Weaver

Has anyone on here jacked in their job and gone back to university?

Bascially I am really pis sed off with my job in I.T. Support and want to go back to university to do a Masters.

I/we have a fair amount of cash saved up, it was for a house deposit but now that house prices have gone completely mental we are going to wait for at least a year to see what happens with the housing market before we even start looking again. So it seems like the most opportune time to go back to uni and do a Masters. My girlfriend is happy to support me which is obviously a massive bonus

Has anyone else who has experienced this actually gained any benefit from it jobwise afterwards? I am just worried that I will be spending a year out of employment and a load of money and I won't see any benefit from it.

My original degree was in Mechanical Engineering and I want to go back and do something like Automotive Engineering. Don't ask how I ended up in I.T.

Any advice would be greatly received

Thanks

MarkCSC

Not done it myself but when I was at uni (many moons ago) I was mates with a few mature students who were doing MA's MSc's etc. I kept in touch with afterwards and it seemed that their previous experience counted for more than the masters when they were trying to find jobs. They didn't regret it though has they had a top time getting pissed!

My advice would be, find a job you want to do then speak to people who are already doing it and ask them how they got in to it. You may already have the right qualifications.

Good luck

Mark

greyarea

> Has anyone on here jacked in their job and gone back to university?

Does getting a job at a university count?

Seriously, between the tuition fee and living expenses a 1 year masters could easily cost you 10K. I think the main question is: will the masters let you get a job you want that you can not currently get. If you are just sick of your current job, I would say find another and enjoy the salary. You could then look for short courses or try a part-time degree if you are really determined.

James

Suresh

I quit my job and did a full-time one year MBA in England back in 1999. Went travelling for 3 months in Australia before the course and got married immediately after the course. Then went on a 3 month honeymoon to India and the Maldives (fantastic place btw).

With tuition, loss of earning and splashing out whilst travelling, not to mention buying a scoob whilst studying and selling it when I finished (sold it on on scoobynet by the way) reckon it cost well over ..... well pots and pots of cash.

But was it worth it, though? - for me, YES!

You need to be clear what you want out of further education. If the education can meet your goals then go for it.

For me, I was purely after increased job security and a chance to improve my quality of life. I had already got to Director level at a top investment bank with a only a few O levels and one extremely dodgy A level, not to mention some bloody hard work!

I now work 40 - 45 hours a week, have 6 weeks of holiday a year, a lovely wife, a fine house and a bloody fast scooby! Job security increased and quality of life fantastic.

Carpe diem.

Brendan Hughes

Done it to get out of a job I hated more and more, and into one I liked. I think it worked...

bigsinky

do your MSc whle in the job. get them to pay for it like i currently do. 80% of my tuition fees paid for tho i have to say i do like my job which i suppose was the reason for the original thread DOH!!

cheers

big sinky

ukhuskynox

Quit my well paid IT job and have gone back to college aged 36...to study Fishery Management/fish farming

I have less money but am lots happier

Weaver

Thanks for everyones replies I don't post all that much on here anymore but I think that as a pool of knowledge Scoobynet cannot be beaten hence making it my first port of call for advice

One of the main reasons for going back to uni and doing a Masters that I have always wanted to do one. When I graduated from my BEng it wasn't really financially viable for me to continue on and do a Masters. Now I am in a financial position to go back I feel worried that if I let this moment pass I may never get the chance again. I am not too far away from house buying, marriage, getting sprogged up and don't want to look back in 20 years time and be thinking "what if...."

Work have offered to pay for a Masters the only problem is that it would have to job related i.e. I.T. which I don't want to do. It would take three years to complete, I really don't fancy staying here for another three years. Finally if they do pay for a qualification I would have to stay here for another two years once I had completed it otherwise I would have to pay the full amount back that course cost. Stay here for another five years? No thanks!

I suppose at the end of the day what I really want from the qualification is a career change. I want the Masters to take me into a new job in a different industry, one that I will enjoy more. Does this sound sensible?

Staying in bed and getting drunk for a year holds absolutely no interest for me whatsoever

Brendan Hughes

Weaver, one thing I did while doing my Masters was to interview professional people to get their views for my dissertation, in order to strengthen my dissertation - er, and to wiggle my way into their conscious in preparation for post-study jobhunting.

By a strange coincidence, one of my interviewees subsequently offered me a job

If you want to stay at the top for qualifications, do it now, certainly. Give it 10 yrs and every man and his dog will have one.

Brendan