Should I Continue Studying After My Undergrad or Start Working?

To (further) study or not to study?

Finshed your degree and ready to head out to the real world? Or have you finished your degree and are wanting to further your studies? 

It's hard to know what the right steps to take are after finishing your undergraduate. But it's important to make the right decision for you.

Recent graduate Mikaela spoke to Bianca and Emma about her decision to stop studying after her diploma and why she knows this is the best decision for her. 

 

Emma: Are you someone who is like 'I really want to study some more?' or are you someone who is like 'no I want to go and look for work?'

Mikaela: For me it was a really good baseline, I don't have an interest in studying again. 

Mikaela: It's so hard because I don't have an exact answer for everyone because I've been on the end of having a full-time job.  

Mikaela: I've been working six days a week since I came back from my trip last year in October and like even now, I am burnt out. 

Mikaela: But also you've been studying for so long at this point I think it's good to just take time and just assess what you want to do. Because either way it's a really big commitment. 

Bianca on the other hand was interested in the possibility of furthering her study. However it was her mate's experience which stopped her.

Bianca: I had a friend who did the same degree as me and she went on to do her Masters.

Bianca: The whole experience sounded really exciting and it was a lot more hands-on.

Bianca: I can't remember how much it was but once I heard how much that was going to be on top of my HECS debt that I had already, I was like I can't do it. 

While Emma knew she wanted to further her studies. 

Emma: I probably made it worse for myself because I was one of those people who finished her undergrad degree and then continued studying. Did I think about the cost? No. So that's on me.

Emma: But I also really wanted to do my Honours. When the time came, I was just like yeah I'm just going to do it. 

Emma: It was actually a great decision for me, I really wasn't ready to enter the workforce. I enjoyed my uni life and wanted to prolong it. For me it was a good decision because I enjoyed my honours and I actually think I got a lot out of it.