Why a Master's degree could be your key to the boardroom

Studying a niche subject or specialising in a sector where there’s a skills shortage can boost prospects in the jobs market

A master’s degree or a doctorate will give you an edge in the crowded graduate jobs market, but may not land you the dream position you had in mind. The further degrees that put you in line for a career that will quickly pay off your student debts are in niche subjects or in sectors where there are skills shortages.

Philip Spanoudes’ master’s in data science at Lancaster University led directly to his job as company scientist with a firm in San Francisco. Data science is a new discipline that marries statistical maths and computer science.

“I was part of a project that improved the predictive accuracy of the company’s data and shortly before the end of the project they offered me a contract position,” said Spanoudes, who is now 28.

The advice to graduates from Leeds University careers service is to take a master’s in a relatively specialist area. Pablo Costa, part of the careers team, said: “The main reason to do a post-graduate course is because you enjoy the subject, but a master’s in engineering, science and IT can be extremely useful.”

Colin Tulley, 24, did a research master’s at Leeds in climate and atmospheric science and is now a graduate environmental consultant at CH2H civil engineering. He did his first degree at an American university.

“My first degree gave me the knowledge I needed on weather and climate. The master’s showed me how to apply it. The job specifically required me to have master’s,” said Tulley.

Tuition fees for the course were £16,000, but Tulley got a £5,000 scholarship from Leeds.

Post-graduate degrees are growing in popularity. The number of master’s degrees awarded to UK students has gone up from 40,175 in 2004 to 58,275 in 2014, partly because graduates want to stand out in the jobs queue. A recent study from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), found that almost 60 per cent of UK graduates had ended up in non-graduate jobs.

There are specific courses for graduates who want a legal career. Fiona Todd, 27, is a pupil barrister at Enterprise Chambers in Newcastle.

“I did a degree in Scottish law at Edinburgh and then I took a year out to work for a NGO in Columbia. When I returned I did two legal courses at Northumbria University,” she said.

Most jobs do not require a second degree, but employers value the qualification. Chris Rea, chief executive of Prospects, the job site, said: “It is a big step up from a degree, but its value varies according to sector.”

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