help? grad school after work experience? | Personal Finance & Lifestyle | Yakezie Forums

For what it's worth, it took me 10 years after college to figure out what I wanted to do and that came after having several jobs and finding out what I DON'T want to do.

I think if business classes interest you, then it might not be a bad idea to take the classes. But if you have no interest, it will probably be a waste of your time and money.

I waited about 6 years after graduating college to get my MBA. I don't regret it because it looks nice on the resume but I'm not sure how much it's really helped me get where I am. I think in a lot of cases (depending on the industry) experience counts just as much as the degree.

Also, you may find your employer is willing to pay for your advanced degree sometime down the line. My brother has had 2 employers help him towards his masters and one is even paying for a study abroad class in Thailand for him! (I didn't get that lucky, I paid for it myself).

So I think if you can take a step back and look at what you want to do today, you might be surprised at where you will end up. My undergraduate degree is in Agriculture and now I work as a consultant in the IT industry! Go figure  Sometimes we just have to get started somewhere to figure out where to go next.

Good luck! Please keep us updated on the progress :)

The advice I got when I was in your same shoes (though I was getting a geography/GIS degree, not one in the soft sciences) was to go to grad school right away, but get a terminal degree – something where your degree would become a job title.  Ie masters in accounting – accountant, I followed that advice and my job field evaporated with the recession, and I fell back on the skills I got as an undergrad for getting a job.

It never hurts to have a diverse skill set, ever.  Doing this will only help you out, and there's no telling what things are going to be like after 2 years in grad school, so dont hinge on that either.  

Just find something that you enjoy doing, but isnt going to make you broke.  Keeping your debt under control/at zero will give you more options than an advanced degree will in lots of cases.

Don't go back to school.  Get a job, figure out what you like about your field and what you don't. 

I graduated from college with a BA in History.  Took a year, worked in a restaurant, worked on a political campaign, then went to grad school.  I really needed the time off between the two and it showed: I had a 3.75 GPA in grad school vs. a much lower one in undergrad.

Out of grad school I took a job out of my field, but with great earning potential.  I decided I didn't care about history or my 6 years of undergrad/grad work, all I wanted was a large paycheck.  5 months later I quit my job, took a position actually using my degree with far less earning potential.  Now, it's been almost 7 years since I started that job.  I've moved up through the department, have a nice 401k match, have a bit of advancement opportunity.  I've also been able to transition to a home based employee, something I couldn't have done in my first job, and my company is now paying me to go back to grad school to focus on organizational leadership.

My advice to everyone is get a job.  It doesn't matter if it sucks, if the pay is horrible, if you hate it.  Just get some experience.  Determine if you really need that extra degree, those extra classes, etc. before you commit and spend your money.  In a year or two, the universities will be just as happy to take your money, if that's the road you decide to go down.

I'd probably do both – work experience is SUPER important, but so is education depending on the job, and you can always take it "slow" and do both to make up the difference, both financially and experience-wise. I know getting a bachelors isn't even close to grad school as far as how much work it is, but I work full time and am taking three 4th year courses – i've done four before too. I'm sure you could just take a couple of courses :)

That's my two cents!

I worked for about four years before starting my MBA, which I did in the evenings.  I offhandedly mentioned it to my boss at the time, just to give him a heads up that I would be unavailable at certain points, and he offered to pay for the classes.  That was sweet!

I went to school as a math/physics major at 15, got my A.S., transferred to UCD actually, and I knew inside I was unhappy. Everyone told me I needed to have a business degree, I needed more school, so I transferred to CSUS and got within one year of my degree and left. I went to school to be a massage therapist and it was the best decision I made. I tried going back to school once, but it only reminded me that I was happier doing what I was doing. The twists and turns a life takes after school is unimaginable. Through those years I've lived in multiple states, worked at major resorts, met amazing people, and transitioned into work that utilizes all my skills, the mathematics, and the massage training.

You went to school for your degrees as a reason. I would sit down and assess the initial why. If the only reason you chose your degrees was the money potential, than you may want to take a different track, but if you chose it because of an internal purpose, try and see if that still exists and if it is worth following.

I went to grad school, then went to work, then went back to grad school, and now am leaving grad school earlier than I had planned to go back to work. Why all the back and forth? Partly because I was listening to what others were telling me to do and partly because I was doing what I thought I was expected to do. Only now am I finally listening to myself and doing what I want to do. So my advice, ask yourself what do you want to do? If you can invent your own job, what would it be? If you don't know, try things until you learn more about what you want.

I worked full time while MBA schooling full time. Work experience is important along with education to prospective employers.