Whether or not to pursue a masters (MSc) degree

[curious222]

Hi everyone,

I am considering the option of pursuing a masters degree in structural engineering in UK. I graduated in civil engineering in Serbia. 5 years curriculum with emphasis on structural engineering. Afterwards I worked for 2 years for a small consultancy office in Serbia and 5 years for a famous international contractor on remarkable landmark civil projects in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).
Even though I saved up enough to pay for the masters, the 15000 UK pound tuition fee plus the expenses for 1 year of life in UK are still a questionable investment for me.
In addition to Serbian citizenship I am a holder of Hungarian (EU) citizenship but that does not help me to apply for a masters course in UK as an EU student since I never resided in any of the EU countries.

So my question is:
Suppose I am good enough to pass the IStructe (UK based Institution of Structural Engineers) exam and to become a member (without
taking the masters). I would like to hear your opinion on whether the UK MSc would significantly improve my chances of international employment compared to only having a Serbian BSc degree and an IStructe membership (MIstructe).

Thanks a lot for your input.

Regards,

Alex

 

[oiervillaluenga]

Hi curious222,

Even though I am not originally British, I am currently living in the UK. I would say that a Master´s degree, whether it is integrated or as a further postgraduate study, can make a difference.

I have two main points to support my reasoning.

The first one is my personal experience, I have obtained a place in a top engineering organization thanks to my Master´s (among other things), the Master´s was one of the requirements to get into this particular graduate scheme and I will be encouraged and supported to obtain my registration with an Engineering Institution. No matter how good my CV had been, I wouldn´t have been able to get into this grad scheme without a master. I also tried to apply for grad schemes with my Spanish BEng and 6 months of experience but I was completely unsuccessful. Getting into a good uni also helped me a lot to get the inside track of how to look for a job.

I know that with your extensive experience you won´t be applying for graduate schemes. But I think that a Master´s is a requirement to register as a Chartered Engineer in most of the Engineering Institutions. Getting Chartered is becoming the standard that most enterprises are looking for.

In general, I would say that a Master´s can definitely make a difference of more than 25,000 pounds (15,000+10,000) in your career if you take into account the doors it can open. I would also like to say that jobs won´t come to you after you get your Master´s, but it can definitely make a difference.

Finally, in case that you choose to go for a Master´s, it would be a good idea to pick up a good uni, by good I mean any of these unis:

http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/

The UK is still pretty classicist and having a good degree from a good uni is quite valuable.

 

[curious222]

Hi oiervillaluenga,

Thanks for posting.

Integrated Master´s degree that you mentioned is e.g. the MEng 4 or 5 year curriculum, right?

I went through the list of the universities on the russelgroup website you mentioned. The universities that I am thinking about are on the list. Manchester, Leeds & Sheffield.

Do you have any idea, how difficult it is to get into an MSc postgrad programme at these universities as an international student?

Many of the mentioned universities emphasize that they have good connections with the industry. That might be helpful in finding a placement after graduation. In fact that is how I got my first job. A professor came to me right after I defended my graduation project and asked me if I was looking for a job. He gave me a phone number of a consultancy office that was looking for fresh graduates and few days later I had my first and successful job interview.

Best regards,

Alex

 

[oiervillaluenga]

Hi curious,

To get into a MSc is pretty easy, I didn´t have any problems and I don´t think you´ll have any problems either. They will ask you for your BEng/BSc degree and probably you´ll have to take an IELTS exam or TOEFL to prove your English, you´ll have to get a 6.5 in the IELTS, which is equivalent to a B2 level, but from your messages above you won´t have any problem at all to score that result.

The Unis, at least mine (University of Liverpool) have a strong career service, I strongly recommend you to arrange a meeting with one of their advisers as soon as you can. The career services mostly are focused on giving hints and guidelines to last year students who want to get into graduate schemes. Because of that, they might be a little bit unsuitable for your situation, although they will still be helpful to get hints to produce a good CV and to understand how to get through job applications.

Having 7 years of experience in the Middle East and being a European Citizen I would say that you won´t have many problems to get a job in the UK. If I were you I would start applying for jobs after getting some feedback from the career service, if an enterprise is interested in you I don´t think they would mind waiting until you are finished with your MSc to hire you.

Good luck