It's alright to change career direction at postgraduate level

We all know people who have had their career paths mapped out since they were 10 years old. They're the medics, lawyers and engineers with a pre-determined path through education and into a job.

But for many, the journey isn't as clear-cut. Undergraduate degrees are often broad in scope and when they graduate students may become interested in a new – potentially unrelated – subject area, leading them to take up postgraduate study in a vastly different field.

Professor Eric Meyer, director of graduate studies at the Oxford Internet Institute, says: "Undergraduates may realise that their favourite subject as a teenager is not as closely aligned with their long-term goals as they once thought."

Around 40% of people transitioning from first degrees to postgraduate study opt for a different subject area or take a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE), according to the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Conversion courses such as the GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law) and the PGCE are popular with students who wish to enhance their career prospects, as they provide the vocational skills that leave students employment-ready.

"I was set on the switch even before I started my degree," says Ben Lucas, 22, who studied classics at Bristol before starting the GDL at BPP University. The course was funded by his future employer, a Magic Circle law firm.

"GDL courses are completely different," he says. "My degree involved few contact hours and lots of reading, but the GDL felt more like a nine-to-five job."

Many students apply for postgraduate study after spending time in employment and realising that their desired career requires different knowledge and skills. Postgraduate study is "an opportunity to realign their education with their goals or even re-boot their career," says Professor Meyer.

Sarah Spickernell, 26, studied biological sciences at Oxford University but went into advertising, where she discovered a love of writing. She says spending a year working made the transition to a master's in interactive journalism at City University London less daunting.

"It made me appreciate learning more than when I was an undergraduate," she says.

It also gave her a clearer aim of how she wanted to use her new qualification: "The purpose of it was to get a job in journalism, which spurred me on more." She is now an online journalist at City A.M.

For others, studying a new subject at postgraduate level is a chance to indulge in personal interests.

"Friends ask why I'm studying art history, after completing three years of a tough vocational degree that could potentially land me a top job in some City law firm," says Benjamin Levy, 22, a Cambridge law graduate now undertaking a postgraduate diploma at the Courtauld Institute of Art.

"After completing a demanding degree I feel entitled to learn more about a subject that I'm passionate about."

Peter Stranney, 29, developed an interest in the Irish language while he was an undergraduate studying computer science with distributed systems at Newcastle University.

"I joined a local Irish language interest group; we met weekly and studied Irish from text books, newspapers and any other material we could get our hands on. I became more drawn to the language and wanted to study it further," he says.

Stranney applied for a master's in Irish at Aberystwyth University and says that the transition was easy: "Studying something I was passionate about was a treat."

Unsurprisingly, it can be challenging starting from scratch as a postgraduate as there will be skills and knowledge to catch up on. But the benefits of switching your subject area at postgraduate level appear to outweigh the drawbacks, both for individuals and groups, according to Professor Meyer. Combining people from different academic backgrounds creates a "dynamic environment".

Students at the Oxford Internet Institute come from subjects as wide-ranging as communications, political science, law, computer science, engineering, languages and literature, history and philosophy.

"Being able to work with lots of other students interested in related issues is invaluable for their research," says Meyer. "It enables individuals to get insightful and often unanticipated feedback from peers with different expertise."

Having experience of two fields also enables you to carve out a niche in your career. Spickernell's science degree gave her an edge on her postgraduate journalism course and has given her expertise in her role as an online journalist with a focus on science and healthcare.

"I can use my scientific background in what I'm doing now. You don't get many science writers, so coming into something from a different background can sometimes be a big benefit."

Starting a new subject may feel like being thrown in the deep end, but Stranney's advice is: "Go for it, especially if it's something that you're passionate about. It's a great experience and it's not always easy to know what that is when you're 17 or 18."

(Source: TheGuardian)