Is Grad School Right For Me?
Many Terps consider graduate studies. But do you know if further education is the right next move for YOU? When you think about continuing on with your education are you considering a master's or doctoral degree? And why? There are good and not so good reasons to attend graduate school. You should consider the pros and cons of going straight to graduate school versus working for a few years first to earn money, gain experience, and clarify your longer-term career and life goals.
Reasons to attend graduate school include:
Job Trends & Student Outcomes
A wealth of information about the job market and workforce trends exists online. The information below can serve as a starting point for understanding the specific paths of UMD graduates and broader labor market trends
Technology & Data
While positions can open at any time, it is often very helpful to start your internship or job search in computing/computer science and technology early. Employers, especially the larger more competitive organizations, usually start their recruiting process in the late summer and early fall. Whether you’d like a summer internship or start a full time job in June, you will want to start your search in the late summer or early fall before. Some employers will make offers to successful interns before they even finish their internship.
Hospitality, Sports & Recreation
Hospitality and tourism relates to the management, marketing, and operations of restaurants and other food services, lodging, attractions, recreation events, and travel related services. The recruitment timeline in this industry is based on position vacancy.
Health and Sciences
Health and Sciences encompasses various career options with high employment needs.
Healthcare is expanding rapidly, and with an ever-increasing elderly population, the demand for qualified healthcare and medical professionals will not likely decrease soon. Healthcare occupations range from medical doctors to dental hygienists to healthcare administrators.
Government, Policy, Law & International Affairs
The Government, Policy, Law & International Affairs cluster is a broad category of fields that are often suited for those who are mission-driven and seek to provide knowledge, support and resources for the common good.
Government or the public sector encompasses roles at the federal, state and local levels. Public sector opportunities span across all disciplines and are great options for students from all academic backgrounds with varied experiences.
Education, Human Services & NonProfit
Education is America’s second-largest industry, and the career tracks are as varied as the students. Those who enter the education field as professionals tend to have a passion for helping young people, a passion for the subject area they teach, and/or a belief in the transformative power of education.
Consulting, Finance, Operations and Entrepreneurship
No matter the function, roles within this cluster seek to apply business acumen to the art and science of offering a product or service to clients and customers. Career paths within this cluster include consulting, finance, operational roles and entrepreneurship.
Arts, Communication & Design
The Arts, Communication and Design cluster is a broad category that contains lots of different career paths including the visual and performing arts, writing, publishing, film, TV, marketing, PR, advertising, and the ever-evolving fields of design, multi- and immersive media, just to name a few. While diverse in nature, all these roles require a creative bent, attention to detail and can be found in just about every sector and across industries.
Agriculture, Environment & Sustainability
Careers within the Agriculture, Environment and Sustainability cluster are diverse and offer lots of variety, often intersecting, and can be niche and specialized in focus.