Korean Job Discussion Forums

[laogaiguk]

I have seen quite a few posts asking if a certain degree will bring extra benefits at a job, allow for a better job or if a degree will be accepted here (mostly graduate degrees, but also undergraduate). Just to make sure, I am not knocking these people, as nowadays they are very important questions.

What I want to know is what percentage of people getting degrees (especially graduate degrees) are doing so because they want to improve themselves or study that subject? How many are doing it purely for their resume? And anything else you can think of...

[inukshuk]

bottom line is that they are looking for academically minded folks. The masters gives you "hand", the BA doesn't. Masters means you can call the shots. But I've been chosen to teach college courses over my friends with Masters degrees - we were working in a institute within a college. I'm just more interesting than my friends with the masters.

But, remember the difference between education and training. Lots of folks go for training and end up pretty miserable. I have friends with masters in education, toiec, or equivalent. This is more job training.

Education is more meaningful and specific. Only study something you have an interest in. Save you a lot of counseling sessions if you follow this route.

So I say hold out until you find something that excites you, even if it isn't in a academic institution.

[Craven Moorehead]

[fusionbarnone]

The any-degree required to work in Korea, has/had to be the best kept secret going what with airfare, furnished pad etc. That was the only time my degree/s worked for me post-graduation when, I first got a job in Korea.

I have friends who saved in Korea in order to do further study. They are now real public school teachers, US uni lecturers, or in prestigious internships. Just goes to show how time as we use it could be invested meaningfully or squandered.

Further degree study is not a waste but an investment, but, can be frighteningly expensive in money-terms and full-on commitment the older one gets.

[PRagic]

MAs are good to have, and can help open up doors to better paying jobs with better conditions, whether they be here or elsewhere.

Also, truth be told, once you get the MA/MS started, you quickly realize that it's not that big of a deal! The only regret anyone with their MA has is that they didn't knock it out sooner.

If you plan on teaching long term, and you'd like more stability and upward mobility, you have little choice but to get your piece of paper. No matter what you chose to do in life, it's all about paying your dues. Sucks, but thems the breaks.

[laogaiguk]

So what do you guys think of the fact that people tend to only get degrees for opening doors nowadays?

[Underwaterbob]

Depends on what you mean by worth it.

My physics/music degrees will never pay for themselves but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

You want a good education money spent to dollar earned after ratio? Go to trade school.

[PRagic]

Tough to say. I have a friend who is a VP at HSBC headquarters with a degree in music. Alan Greenspan's degree is in music, too.

Master's in physics will get you a decent job with NASA or an affiliated agency, or, coupled with an education degree, a teaching job just about anywhere.

And, laogaiguk, people have been getting to degrees to open doors since degrees were first offered. I'm not from an independently wealthy family. We studied to better our chances and increase our employment scenarios. Yes, I studied something I liked, but perhaps not what I would have had I not had to worry about getting a job.

I know people who have taken advanced degrees in TESOL because they like the lifestyle. I know people with Ph.D.s because they didn't want to work and wanted to stay in school. To each their own.

I have long envied those who study what they want (and pay for it themselves) without regard for their professional future. I don't envy them the fact that they'll probably work harder for more years than I will, or the fact that they'll have fewer options afforded them the older they get. Still, it is great to have the balls to study what you want in today's world. It keeps many a dicipline alive and kicking.

[inukshuk]

If one is getting a degree for career-sake - it's job training mentality. And if you do it with job training in mind ("i want to teach at a uni in korea so I'll do a toeic masters") - you are going to end up less happy and more troubled. IF you don't believe me? Ask department heads of any uni. Many really want to find prospective students that have some kind of passion for the subject at hand. If you tell them "I am doing this to make more money", they will prob. tell you to hold off until you find a proper match.

[PRagic]

Not to make more money, but to have more opportunities in the field. Very often, the two do go hand in hand, though.

And I highly doubt MA programs give a flying crap about their students' motivation for getting the degree; they might care for those going into doctoral degrees, but not the MAs.

In short, I thoroughly disagree. Do you think people get MBAs because they have an interest in the subject? Because they actually use what they learn at their jobs? Not so. People get MBAs because they need them to remain viable in the employment pool. Sad? Perhaps, but that's the reality of it.

And the same goes for M.Eds/MAs and other advanced degrees for teachers. If you want to stay in the game, you have to do what it takes. No amount of griping will make a bit of difference.

[bucheon bum]

[merlot]

Yeah, there�s all that and couple of other things that come to mind--like the usefulness of the stuff you learn. I just have a BA in English with a concentration in Writing and Rhetoric, but regardless of the "where will it get me" discussions. I use what I learned constantly. I think the most practical class I ever took was Writing for Business.

And secondly, a degree is something no one can ever take away from you. You may go broke or end up in who knows where, but you�ll always have that piece of paper that does matter in my view.

As for graduate school, I agree with what was said. If you are not on the academic path--do something fun and don�t pay for it.

Id likes to do a masters in creative writing someday

[agoodmouse]