So What is it Like Getting an Advanced Degree?

[Kas]

I'm listening with curiosity
I was thinkin of PhD, but I'm not sure if it's worth time and effort.

 

[Tilt]

But would they be happy being managed???

Yeah. I was wondering that too. Technically, I would probably have the opportunity if I truly wanted to but... It would honestly make me feel awkward. Don't most people hate being "managed" though?

But I have also learned that with most people if you come across as knowledgeable, competent, unassuming, somewhat friendly, it rarely creates a power struggle.

 

[ChocolateMoose123]

[MENTION=25377]SearchingforPeace[/MENTION]

Do you know anyone in the field? Can you shadow someone in the field for a few days to see what the job is really like?

I would even apply this to any college degree.

I'm a huge proponent of volunteer/apprentice work as school tests your base knowledge but real world application tests your ability and desire.

I was a psych major and sometimes people think "I want to help people" and don't realize they will be dealing with some dark emotional tone they aren't prepared for and that takes a toll. It would be nice to have that knowledge before thousands are spent in the wrong direction.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

[MENTION=25377]SearchingforPeace[/MENTION]



I would even apply this to any college degree.

I'm a huge proponent of volunteer/apprentice work as school tests your base knowledge but real world application tests your ability and desire.

I was a psych major and sometimes people think "I want to help people" and don't realize they will be dealing with some dark emotional tone they aren't prepared for and that takes a toll. It would be nice to have that knowledge before thousands are spent in the wrong direction.

Exactly. College is promoted as a place to find your interests and prepare for a career, but it really doesn’t help see the reality of the career or whether an individual is a good fit.

Just because someone could be successful in a career does not mean it is the best career for them.

Speaking of all this, I really like the Danish model. Denmark fully funds any and all retraining, so someone could decide being a dentist isn't what they thought it was and get training about financial support to become an accountant or mechanic. So people there don't feel trapped in careers they hate. Staying a job one hates really serves no one....

 

[Tilt]

[MENTION=25377]SearchingforPeace[/MENTION]



I would even apply this to any college degree.

I'm a huge proponent of volunteer/apprentice work as school tests your base knowledge but real world application tests your ability and desire.

I was a psych major and sometimes people think "I want to help people" and don't realize they will be dealing with some dark emotional tone they aren't prepared for and that takes a toll. It would be nice to have that knowledge before thousands are spent in the wrong direction.

I got in that same predicament... The dark emotional tone of traditional psychology was a bit much but the opposite end, positive psychology, seemed a bit too rainbows and unicorns to me.

 

[Coriolis]

Yeah. I was wondering that too. Technically, I would probably have the opportunity if I truly wanted to but... It would honestly make me feel awkward. Don't most people hate being "managed" though?

I think many people are content or even happy being managed, at least if their manager is competent and reasonably kind. When one gets into a job like mine, though, there is much about the day to day work that a manager won't understand, unless he or she just recently was promoted into management from a similar position. The best managers, then, don't tell us what to do, or even set our priorities and make us answer to them. They leave us for the most part to direct our own work, follow our own schedule, and make (and explain) our own priorities based on the needs of the organization and current constraints. They serve as a connection with the broader organization to bring us that big picture of what our organizational goals are. They also run top cover for us, handle politics and budgetary matters, and go to bat for us when something is making it hard for us to do our jobs.

So, the best way for someone with limited experience and expertise to manage us is to let us know what is going on, and otherwise get out of the way, and help keep others out as well. Anything more will be viewed as micromanagement, if not outright insulting, and will likely be counterproductive for the organization as well.

 

[Tilt]

Pondering all the posts the past few days, I think I ultimately want to pursue at least a Masters sometime in the future...mainly for fun and the challenge (I enjoy mentally taxing situations) ... But I would probably be way too fickle to actually pursue a PhD. The only real considerations are money and planning.

 

[Bush]

That's a relief... I hear mixed opinions about grad school all the time. In all honesty, I slept/zoned out through a good chunk of my undergraduate studies (psychology, anthropology, philosophy)... pretty much half-assed it because I was figuring out personal stuff. I kind of regret not putting all the effort in and I want to see if I have what it takes to go further (I think it's my version of e3 regret) or I should move on.

But, at the same time, I might just ultimately want credentials because I wrote content/accomplished tasks but because of my lack of "credibility", I basically have to have experts/PhDs sign off on it. I think it comes down to whether if it is worth the effort or if it's just a purely ego thing.

Sorry for all the rambling, but I figured a more experienced e3 could have more pointers. lol

I can't deny that I'm a fan of credentials. They're extrinsic awards, you know?

A thing, though -- higher degrees give credibility, for sure. But they're not a panacea.

There are still, many, many times where my once-supervisor-now-mentor gets the credit for my ideas/work/contracts. because he's more established and experienced.. and so it's taken as a given that he's the one behind it all. (At least three times, it's happened with my magnum opus.) That can happen no matter what your credentials are, no matter how fair your colleagues/coworkers are, etc.

It's an ego thing, sure. But there can also be other, more 'objectively' important consequences -- e.g. not really being able to point to the full extent of your actual work in resumes, proposals, articles, etc. So it can be an ego thing and still 'objectively' be worth the effort. It's purely case-by-case.

Thankfully, I haven't yet run across that particular 'objective' consequence. But still, that credit aspect is important to me as a living, breathing, feeling person. (There's no getting around it, but there is tempering it with a thorough examination of the situation, its actual consequences, etc.)

(And stealing credit where it's not due to you, of course, places a few more cards on your already-flimsy house.)


*ahem* Anyway..

On having gone further in undergrad -- depends on whether or not you were/are interested in the subject. If you weren't/aren't, there's no real reason to trod down that path. It's hard to make yourself do things that you're not interested in. In undergrad, I had no idea what I was interested in because I put off the personal stuff until around the end of my degree.

I also completely understand the need to challenge yourself. To see what you're capable of just for the hell of it.

 

[Grand Admiral Crunch]

It was difficult because I was working while being enrolled in graduate school. The graduate classes weren't difficult though. They were on the internet. We had to post articles and comment on articles. That was the main thing, so a lot like being on TypoC, along with writing papers. I enjoyed writing my thesis. That was the best part. I loved getting compliments about how independent I was in that activity. I had to take a graduate exam too. That sucked. I was up all night finishing the thing and then had to be at work at 8 o'clock.

I would do it again, especially since by 2020, a graduate degree is required to be licensed in my profession.