Grad school or no?

[Precision]

My current major is RPTM or PRT as some schools put it. Recreational parks and tourism management (commercial focus). I'm looking to get into professional sports team staff. I'm curious though if grad school is a good choice or not and how to pay for it. Ex, a buddy of mine graduated in accounting and it was obvious that a masters would make him more marketable but his firm was also ready to pay for him to go. I dont think that my job marketability w just an undergrad in my major would afford me that option. I'm also not sure if the field I want to work in cares. Thoughts?

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by Precision

My current major is RPTM or PRT as some schools put it. Recreational parks and tourism management (commercial focus). I'm looking to get into professional sports team staff. I'm curious though if grad school is a good choice or not and how to pay for it. Ex, a buddy of mine graduated in accounting and it was obvious that a masters would make him more marketable but his firm was also ready to pay for him to go. I dont think that my job marketability w just an undergrad in my major would afford me that option. I'm also not sure if the field I want to work in cares. Thoughts?

it really depends(for any major really) if you have past experience, and a job company ready to hire you. My friend worked at an intern for a software company and they offered him a job for as soon as he graduated because they liked his work from internship. he said he wanted to do masters, and they said even better, we will pay for it so you can do it while working for us.

On the other hand, with todays job market, it might be better to start going to grad school now then later. If you don't have any connections now, you can at least go to grad school and start finding connections. You might be offered something while in grad school.

[BMW F22]

I think grad school is worth it for the reasons mentioned by Greenkirby21. The economy is in the shit hole right now so why not take the time now to better yourself.

Some/most masters are generalist programs. That means they teach you a bit of everything because it's easier to get promoted (Harvard has a generalist program as do many other institutions). I think those kind of programs are great because they give you options- as opposed to ones that are focused on things like accounting, finance, or just marketing.

[Precision]

A major concern is how to pay for it, I have no options aside from my own financial aid award

[fun ticket]

Originally Posted by Precision

My current major is RPTM or PRT as some schools put it. Recreational parks and tourism management (commercial focus). I'm looking to get into professional sports team staff. I'm curious though if grad school is a good choice or not and how to pay for it. Ex, a buddy of mine graduated in accounting and it was obvious that a masters would make him more marketable but his firm was also ready to pay for him to go. I dont think that my job marketability w just an undergrad in my major would afford me that option. I'm also not sure if the field I want to work in cares. Thoughts?

Re grad school, it is a good question. I am most likely older than a majority of the members here and can give you my perspective as a potential employer with quite a few years in the workplace. First, a 4 year degree is a minimum to even get to the dance. Any degrees past that and it is a toss up. When I hire someone, I am looking for (1) Attitude and (2) Experience. I can teach them the job. Assuming a good positive attitude is there, I am more interested in their real world experience vs an advanced degree. School of hard knocks wins every time in my book. All things being equal, two candidates, same interview performance, same 4 year degree, one with 5 yrs work expereince, one with an advanced degree little to no work experience, I will take the 5 years work experience. I am not trying to downplay the importance of an education, they are important and I admire people that obtain advanced degrees; it shows they want to improve themselves. It is a very good question you asked and one not to be taken lightly. Probabaly more than you asked for and I hope I did not add further confusion. Probably not a right or wrong answer on this one. Good luck.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by fun ticket

Re grad school, it is a good question. I am most likely older than a majority of the members here and can give you my perspective as a potential employer with quite a few years in the workplace. First, a 4 year degree is a minimum to even get to the dance. Any degrees past that and it is a toss up. When I hire someone, I am looking for (1) Attitude and (2) Experience. I can teach them the job. Assuming a good positive attitude is there, I am more interested in their real world experience vs an advanced degree. School of hard knocks wins every time in my book. All things being equal, two candidates, same interview performance, same 4 year degree, one with 5 yrs work expereince, one with an advanced degree little to no work experience, I will take the 5 years work experience. I am not trying to downplay the importance of an education, they are important and I admire people that obtain advanced degrees; it shows they want to improve themselves. It is a very good question you asked and one not to be taken lightly. Probabaly more than you asked for and I hope I did not add further confusion. Probably not a right or wrong answer on this one. Good luck.

Focusing on the emboldened text, and just for arguments sake, are these two statements not somewhat contradictory? If you can teach someone the job how you would like, shouldn't the fact that they've proven themselves successful in new learning situations, critical thought processes, advanced logic, etc... be more of a positive than someone who merely has experience doing something? It's no doubt that someone you might have to spend less time "babysitting" while on a new job is advantageous, but (and I'm citing family members in business who like to change jobs) experience rarely carries over perfectly from one to the next, even within the same field. However, the thought process, the actual ability and capacity to perform the new job, are factors that one can take with them. In that regard, is one who spent the last 2 years doing bitch work (as is often the case with fresh grads lucky enough to have a decent job these days) in a relevant industry really that much more attractive than one who spent the last 2 years obtaining a higher degree?

[mact3333]

Since 95% of jobs out there can be done by a trained monkey, its all about communication skills and team play...there are not a ton of really super smart people out there...just alot of hard working avg people.'

I hire people who I think will get along with the team and is flexible...smarts and drive is a bonus...I dont care about degrees or where they graduated from, that isnt worth much to me really....people who graduate from prestigious places seem to have more attitude.

[fun ticket]

Originally Posted by BTM

Focusing on the emboldened text, and just for arguments sake, are these two statements not somewhat contradictory? If you can teach someone the job how you would like, shouldn't the fact that they've proven themselves successful in new learning situations, critical thought processes, advanced logic, etc... be more of a positive than someone who merely has experience doing something? It's no doubt that someone you might have to spend less time "babysitting" while on a new job is advantageous, but (and I'm citing family members in business who like to change jobs) experience rarely carries over perfectly from one to the next, even within the same field. However, the thought process, the actual ability and capacity to perform the new job, are factors that one can take with them. In that regard, is one who spent the last 2 years doing bitch work (as is often the case with fresh grads lucky enough to have a decent job these days) in a relevant industry really that much more attractive than one who spent the last 2 years obtaining a higher degree?

To answer your question, the one who spent the last two years doing "bitch" work does bring more to the table in my opinion. Chances are, they have taken a few hard knocks and if they are paying attention (and have a decent boss/ or mentor) have learned to a degree how to navigate the inevitable land mines that exist in any business. No way anyone can get that sitting in a classroom...impossible. Thats the point I was trying to make, no amount of classroom work can replicate real world situations so a candidate with the experience has a head start so to speak.

[matthewk]

Originally Posted by fun ticket

To answer your question, the one who spent the last two years doing "bitch" work does bring more to the table in my opinion. Chances are, they have taken a few hard knocks and if they are paying attention (and have a decent boss/ or mentor) have learned to a degree how to navigate the inevitable land mines that exist in any business. No way anyone can get that sitting in a classroom...impossible. Thats the point I was trying to make, no amount of classroom work can replicate real world situations so a candidate with the experience has a head start so to speak.

What is your line of work? It matters.

I would hire a guy that dropped out of highschool and has been cranking out code for the last decade over someone that has a Masters in CS and limited experience, everyday of the week, if I am looking to hire someone to develop applications. I completely agree with you here.

However if I am hiring for a Sr. Management role, I will take someone with 6yrs work and an MBA (given that they can present the concepts in the interview) over someone with 10yrs work experience and a BA. There's a bigger picture that hard knocks will never provide the insight to that a top business school can provide.

Also if your desired path is to a C-level position you're about 80% more likely to get there with the graduate degree of a well known b-school hanging on the wall. This isn't an absolute, but it's close.

As for who to pay for it, find a gig with tuition reimbursement or bite the bullet and invest in yourself.

Also, I don't know if you have the opportunity to change your major or to double up but seriously I cannot imagine there's a huge pool of mid-six figure gigs out there for "Recreational parks and tourism management" majors. I don't know what your financial goals are but when it's time for a family and all that comes with that, it's going to be hard to keep a new M3 in the garage and do all the other stuff that you should be doing without knocking off a couple-hundred grand a year.

[fun ticket]

Originally Posted by matthewk

What is your line of work? It matters.

I would hire a guy that dropped out of highschool and has been cranking out code for the last decade over someone that has a Masters in CS and limited experience, everyday of the week, if I am looking to hire someone to develop applications. I completely agree with you here.

However if I am hiring for a Sr. Management role, I will take someone with 6yrs work and an MBA (given that they can present the concepts in the interview) over someone with 10yrs work experience and a BA. There's a bigger picture that hard knocks will never provide the insight to that a top business school can provide.

Also if your desired path is to a C-level position you're about 80% more likely to get there with the graduate degree of a well known b-school hanging on the wall. This isn't an absolute, but it's close.

As for who to pay for it, find a gig with tuition reimbursement or bite the bullet and invest in yourself.

Also, I don't know if you have the opportunity to change your major or to double up but seriously I cannot imagine there's a huge pool of mid-six figure gigs out there for "Recreational parks and tourism management" majors. I don't know what your financial goals are but when it's time for a family and all that comes with that, it's going to be hard to keep a new M3 in the garage and do all the other stuff that you should be doing without knocking off a couple-hundred grand a year.

Risk management (data security / physical security / compliance)

[Precision]

Originally Posted by fun ticket

Risk management (data security / physical security / compliance)

You should hire me