{"id":587,"date":"2022-09-14T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/?p=587"},"modified":"2022-10-06T15:09:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T19:09:32","slug":"do-i-need-graduate-school-to-change-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/2022\/09\/14\/do-i-need-graduate-school-to-change-careers\/","title":{"rendered":"Do I Need Graduate School to Change Careers?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Changing careers can seem like quite the challenge \u2013 there\u2019s so much to take into account, it can get difficult to tell where to start! There\u2019s training to consider, where to apply, how to gain the skills necessary to switch and more. If you\u2019ve been thinking about changing your path, you\u2019ve likely thought about these, just as this writer did when she wanted a change. Quite a lot of the time, it seems like all roads lead to the same point \u2013 \u201cDo I have <\/em>to go to grad school?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not necessarily! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, probably, yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering graduate school gives you even more <\/em>to consider. Where will you go? Can you get in? Do you have to give up working full-time? What time commitment are you willing to make? What about the costs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all good questions. Graduate programs can seem intimidating with such a list of requirements and that\u2019s even before you actually get to see what the coursework looks like!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With these in mind, the real issue can be whether or not you believe it\u2019s worth the career change to have to go through all that. I questioned it. The truth is, it largely depends on what you want to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are certainly career paths that won\u2019t require such a drastic change to your daily routine. For example, you could pursue a certification instead \u2013 a lighter commitment for a large reward. When I started looking for myself, I considered several different kinds of certifications instead of jumping right into a degree program. In fact, going to graduate school was one of the last options I considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What ultimately swayed my decision, was the simple fact that those who attend grad school, on a whole, wind up with higher rates of employment and satisfaction.. From there, I went further into researching job placement rates for graduates of the various programs I was interested in. Without looking at those rates, it can be hard to tell if a program is worth it. There are certain professions that would benefit greatly from a graduate degree and don\u2019t necessarily require your undergraduate degree to be in the same field. For example, those interested in teaching as a second profession have undoubtedly learned useful facts from their undergraduate degree, but when switching to being an educator,, that matters less than their ability to actually teach<\/em>. With that in mind, someone could become a teacher with quite a variety of undergraduate degrees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite a few graduate programs don\u2019t require a bachelor\u2019s degree in a specific field at all. Eastern Michigan University\u2019s MS in Integrated Marketing Communications doesn\u2019t require a bachelor\u2019s in communications or marketing. Applicants in their most recent cohort had degrees in unrelated fields, such as art and design or English.UM-Flint\u2019s own MS in Health Care Management simply requires a bachelor\u2019s from a regionally accredited institution, no need for anything specific. So long as you have work or personal experience in a field that you\u2019re interested in, quite a few graduate programs will accept you based on experience rather than what degree you have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Some professions don\u2019t require a master\u2019s, though it may give you an edge over the competition in that field. Web development often only requires certain certifications, such as a Web Programming Certificate, or a UX Design Certificate. If you want to change paths into that field, the requirements might be lower than a commitment to a master\u2019s degree. You may just have to study on your own for quite a bit of time. That\u2019s the key issue: while successfully changing careers may not depend on whether or not you\u2019ve acquired a master\u2019s degree, you are <\/em>going to have to study whatever you would like to pivot to, likely for some time. A graduate degree program can help with this \u2013 it all depends on what you want to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the core question \u2013 what do <\/em>you want to do? A graduate degree may make the path to that outcome much easier and more likely than others. It may not. You just need to go into your plan with a clear mind, and understand what you <\/em>want to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about your graduate program options and if they are a right fit to help you meet your goals, contact the Office of Graduate Programs<\/a> at the University of Michigan-Flint at (810) 762-3300 or at https:\/\/www.umflint.edu\/contact-us\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changing careers can seem like quite the challenge \u2013 there\u2019s so much to take into account, it can get difficult to tell where to start! There\u2019s training to consider, where to apply, how to gain the skills necessary to switch and more. If you\u2019ve been thinking about changing your path, you\u2019ve likely thought about these, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":535,"featured_media":676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1],"tags":[44,31,27,30],"class_list":["post-587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-graduate-school-general","category-uncategorized","tag-choosing-a-graduate-school","tag-graduate-degree","tag-graduate-school","tag-masters-degree"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/535"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":591,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587\/revisions\/591"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/graduateprograms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}