You are here: Home / Career and Work / Should You Get a Job or Go to Graduate School?

Should You Get a Job or Go to Graduate School?

July 29, 2010 By 7 Comments

I recently came across an interesting article over at CNNMoney.com where a reader is trying to answer the question:  Should I get a job or go to graduate school?   The reader is getting some pressure from mom and dad to go to graduate school and needs some help deciding.

FORTUNE — Dear Annie: I hope you can settle an argument. My parents are saying that with my college major (English), it will probably be hard for me to find a job when I graduate next spring. They want me to go straight to grad school and get a master’s degree, which they say will make me more “marketable.” (They are willing to foot the bill, which I do appreciate.)

But I am really reluctant to start applying because, to be honest, I’m kind of tired of being a student and I’m ready for some kind of real-world experience. I’d really like to join the Peace Corps, which my parents say is “not practical.” Do you have any advice? –Bickering in Boston

I suppose a lot of college students consider this question.  I gave it some thought myself when I was about to graduate college and decided to go to graduate school.  I suppose my reasoning was arguably flawed as I chose graduate school because I really didn’t know what area of business management I wanted to pursue.  I had a lot of different ideas.  Fortunately, I came to that decision while getting my graduate degree in business.Graduate School or Get a Job?

Here are some thoughts to consider when trying to make the decision:

Go to graduate school?

  •  The job market is tough these days, so it may make sense to get a graduate degree to help with marketability.

There’s no doubt that the job market for new grads is tough, and likely to stay that way for a while. Just about one-quarter of the Class of 2010 had jobs lined up by graduation day, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. True, it’s an improvement over last spring, when only 19.7% had been hired by graduation, but that isn’t saying much. No wonder that 28% of new grads go straight into master’s programs, NACE reports, up from about 23% before the recession.

  • A graduate degree provides you the opportunity to learn more about your field of interest.
  • If you don’t know what you want to do a graduate degree will allow you more time to decide.  Although, this could arguably be a waste of money and not worth the risk if you come out on the other side still struggling to make a career decision.
  • It’s tougher to go back to school after you’ve been working for a while.  I know a lot of people with busy careers and family with dreams of one day going back to graduate school.

Get a job?

  • One of the benefits of graduate school is applying your learning to real-life situations.  If you don’t have any work experience your graduate degree can sort of become another undergraduate degree.  I must say I experienced this when surrounded by many people already in the work force while studying in graduate school.  They seemed to use their schooling to improve their skills on the job.
  • If you take a job you can begin earning sooner and saving towards financial goals.  You can also start paying off student loans sooner.
  • Going to graduate school should not be the default answer if you don’t know what you want to do.  Again, looking at my situation it was risky.  While I did mention above that it could allow for more time to make the decision; I would think some work experience would be a better option to help solidify your next move.
  • If you start working you may find your company will help pay for a graduate degree as you advance or have more tenure.  This can certainly help the financial situation.

The parents agreed to pay the bill for graduate school in the reader story from CNNMoney.com.  Amongst the above list, considering the cost of graduate school is very important.  If you’re going to go into debt for graduate school I would think it’s wiser to get a job and save for the continuing education.  However, graduate school may be a good move if you can get a scholarship, or mom and dad plan to pay the bill.

I’m sure the situation differs for everyone.  Would you add anything else to this list to consider?

Filed Under: Career and Work Tagged With:
Your Money Life - Personal Finance Newsletter
Tips from top personal finance blogs and popular financial sites to help you manage your money life.
Free eBook when you subscribe: 25 Ways to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill.

Learn more at www.yourmoneylife.com.

About Jason Price

I'm Jason Price and welcome to my personal finance blog. I'm a husband, dad, financial coach, blogger and small business owner. I'm passionate about biblical financial stewardship and doing my best to faithfully manage my finances, career, and small business.

  • Leigh

    I would not recommend going to graduate school. Not only is this student burned out, but she doesn’t seem clear on a career path and another liberal arts degree will actually make her less marketable.

    Perhaps the parents are trying to avoid having student loan payments kick in six months after graduation?

    She should do whatever she can to gain practical experience in some field, even if that means getting an unpaid internship or teaching herself some challenging computer software. She could join the Peace Corps or some type of service organization that will allow her to mature and show future employers initiative.

    I work in higher education and have more than my share of degrees. I also see a lot of these young people’s resumes come across my desk and I have no interest in hiring them because they’ve only lived in the ivory tower of academia. The ones I have hired are hit and miss as far as being able to contribute much or be in a state of mind to understand that you have to earn your way up the ladder.

    Her parents are well intentioned, and she will likely have to go back to school to supplement an English degree, but until she knows if that direction is business, law, education or what have you, the time she would spend in grad school would be wasted.

    • http://www.onemoneydesign.com Jason Price

      Leigh, Great points. I would agree this person needs to sort out their professional and possible career track first. I suppose I was luck to find out what I wanted to do in grad school, but I don’t recommend that approach and probably wouldn’t do it that way again.

  • http://diggingoutfromourmess.blogspot.com Mysti

    Why can’t you do both?

    I worked full time, worked a part time job, and took 2 grad classes for 2 years. I graduated with a 3.97. It can be done.

    • http://www.onemoneydesign.com Jason Price

      Mysti, I suppose that is definitely a possibility. By the way, great job! I agree do agree with Leigh in that this person needs to figure out what they want to do first. But your option makes sense if graduate school is a part of their overal career plan and it has a good purpose behind it.

  • http://www.gobankingrates.com/ Credit Girl

    Oh boy, this is a problem for many of us just coming out of college. Honestly, I think that if I could get a job I would. Internships accepted as well because I feel that it’s better going into grad school with some experience.

    • http://www.onemoneydesign.com Jason Price

      Credit Girl, Yes, as I mentioned in the article I found that many people sitting beside me in class were in the working world. As much as I tried, I just couldn’t relate to their discussions and questions.

  • Leigh

    I did both my masters and doctorate while working full time, so I’m not discounting work and school concurrently as a possible future choice for her, but I think in this scenario the writer’s primary issue is that she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life and doesn’t have the real world experience to make that decision.

    I would hate to see her go through all the challenges of another degree only to come out the other side and realize her passion is in a field that neither of her degrees prepare her for. At this point in her life, there’s still time to maneuver.