5 Reasons to Take Time Off Before a Postgraduate Degree

by Christine Chadwick

Each and every year there are loads of graduates that apply to do a postgraduate to begin attendance in the following autumn. However, there are several reasons that you may want to take time off before making a decision.

Ensuring you are making the right career choice

By waiting a year or even two years before attending applying, will help you clarify your career path. You may choose to work in the field at an entry level position to see if this is something you truly want to spend the rest of your life doing.

Gaining experience now for better learning later.

There are many people out there that find it easier to learn in a class setting when they have real-life experience they can relate to or connect with. For instance, if you need to take epidemiology class for your degree, consider enrolling as a volunteer in the medical sector. You may end up in another country helping the people in the village comprehend basic health principles. This experience will make learning epidemiology topics easier. You will also gain knowledge that will provide you with insights that your classmates may not have.

Improving your applications

There are some degrees out there that only accept a small percentage of those who actually apply for admission. The admissions personnel will look at everything from your CV to personal and professional goals to grades to test scores to decide whether or not you are admitted. So, the more work history you have on your CV, the more realistic your professional and personal goals are and the better your grades and test scores are, you will have a better chance of being admitted.

Improve your future job applications

For a minute, pretend you are the hiring manager for your dream job. You have a pile of CV's and job applications in front of you on your desk. Half of these CV's have postgraduate degrees that are pretty impressive along with summer internships. The other half of the CV's provide detailed accounts of the applicants work history along with impressive skills that are relevant to the job and grad degrees that are impressive. It is pretty obvious that you are going to want to interview the latter group of candidates.

Improving your outlook financially

While it is true that postgraduate education may help you to increase your potential work earning, you can also improve your financial outlook before even deciding on a postgraduate degree. You can take a year or two and work so that you can pay down your student loan debt or you can begin to create a savings nest egg for your future.