Most lucrative Masters Degree

[soliloquy]

What are they?

Just thinking about the future. I know this is one of those age old questions that can be debated but if you have an opinion, please state it here.

When I google lists they all conflict...some say an MBA is obsolete and some have it as a top 10 degree just for example.

[sanantone]

I like these lists. They look at return on investment and the current job market. The salary potential with the MBA is high, but there are so many people with this degree, most people with it will not be making top salaries.
The Advanced Degrees With the Best Return On Investment - Simply Hired Blog
The Best And Worst Master's Degrees For Jobs Right Now - In Photos: The Best And Worst Master's Degrees For Jobs Right Now - Forbes

As you can see, the most lucrative master's degrees are in certain engineering fields, computer-related fields, healthcare, physics, and finance/economics.

[cookderosa]

I like "sure thing" investments too. There are a few ways to think about your question, and you'll get tips on what subjects you should study, but I take a bit of a different approach. I like to think of the scenarios in which getting a higher degree will pay off.

1. There are some jobs, for which the masters is the degree required for entry. In that case, you'll see that fewer than 9% (according to wikipedia) of the US population has a masters, which puts you in a category eligible for jobs that 93% of people are not. (in theory of course) Educational attainment in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
That advantage takes a nose-dive when you simply "get a masters" in a field that does not require a masters for entry. You'd have to do some research to create a list.
One really good example I know of is Postesecondary teachers in arts and sciences- Master required for entry- in other words, a masters in biology to teach biology. Where people get in trouble, is that this does not apply to teachers in applied fields- trade occupations/technology/any field a community college awards AAS-AOS degrees in - when a person gets a masters in those fields, it may not be helpful. In addition, adjunct (part time) faculty are almost never paid on a scale, it's a flat rate, so 2 seemingly similar situations end up very differently when you sort out the details.

2, There are some jobs, for which a doctorate is the degree required for entry. In this case, you're entering the ranks of only 3% of the US population. Again, obtaining a doctorate isn't the key, it's holding a doctorate where the doctorate is the minimum required for entry. A doctor, vet, dentists, etc. are the most common but there are others like PhD to teach at a 4 year university. When you create this list, remember that there are segments that are already full/overflowing of people qualified for some subjects (Social Science teachers ie Psychology or Sociology) and there are lines of people for every 1 opening. Use websites like HigherEdJobs - Jobs in Higher Education to see what's out there.

3. Pay bumps. This is good, because many careers will give you an automatic pay bump with add'l education. Secondary teachers- automatic pay bump from bachelor's to masters. There may even be situations where going from an AA to BA yields a pay bump (military and nursing come to mind).

4. Lastly, employer paid education. This is my favorite ROI because it's free! If your employer pays for your degree, you can't go wrong! (although you can do variations of right lol). My husband's bachelor's degree was earned this way, and the job he holds now is a direct result of that from 5 years ago! I've heard rumors that Walmart, Target, UPS, and Costco are all employers that will do this. But, you could (should) create a list! It would be uber-helpful.

[burbuja0512]

Quick comment on whether an MBA is still relevant in today's market. I keep hearing the same thing, that MBA's are so common and that the degree means less, etc.. However, I've been looking at job postings for the types of jobs I am interested in, all paying VERY well (none under 6 figures) and the vast majority don't ask for just any masters degree, they specify "MBA preferred." So, I'm not sure why there is so much talk about the MBA going away when it's still almost always a requirement (or at least a "nice to have") for any management job I've seen.

For this reason, I still really like an MBA for someone who is ALREADY in business. Let's face it, you still need to have experience and connections, which unfortunately are more important than education in the business world for anything other than entry to mid-level jobs. However, I like the trend of specialized MBAs. Example: mine is a Global MBA with a focus in Emerging Markets. Therefore I meet the MBA requirement, but also show that my education isn't the cookie-cutter MBA and that I'm more prepared for international biz than a normal MBA. There are a lot of other focused MBA's out there that might be useful, such as finance or marketing, and many more depending on the school.

Keep in mind that with many jobs, before an actual human being reviews your resume, HR software may have been used to scan all 500 applications for key words. If "MBA" is specifically mentioned in the job posting, other masters degrees won't be recognized by the software. This is a huge problem if you're applying at a mid to large sized company, which almost certainly has a large candidate pool and is definitely using this type of software. If you have, let's say an MAOI, a masters in organizational leadership, which (at least at my university) very similar to an MBA but with less finance and more focus on people, this would not be caught by the program and your resume would be relegated to the virtual trash bin.

This leads to a larger discussion about how to ensure that your resume doesn't get weeded out before it actually gets to a real person. Sorry to get a bit off-topic However, if you do decide to go for a less common masters because it's more interesting or more helpful to your career goals, DO it!! Just make sure that you customize your resume according to the job posting. You should always do this anyhow. If a job posting requires skills that you have, but are not on your resume, LIST THEM!!! This helps increase the odds of being seen by the recruiter. If the job posting asks for an MBA and you have a different type of masters, there are ways to "cheat" the system. For example, if you have the MAOI that I mentioned you could list it on your resume and then put in parenthesis something like "Shares core curriculum with MBA, but focused on human resources" or something like that. This way the software catches the MBA that it's programmed to look for, and you simultaneously help the recruiter or hiring manager understand why your degree is a perfect fit for the position.

A couple of final comments about resume customization. If you are applying for many different jobs, please, please, please DON'T make the mistake of sending the same one to many employers. Don't assume that a recruiter will ever see your resume, and if they do, don't assume that they will read it intently and figure out how your skills relate to their job. Trust me, when you are reviewing as many resumes as they get, they just scan them. If they can see why you're a great fit at a glance, then they will take the time to read it. If not, forget it. You're much better off going slowly and applying to fewer jobs, but really taking the time to customize your resume to match what they're asking for. I'm not saying to lie on the resume. That is never a good idea, I'm just saying take the time to make sure that you're listing YOUR skills that they're asking for. Example: You're great at Microsoft Word, but haven't listed it because you assume that everyone knows how to use it, but they have listed "proficiency in Microsoft Word" as a requirement.. you would be selling yourself short and possibly getting skipped by HR software if you don't have it listed.

However, I do know that having a different resume for each job you apply for can get confusing, and if you get called by the company, you'll need to have a copy of EXACTLY the one you submitted to them! So, make sure that you are very well organized when you apply. The easiest way for me to do this is to save the company name in my resume to a special file on my computer. (this is the way my file will look in my computer: Burbuja Resume XYZ Company) This way if the recruiter calls you even months later, you'll quickly be able to find the exact resume you submitted.

...hope I didn't get too far off topic

[sanantone]

I wouldn't recommend a degree in leadership or management over an MBA. There could be 1,000 job openings asking for an MBA, but if 2,000 people have them... I still think it's a good degree for moving up in business. It really is a degree meant for people who already have professional business experience.