Deciding on a subject to study is one of the most challenging decisions you may have to make. To escape this problem, students turn to guidance counselors, online forums, and even popular blog posts to narrow down a field that makes the most sense to them. If you’re in a similar dilemma and unable to pick a career for yourself, there is no need to worry. Education is a broad sector, and you can always find something to do, regardless of your interests.
But not every degree is helpful. As time changes and the world becomes increasingly fast-paced, it is always wise to stick to credentials that can land you a good job. When choosing a path for your higher education, think about the money you want to make, the duration of the course, and the amount you need to invest in your schooling. To help you out, here’s what you need to know:
- Aim for an MBA
There is more to this educational qualification than learning about running a business. An MBA is one of the most relevant degrees to date. It has a highly flexible curriculum that accounts for the global market along with knowledge of how various industries operate. Your skills are also not limited to what you learn in the classroom. An MBA degree is a hands-on specialization that also involves research, analysis, and critical deduction of the corporate world around you.
Getting an MBA now is also much more accessible. Virtual avenues like enrolling in an MBA online program allow you to fast-track your career by providing the skills and education necessary for your growth. Once you acquire your MBA, you can also work in healthcare, information technology, and policy making. This is because this top-tier qualification also gives you the soft skills to be more than an attractive candidate on paper. You learn the art of persuasion, become more self-assured, and gain the confidence to negotiate with the other party.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the demand for MBAs growing by 8% over the next decade. So there will be plenty of job opportunities for you to explore. Likewise, you can decide between a part-time or a full-time program. Depending on your choice, your degree can conclude within a year or take up to two years. However, no matter your choice, you need at least 60 credit hours to be eligible for graduation.
- Opt for a nursing degree
Nursing is the backbone of the healthcare sector, and if you opt for this field, you’re well on your way to a successful path in the healthcare sector. You could be applying for the Top Nursing Jobs in 2024 while helping people to feel better about themselves and earning a good wage. Technology and recent developments in the medical industry have also made nursing a prestigious career. Suppose you work your way to a terminal degree like a doctorate in nursing, you get the opportunity to specialize and earn an almost seven-figure salary for yourself, which can help you save for retirement.
Nursing is all about connecting patients to relevant healthcare facilities. This job involves charting their symptoms, administering tests, and analyzing test results. You are also responsible for preparing patients before the doctor examines them. To start your journey, you must get your basic qualifications as a nurse. These can be obtaining your bachelor of science in nursing, an associate degree in nursing, or becoming a registered nurse. This walks you through the basics of patient care and clinical theory, and also walks you through the basics of general medicine, pathology, histology and neuroscience, and osteopathic medicine.
Depending on your route, you may need two to three years of coursework to become a practicing nurse, but a BSN can take you three to four years before you hit completion. Specific accelerated bachelor’s programs are also available for you, which take about 12 to 16 months to finish. Once you have your BSN, you can add two more years to the equation and apply for your MSN. Sometimes, you can jump directly from a BSN to a Doctor in Nursing Practice.
As DNP, you get greater autonomy to explore your career and apply for senior positions. This specialization also pulls you out of generic work and lets you focus your talent on a specific subfield. For example, as a critical care nurse, you can use your skills to help patients who get wheeled into the emergency room and need immediate attention.
In contrast, as a family nurse practitioner, you can provide primary care and routine checkups to your patients of varying ages. The BLS predicts the nursing sector to grow by 25%, which is fast for any healthcare field. Your credit hours also vary, with full-time BSN programs requiring 120 clinical hours while associate programs allow you to graduate with 60 hours only.
- Try your hand at a political science degree
If you like debating, following political news, analyzing elections, and dissecting presidential speeches to ask hard-hitting questions, you should go into political science. This vast field is concerned with all government, politics, and policy-making matters. You will study the American government, international politics, foreign affairs, and political policy and ask about comparative government. As a result, you may develop remarkable communication skills and learn how to debate and understand the connection between history and culture.
You can also occupy different career paths, from becoming a politician to joining journalism. According to the BLS, political science has a growth of 6% till 2026, which means you have wiggle room to try different careers. A full-time political science program takes four years to complete with 120 credit hours, while a master’s program finishes once you submit your thesis. A Ph.D. allows you to work at a university level and become a tenured professor.
- Join The public health sector with a master
Public health workers focus on community wellness and studying the trajectory of diseases. By opting for a bachelor’s in public health, you look at the cause and effect between the environment and the population at a very rudimentary level. But, a master of public health walks you through the sociological, economic, and healthcare factors which impact communities leading to human diseases and a decline in wellness.
As a public health worker, you will be responsible for educating the population, publishing research, finding patterns in disease outbreaks, and helping with primary healthcare, such as vaccine administration. An MPH can also open up fields like public health consultant and epidemiology for you. An MPH program is also highly research-intensive, requiring about 46 credit hours and publications on community welfare.
Conclusion
Choosing a degree to invest your time and energy into is hard work. The last thing you would snag is to end up with a dead-end career because you chose the wrong field. However, if you want to stay relevant to the current job market, go for an MBA, start your journey as a nurse or pursue a political science degree. Each of these fields varies, but the degree walks you through the essentials of your career. Likewise, if you care about the population, want to serve the community, and understand why the environment impacts disease outbreaks, go for public health.