Considering all the efforts and expense involved, is going down the road to higher education worth it all? Read more to find...

1. Pursuing Advanced Degree: What’s the worth?
Author
Neeti Adish Chauhan, Chartered MCIPD, MSHRM
Strategic HR Practitioner
Most of us desire to pursue an advanced degree or higher education. However, considering all the
efforts and expense involved, we often wonder if going down the road to higher education is worth it
all. This question becomes even more valid if you have already worked in the industry for several
years and possess solid relevant experience. You might be amongst highly experienced and respected
employees of your company who are regularly recognized and appreciated for the quality of work
they present. You might also be creating newer programs by now and streamlining the existing
practices. This is all by virtue of your extensive years of experience. Already having countless prior
demands on our time and in this era of downsizing where financial stability is a big question; coupled
with ever soaring cost of higher education, does it really make sense to go for an advanced degree?
The answer to the above questions is ‘Yes!’. It certainly does matter to attain advanced level higher
education. An advanced degree course would offer several benefits which, sometimes, even years of
experience may fail to compensate.
Here are the Top 8 reasons for pursuing your advanced degree:
1. Intellectual Elements Generation
All those theories, model, case studies, etc. contribute significantly to your vocabulary. You soon
realize that your language has changed enormously. Even in your routine conversations, you end-up
using more jargons and buzz words. You have more ideas and more content to talk about. You soon
start to be seen as a highly knowledgeable and intellectual person both in professional and personal
life.
2. Best Practice with Best Fit Approach
Your extensive experience has provided you ample industry knowledge. The learning about best
practice models and frameworks would help you put things in a different perspective. This gives a
multi-dimensional approach to your problem-solving methodology and enables you to adopt best
practices with a best fit approach i.e. contextualizing best practices to develop solutions which fit a
particular situation the best.
3. Better Understanding of Your Work
By developing an appreciation for various conceptual models and linking them with your industry
experience, you start making connections. This helps you build a comprehensive picture of what and
why of your work. You also start realizing how you (or you can) contribute effectively in your
organization in a strategically aligned manner.

2. 4. Lesser Mistakes
Once you know the theoretical concepts and have worked on various case studies, you develop a
sense of what can or cannot work in a real scenario. It gets even more real if you yourself have prior
work experience. It is a great way to learn from the mistakes as well as success of others; helping you
lessen your own mistakes.
5. More doors for professional growth
In today’s highly competitive environment, employers aim to choose the best from a wide talent pool
available to them. Your strengthened skills and knowledge may become your unique competence
which certainly enhances your employability. It brings a brighter beginning by opening more doors for
your professional growth.
6. More focused long term goals
Even after the completion of advanced degree, your long-term goals may still remain the same. But,
you would surely have more focus and clarity of your goals. Generally speaking, we are all risk-averse
as we try to be more inclined towards the known than what is unknown to us. Consequently, once we
have specialization in a field, we are more likely to follow it with dedication, than any other area.
Thus, we are more focused in our approach.
7. Better Financial Rewards
Enhanced skills bring focus and more professional opportunities. They enhance our employability and
professional growth which in turn brings better financial rewards for us.
8. Self-Actualization
Your advanced degree would bring all the above. All these together provide you a sense of
accomplishment. You achieve high social-esteem and feel more secure, both professionally and
personally.
In nutshell, the impact of an advanced degree is much more than just a stamp or a piece of paper. It is
something to be taken with a spirit of continuous learning journey and not just a destination limited
to exams and assignments. It is essential to hold on the gains and build further on your learning.
So, if you have passion for it, do not take any more time to get on to this roller-coaster ride. Do not
hesitate thinking it’s too late to study now. In fact, a key benefit of attaining a advanced course while
working is that it provides a more holistic understanding of concepts. By linking your learning with
your day-to-day operations at work, you develop a more practical approach towards various theories
and frameworks resulting in a learning which is not just limited to books, but ensuring that it is
transferred and applied in real life scenarios. Such learning never vanishes; it stays with you forever.
Link to my other posts:
http://www.slideshare.net/neetii_nc/interview-in-performance-management-report?related=1
http://www.slideshare.net/neetii_nc/long-haul-survival-why-some-organizations-find-it-so-hard?related=2
http://www.slideshare.net/neetii_nc/performance-management-trends-2015-gcc-report?related=3