Postgrad in MComm & career

RizzlaRebel

I am going to do a research masters in economics (MComm). It is one year full time and I think I have picked quite an interesting subject to write about.

I am coming from an IT and sales background (2 seperate careers not intertwined). I have always had an interest in economics and I want to further this. The thing is I am not quite sure what exactly I will get from this course when I am finished, abviously I have spoken with the director and those in the college but I would like an outside perspective. Firstly what careers are there available for people with an MComm in the likes of banking, public bodies, private companies?? Secondly do employers look on taught masters more favourably or is the fact that you have proven your analytical skills with a research masters more beneficial?

Hope someone can help.....thanks!

Max001

This is probably of little help to you, but heres my ten cents worth

Just completing my MComm thesis this month and decided to go further and been accepted onto a PhD. I did the MComm (f/time) simply to have a masters on my CV because I'm at the career level where its often expected. I picked an area I knew well, within my area of occupational expertise so didn't add a lot of professional knowledge to what I previously possessed, but did sharpen up my research skills no end, which gave me confidence to persue a PhD. My PhD is a real career accelerator (I hope)as its in an emerging niche as yet without a lot of research and I calculate
becomming a subject matter expert in this area is and will be very marketable.

I think, depending on what direction you wish to take your career, being able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of a particular area may be very marketable if you choose wisely, in terms of skills gaps in the marketplace. For a PhD you need to be looking three years out or so, but with an MComm its a bit easier as you may be re-entering the job market in 12 months or so. Also, in research the term triangulation loosely refers to the method of increasing the validity of your findings via more than one source of data. You may use a questionnaire plus follow up interviews to gather data. I added to this by doing a case study in a large business, which may be a good thing if you want to demonstrate to a future employer, the worth of your research.

I guess the good thing I found about an MComm was that the lattitude you're allowed in choosing your research focus is good, but then you do need to be disciplined in making your focus manageable i.e. not biting off too much.

Because its a research degree you'll be relying on your supervisor heavily to keep you pointed in the right direction, so choose that person extremely carefully. Sure your research interests need to match, but also you need to 'click' as a team.

In terms of how a future employer will view it, as an HR guy, I'd say it all depends on its relevance to the jobs you hope to get once completed and possibly more so, how you sell it. Few of the people interviewing you will have obtained a research degree unless you're intending to go into academia in which case you'll probably require a PhD!

Anything more specific, don't hesitate to PM me. Keeping it general here cause its public!

Best of luck!