After degree, what's next? Employment? Masters – Do you need it?
By Malik Ridhwan Zaihan
You might probably be in your final semester and graduating in a couple of months from now. Does it ever cross your mind before, what would be the next step after graduation?
Have you ever wondered whether the degree you receive is good enough for a job or should you consider furthering up another level in postgraduate?
While most fresh degree graduates plan to pursue their education further and are accepted into a Masters program, other graduates join the increasingly competitive workforce to pursue fulfilling careers.
Taylor’s University’s (TU) Career Services Manager, Raja Edriana Baizura says that a graduate’s employability does not just rely on them having a degree but a lot of other non-academic related attributes as well.
“Their suitability for the role and the attributes required to ‘perform’ in the role.
“The Taylor’s Graduate Capabilities (TGC) initiative is a good example of how exposure to having better attributes in Interpersonal and Intrapersonal skills could assist graduates to be better candidates during their ‘career search’,” she says.
For some, a satisfying lifetime accomplishment may be obtaining a higher educational degree. However, by having a degree may not be enough to get you where you want to be in life. That is why it is important to plan your life. Proper planning will help to put your career and academic goals in perspective.
Masters and PhD’s are often described as investing in your future in order to make you more qualified for a better career. But do you need them?
“I personally feel that it is individual preference to pursue a Masters degree. If he/she is planning to become an Academia, then a Masters degree would be a natural option and necessary to succeed as an Academia.” Edrina says.
She adds that by having a Masters degree will give a candidate better understanding of the subject or additional knowledge from their previous degree, an example would be to pursue an MBA after obtaining a Science related degree.
However, when it comes down to hiring, employers will still look at the required attributes as well as academic credentials unless a Masters degree is required for the role.
This is to ensure the right ‘fit’ for the job, which will translate to a happy contributing employee.
Graduates today not only aim for job opportunities in the existing sectors but instead they should consider employments as ‘job creator’ in the field acquired after completing their studies at universities.
Edriana says “If a graduate hones it in them to become an entrepreneur (for example), I am all for it. I personally feel that it is not for everybody though because to succeed, one needs great passion and determination to become an entrepreneur.”
With the rising number of graduates that had exceeded job opportunities in the country resulting in difficulties to find jobs, why is this happening?
“In my opinion, there are jobs out there as we are always hearing employers looking for candidates.
“If there are no jobs ‘out there’, why are there Job Fairs happening every other month?
“I think the difficulty lies in finding the right fit for both Employers and Graduates out there.
“In this day and age, graduates are getting more informed on the types of jobs that they are looking for making it more competitive.
“This result in the perception of ‘difficulties to find job’ but in actual fact it is not. Also, there are graduates with qualifications that do not meet the job market vacancies,” she adds.
TU is one example that adheres to the government’s objective in producing graduates who dared to venture into the job market using their creativity to be self-reliance.
This can be seen through the TGC initiative that outlines the core knowledge, skills, abilities and qualities that they will develop throughout their studies. This is to ensure that it meets the ever-changing demands of the industry.
When asked if TU ensures students acquire knowledge in the fields or courses that were constantly relevant with the job market upon graduation, Edriana shared that the TGC equips graduates to be readily adaptable to the changing workplace environment, and has the ability to take on new tasks and jobs successfully.
“The approach to learning is focused on ensuring each student is able to acquire and demonstrate discipline specific knowledge, cognitive capabilities and soft skills.
“Besides TGC, the university also ensures the programmed offered are industry-relevant by having meetings with Industry Experts through the Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) and Malaysian Qualification Agency (MQA) where they discuss and advice on the relevance of the curriculum to industry needs as well as any critical issues and challenges related to the discipline or education of the discipline,” Edriana says.
So, at the end of the day, it all depends on what your career goals are. However, you should keep in mind, the more education you obtain, the more career opportunities you have. More career opportunities mean more experience and more chances to explore interests.
Having said that, decide wisely for your own future.