Bachelor vs Masters degree... Difference in the real world
Discussion
I did a BEng in Engineering at Loughborough University. About 80% of the people on my course did the BEng and 20% the MEng. I would say about 50% of the people on the BEng got graduate jobs in Engineering when we left and are doing pretty well career wise. I haven't stayed in touch with everyone on the MEng course but all the people I am still in touch with on the MEng course got good graduate engineering jobs.
I always slightly regret not staying on and doing the MEng course but it meant re-sitting a couple of exams and money and fast cars beckoned! I also did an industrial placement year with a company back home prior to my final year and was dating a girl that I didn't want to be away from for 2 years (in hindsight, the relationship didn't make it to the end of my final year)! Looking at the bigger picture, all silly reasons not to do the MEng but I was young and naive!
I just wondered, in the real world job market, how much difference does it make having a Masters rather than a Bachelors degree. Is your earning potential greater and does it help you progress in your career quicker.
As I said, I have friends who did the BEng and got the same class of degree as me, who got good jobs. I spent a year in a minimum wage job attending lots of interviews and `assessment centres`for non-graduate specific jobs before giving up and over the next 10 years going into sales and teaching. The most common reason for being unsuccessful given being a lack of relevant work experience in the field (not sure how I was supposed to have had this)! Not just down to the degree though I`m sure. I was as capable as my peers but lacked confidence in my early 20s. My success rate in interviews is much higher now.
Good news is, I`m finally working in Engineering (for the last year) but in an unrelated field to my course (Automotive Engineering). I just wonder sometimes whether I would have got here quicker with an MEng and where I would be in my career now. Don`t get me wrong, I`m not complaining. My life would have been very different if I had not done the things that I had done. I wouldn`t have met my wife and have the two fantastic children that I now have for starters!
I always slightly regret not staying on and doing the MEng course but it meant re-sitting a couple of exams and money and fast cars beckoned! I also did an industrial placement year with a company back home prior to my final year and was dating a girl that I didn't want to be away from for 2 years (in hindsight, the relationship didn't make it to the end of my final year)! Looking at the bigger picture, all silly reasons not to do the MEng but I was young and naive!
I just wondered, in the real world job market, how much difference does it make having a Masters rather than a Bachelors degree. Is your earning potential greater and does it help you progress in your career quicker.
As I said, I have friends who did the BEng and got the same class of degree as me, who got good jobs. I spent a year in a minimum wage job attending lots of interviews and `assessment centres`for non-graduate specific jobs before giving up and over the next 10 years going into sales and teaching. The most common reason for being unsuccessful given being a lack of relevant work experience in the field (not sure how I was supposed to have had this)! Not just down to the degree though I`m sure. I was as capable as my peers but lacked confidence in my early 20s. My success rate in interviews is much higher now.
Good news is, I`m finally working in Engineering (for the last year) but in an unrelated field to my course (Automotive Engineering). I just wonder sometimes whether I would have got here quicker with an MEng and where I would be in my career now. Don`t get me wrong, I`m not complaining. My life would have been very different if I had not done the things that I had done. I wouldn`t have met my wife and have the two fantastic children that I now have for starters!
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