Additional degree(s)

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Has anyone here finished additional degree/Masters's degrees in an attempt to get a job, become more skilled or interesting in the job market, and if they did, did it help them get a job they wanted?

The bottom line is - just how many Master's degrees would compensate for a lack of connections and communication skills?? Or are we doomed from birth?

While I don't have any graduate degrees, someone told me "no matter how many job skills you get someone with a better personality will always get the job"

Limiting reagent

That is not discrimination

The equal Employment Opportunity Commission does not specify "Myers Briggs Type" as a protected class

The company could hire anyone it wants. They don't have a demographic quota

"At will" employer

I found that having an MSEE enhances my credibility when my personality alone is not enough.

It is better to be a well-educated "weirdo" than an ignorant "everyman".

It depends on the career and degree(s). Getting multiple master's degrees is generally not advisable because of the cost. In certain fields, just one master's may not be worth the cost.

Many thanks to everyone for the replies!

That is what is bothering me too. I'd have to genetically re-modify myself to have the personality they want. I did try, but I have a feeling that going to coffees with people was only making me LESS employable.

Thanks, I think that too. Also, it builds self-esteem, at least a bit. I can't beat them in the personality department, that's the only way to actually boost my chances.

Yes, the cost is why I've opened this thread. Even if here where I am it's not that expensive (like in the US or the UK for example). Here if you get enough points during the first year you get the second year for free.

Believe it or not......there are still some employers who would hire someone based upon observable skills, rather than "personality."

I was hired at my library-----not because of my personality----but because I had many steady years of employment at another place.

To most employers, RELIABILITY is even more important than PERSONALITY.

Thanks for the reply!

I'm glad it worked for you. I did apply at the library as well, but never heard of them since here you need to study communication science to be able to be employed in a library. For an assistant librarian is the same thing, and yes I did apply for that too.

It's either staying at home depressed and obsessively searching for a job I won't find or studying something I might enjoy.

If you are financially able to study something "you enjoy," and are not required to get a job, why not go for it?

Thanks, it's a bit complicated situation but actually, I enrolled in so-called pedagogical subjects, so I could teach in primary/high school subjects that I finished. I dread it to be honest, but being home and feeling useless and unproductive is not the solution either.

I will take, however (extremely cheap) non-degree Chinese program at my uni, just for my own pleasure

In the field of chemistry, people with Bachelor’s degrees have an easier time finding employment in industry than someone with a higher degree just starting out. The reason for this is due to the amount of salary that an employer would have to pay out over time. As one gains years of experience, it can count as a higher degree when calculating salary.

Unfortunately that also means that one can become top heavy with salary and be let go if the company starts having financial issues. I have known some that had this done to them. They lived quite well when everything was fine with the company they worked for. Now they struggle to make ends meet because they are having a hard time being hired for the same type of jobs they used to do.

One way to prevent this from happening is to become invaluable to the company. If the company needs you for it to survive, it will tend to want to keep you there as long as it can.

You need to be strategic in terms of understanding how a Masters will improve your employability/pay in a job sector where there is demand for workers.

Getting a Masters in fine arts or archaeology is pointless because the number of jobs in those sectors is already scarce.

Thanks, it helps in an academic setting, and if you're into translation (I've finished languages) so the idea was to do more (related) languages. But since I'm also currently doing postgraduate study, they didn't let me do both at the same time.

Languages as Italian/French?

Latin and Romanian the idea was to do Italian (and Spanish) since it's all very similar. For Italian, you can enrol directly to masters here, if you know it at an intermediate level, and if you finished some related undergraduate study, it's not that expensive either. One good thing about living in a former communist country, is that education is rather cheap and open to everyone. But doing something with it later, like finding a job, that's more of a problem. No connection, no job.