No. I entered the UK Civil Service, which I could have done anyways. I’m probably one pay grade higher because of experience gained during my Master’s / because I had a lot of time to apply for jobs rather than taking the first one I could get.
I’m happy with the route I chose. I love education, so the Master’s was very pleasant and a real confidence boost. I also learned a lot about research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, which was one of the goals I had—I don’t think I could have taught myself those skills. I also think it’s useful to know the theoretical literature even if I don’t use it every day because it’s changed some of the assumptions I hold.
I also like having more options. It turns out that I really like the Civil Service and plan to stay in it for a few years, but it was good to test my fit in research and know that I could work in a think tank or do a PhD if I wanted to.
That said, I didn’t previously know that the Civil Service will pay for employees to do a Master’s if they have a reasonable business case. It probably would have been more rational for me to do this on the Civil Service’s dime than my own. But overall, I think I made the best decision with the information I had available.
Awesome!
My first question: did you end up doing something after the program that you wouldn’t have been able to do w/o having done the program first?
No. I entered the UK Civil Service, which I could have done anyways. I’m probably one pay grade higher because of experience gained during my Master’s / because I had a lot of time to apply for jobs rather than taking the first one I could get.
Oh interesting. Reflecting back, do you feel like you should’ve just gone into the Civil Service directly, or are you happy with the route you chose?
I’m happy with the route I chose. I love education, so the Master’s was very pleasant and a real confidence boost. I also learned a lot about research methods, both quantitative and qualitative, which was one of the goals I had—I don’t think I could have taught myself those skills. I also think it’s useful to know the theoretical literature even if I don’t use it every day because it’s changed some of the assumptions I hold.
I also like having more options. It turns out that I really like the Civil Service and plan to stay in it for a few years, but it was good to test my fit in research and know that I could work in a think tank or do a PhD if I wanted to.
That said, I didn’t previously know that the Civil Service will pay for employees to do a Master’s if they have a reasonable business case. It probably would have been more rational for me to do this on the Civil Service’s dime than my own. But overall, I think I made the best decision with the information I had available.
Thanks, this is really helpful.