the change of career direction offered by postgraduate study. In other words, it really depends on having a clear idea of goals, on knowing your own employment market, and on your personal lifestyle choices.

If you have just finished your first qualification, you also have a big choice to make. It helps to know what to expect on both the employment and the postgraduate pathway.

Employment: is one degree enough to succeed?

Around November every year, thousands of students complete their first degree and begin the search for employment. For most of them, the waiting game is brief. The 2006 Graduate Destination Survey, conducted by Graduate Careers Australia (GCA), reported that 80.1% of bachelor degree graduates seeking full-time employment found it within four months of graduating. Only 7.8% remained unemployed and looking for full-time employment.

Employment figures aside, choosing to pursue a career can lead to a wide range of benefits:

• after eighteen or so years of study, many graduates find the transition from theoretical study to practical work refreshing and excel at their career
• earning a salary brings material benefits — paying off student debts, enjoying more luxurious holidays, and driving a more reliable car, for example
• depending on the company and your position, you may participate in domestic and / or overseas business trips; attend forums, conferences or professional training and development; and enjoy a range of company perks, from gym membership to free or subsidised health insurance.

Certainly, if you're ready for the world of work, it can be an exciting graduate option.

On the other hand...

Further Study

If you choose wisely, completing a postgraduate course will bring intellectual and material benefits. (Be prepared to wait for the latter, however!). The GCA Postgraduate Destinations 2006 survey found that those who had completed postgraduate study had an employment rate of 90%.

For first degree holders, postgraduate study can offer the chance to pursue extended research (requisite for a career in academia), enter the world of work at a higher salary level than your bachelor degree holding colleagues, or acquire useful vocational training and skills.

With more and more students attending university each year, competition for graduate employment is increasingly tough; evidence on your curriculum vitae of postgraduate education and/or training could make all the difference to prospective employers.

Best of both worlds?

If you study full-time then you will put off receiving the material rewards for your academic efforts for a few more years. However, it is possible to complete many courses either part time or by distance education, which minimises the impact of further study on your work schedule, allowing you to undertake work and study at the same time.

Postgraduate study is available in a range of modes (full-time, part-time, distance education, or online for instance) through universities and private higher education providers and TAFE institutes.

However, be sure to clear any postgraduate plans with your employers, to ascertain how flexible they will be if you need to take study leave or do flexible hours.

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