Postgraduate Study

Why Do Postgraduate Study?

When considering whether or not to undertake a postgraduate course it is essential to ask yourself a few questions. Postgraduate courses involve a significant investment in time and money. There is also an increasing trend for universities to make professional qualifications available through post graduate study eg. Graduate law or medicine.

• Am I doing the course as a career investment strategy or am I doing it for personal development/ interest ? (The two are not necessarily mutually exclusive!)
• What are my options ? Am I able to do the course by research or is it only available by coursework?
• If looking to change careers - which course will give me the skills and competencies needed to move into another career area? It is important to check out that the course delivers appropriate professional qualifications for registration /legal purposes to enable you to make that career change. This also applies if you are considering studying overseas, it is critical that you confirm that your choice of postgraduate study is recognised professionally here as well! If you are considering doing study overseas it is also important to establish what the language of instruction is in.
• How can I find out which is the best course? Do some networking. Talk to people who work in the industry you are keen to get into and ask what their educational backgrounds are? Did they undertake a postgraduate course to access that area of employment? Talk to professional associations they may be able to advise you which are the courses to study that are held in high regard in the profession.
  Ask the Course Co-ordinators for employment outcomes of those people who have done the course in the last couple of years. Were they people already working in the field looking to increase their chances of promotion or people working in other industries looking to make a career change leap?
• Do I have the skills and knowledge to undertake the course successfully ? Talk to the people that run the course you are considering embarking on. For example if you embark on a course that requires high level sophisticated mathematical skills and this is an area you have had no formal training in at undergraduate level or no exposure to in the workforce this could create difficulties for you in completing the course successfully.
  Investigate the necessary prerequisites of study and any bridging courses you can do to get yourself up to speed.
• Should I study full time, part time or externally? Consider all your options for study. Weigh up all the factors when making your decision such as work commitments, relationship commitments, costs and expected outcomes personally and professionally.
• Will I end up with the right mix of experience and qualifications? Seek out relevant work experience whilst you are studying in order to avoid becoming over qualified. This is extremely important!