Career essential or desirable 

For some career areas, further study or professional training may be a requirement for entry into a profession, such as psychology, law or medicine. A PhD is now essential if you want to pursue an academic career in most subject areas (clinical academia is an exception).

In other career areas, such as journalism, science or marketing, a master’s – although not essential – can be advantageous due to the in-depth subject knowledge or the additional skills gained through post-graduate study. The same can be true for a PhD, for example if you’re looking to become a patent attorney: a PhD is not a requirement, but it is desirable. Spend some time researching your career ideas to understand how a future employer will view your qualifications.

Passion and expertise 

You may be motivated to continue your studies simply because you have a passion for your subject or want to deepen your knowledge in a particular area, without a future career in mind.

In this case, while an employer may not actively require a master’s degree or PhD, they will still be interested to know what you have achieved during your further studies. This might include extending your knowledge, building industry specific or general employability skills, and your own personal development.

Time to develop 

Undertaking further studies should be an active career decision, so continuing your studies purely to give you “more time to decide what you want to do” is not always the best reason to do a master’s or PhD. However, whilst studying at a higher level, take advantage of the wide range of extracurricular activities available to help you explore career ideas and enhance your personal and professional development.

We offer opportunities specifically designed for postgraduate students such as Researcher Academy Placements and the postgraduate stream of the Nottingham Advantage Award. Get in touch with the Careers team if you need support with your decision making.