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I really don't want to scare off potential employers with an MA. If I have that, they are gonna to think that they have to pay me more a lot more. I know that with a degree in English, you can go into advertising and marketing and I have even heard of some people going into PR.
I really don't want to scare off potential employers with an MA. If I have that, they are gonna to think that they have to pay me more a lot more. I know that with a degree in English, you can go into advertising and marketing and I have even heard of some people going into PR.
I mean this is two-fold. On one hand yes there are employers that see the MA and may not hire you because they don't want to pay you more. On the other hand, the economy isn't that great, and a bachelors in English isn't as competitive as a masters in English. And as person that was in the advertising and marketing industry I can tell you that competition in those fields have increased since the recession. I worked with English and Journalism majors(I was a marketing communication major) before the recession hit and it was common(and still is) for English majors to get into the business field. However nowadays unless you have an English degree and EXPERIENCE(copywriting especially) and other skills in the marketing field you'll be pressed to find even an entry level job willing to train you. A bachelors in English--what type of job will that get you out of college? Are you planning to do internships?
Most of the friends I had that had a bachelors in English were lucky enough to get jobs in other fields(but again that was pre recession) the rest have went back to graduate school because the degree didn't really help them get a job in a field that would pay enough to live. In other words to me it seems smarter to get the masters, because with a masters in English you can do the SAME things that you can with a bachelors, in addition to having MORE options(teaching) and looking more competitive on paper.
That being said if you feel like getting a second bachelors is the better option for you, if I were you I would look into a different school. It seems like the school you're at is incompetent and that is scary especially if your taking out loans to get this degree. You want to get the best ROI possible.
I really don't want to scare off potential employers with an MA. If I have that, they are gonna to think that they have to pay me more a lot more. I know that with a degree in English, you can go into advertising and marketing and I have even heard of some people going into PR.
Hmmm....how to say this nicely and politely.....that's insane. A PhD might scare off employers, but it's not because they have to pay you too much. It's because they see you have all this education, that is pretty much useless to them in practical terms, and no experience, and you want an entry-level position. They will not see anything different with 2 bachelor's degrees in similarly useless humanities fields, except that it seems completely pointless and indecisive. With two such similar fields (history and english), I can't imagine someone interviewing for a marketing position and saying they went back for a second BA in English in order to go into marketing, which they wouldn't even really be qualified for with a degree in English. If you want marketing, get an MBA. What you are doing doesn't make any sense, and your reasons are misguided. Honestly, as an employer I would be very confused and wonder if you were just going to school in order to avoid trying to make it on the job market or because you didn't really understand the job market. That doesn't look good. Your whole plan really looks ill-advised.
Hmmm....how to say this nicely and politely.....that's insane. A PhD might scare off employers, but it's not because they have to pay you too much. It's because they see you have all this education, that is pretty much useless to them in practical terms, and no experience, and you want an entry-level position. They will not see anything different with 2 bachelor's degrees in similarly useless humanities fields, except that it seems completely pointless and indecisive. With two such similar fields (history and english), I can't imagine someone interviewing for a marketing position and saying they went back for a second BA in English in order to go into marketing, which they wouldn't even really be qualified for with a degree in English. If you want marketing, get an MBA. What you are doing doesn't make any sense, and your reasons are misguided. Honestly, as an employer I would be very confused and wonder if you were just going to school in order to avoid trying to make it on the job market or because you didn't really understand the job market. That doesn't look good. Your whole plan really looks ill-advised.
These days I don't know anyone going back to school to get a second bachelors degree for the reason the OP is... It makes more sense that he get a masters.
What type of work do you want to do?
Does not make sense to get a 2nd bachelors.
Is the college your speaking of accredited? Is it a non profit? The entire scenario is very unclear to me- but then again, maybe it is just me.
Well I would get a masters, but it is very expensive to do so and I am paying for this all out of pocket. The classes are 500 dollars and I only need 9 more, so what's 9 classes? Also, all of these classes are all online which is what I need right now. I cannot find a school in my state that offers an online masters, but I did find one that offers an online masters in History at Sam Houston State University. The school that I attend is a non profit and it is accreditated, but it is a satelite campus of a larger university. As for what I wanted to do, marketing was not the only thing. I was also looking into non profit, publishing, advertising, social media etc.
Also, I can't understand why they have encouraged you to complete this degree if you already have a bachelor's degree. I know you didn't ask about the advisability of this, but I have to comment because it really stands out - why get an English degree at all? It is no more useful than a history degree (both not very useful). Also, there is no reason to get a second bachelor's - if you need an english degree for something, you can probably get an MA instead for the same time and money. Not that it would be worth the time and money.
There are reasons to get a 2nd bachelors degree. Whether or not it is worthwhile depends on the reasons.
For example, someone with a history degree who wants to switch into Electrical Engineering would have to take so many prerequisites to get into a decent EE Masters program, they might as well do the 2nd bachelors. Not to mention that if an EE Masters did let you slide on a lot of the prereqs, you'd be way behind the curve entering the Masters curriculum.
The flipside is that a 2nd bachelors in Humanities probably wouldn't be too useful in a job market sense, but they are relatively easy to obtain because all of the cross requirements would be met. 30 credits of anybody's time isn't too much a waste in my eyes if they want the degree.
[quote=sharingan99;25431485]Well I would get a masters, but it is very expensive to do so and I am paying for this all out of pocket. The classes are 500 dollars and I only need 9 more, so what's 9 classes? Also, all of these classes are all online which is what I need right now. I cannot find a school in my state that offers an online masters, but I did find one that offers an online masters in History at Sam Houston State University. The school that I attend is a non profit and it is accreditated, but it is a satelite campus of a larger university. As for what I wanted to do, marketing was not the only thing. I was also looking into non profit, publishing, advertising, social media etc.[/quote]
Publishing is hard to break in to without a masters. The rest of the career options you speak of really seem to mirror marketing and it seems like you'd be better off just getting a second degree in marketing as opposed to English. I mean do you know any RECENT graduates(as in just graduated) with an English degree, and no experience, that have been able to break into marketing, advertising, etc in your area? I'll give you the following advice as someone who's worked in the marketing/communication field: social media, advertising, public relations, etc are pretty competitive right now and employers do care about the degree but they value experience more than anything they're looking for people who have a variety of skills(not just writing) and particularly those that have experience(even if it's entry) doing something already.
Unless you're planning on interning while you obtain this English degree I feel like you're options might be much more limited than you think upon obtaining it. Employers are going to ask you why you went for a second degree in English and what skills you can bring to the table. A bachelors in English without experience in this economy= minimum wage or breaking your back trying to find a way into a field that is already dominated by people that have the experience.
That being said if you want to get this degree then go ahead, it's your money and it is only 9 classes... It won't hurt, but if I were you I would research this a bit more before I hand over my money to this particular college. And on another note, it seems like there are some issues of competency at this school. This may say a lot about your experience obtaining this degree.
im going to make a new thread as I have an update that may change this situation
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