Interview with Selina Rudzik (former student and alumni of Keele University) regarding the benefits of postgraduate study.
14/05/2009
Interview conducted by Paul Mitchell (Head of News for KUBE Radio at Keele Univeristy)
Paul: When did you attend Keele University as a postgraduate student, and why did you choose to do a postgraduate course?
Selina: I went back to Keele in 2005 after having worked for couple of years [for a nursing agency, immediately] after finishing my Bachelors degree. I went back to Keele [to undertake] a year’s full time intensive course [in Human Resource Management] after doing bits and bobs of HR (human resources) work when I was employed, which I wanted to get more information about because I decided that this was the route I wanted to go down with my career.
Paul: Do you feel having a postgraduate degree gave you a step up on the job ladder and improved your chances of being employed?
Selina: It definitely did. Although, I have to admit I did find it a little difficult to find HR work in the local area, which was part of the reason why I decided to set up my own business to locate these kinds of jobs for other graduates and people leaving the education system.
Paul: How did your postgraduate course differ from your undergraduate course?
Selina: It was only for a year and I was more focused on the HR side of things. When I was doing my Bachelors course I was doing two subjects at the same time.
Paul: Which subjects did you do as an undergraduate?
Selina: English Literature and American Studies.
Paul: So you did a complete change of course in your postgraduate degree?
Selina: I did, yes.
Paul: Did you find that useful?
Selina: I did. When I first finished school and later university, I didn’t know where I wanted to be career wise, so I ended up doing the subjects I was more interested in and it wasn’t until I went to work for a nursing agency and did the HR, that I decided HR was the route I wanted to go down.
Paul: Did you enjoy your time as a postgraduate?
Selina: I absolutely loved it! There were around 90 people on my course and it was really brilliant to connect with people from different places. Skill wise, what did I get from the course? Well, I got a good knowledge of HR which, if I hadn’t done a course in Human Resource Management at Keele, then I doubt I would have started the business I’m in right now. We covered things like the employment relationship, recruitment; we covered everything I find useful right now. Whilst it was basic knowledge I got [from the course], it gave me a starting point to go and track down other information as well.
Paul: What is there to do for postgraduates [at Keele]?
Selina: There’s the KPA which is where all the postgraduates tend to hang out, but when I was studying at Keele we used to go to Newcastle town centre, explore the local area, do stuff on campus, get invited back to some of the Halls of Residence, and we’d just hang out. There’s the Students Union as well; you never get too old to go to the Students Union!
Paul: As an owner of a company, when you’re looking out to hire someone personally, do you look out for employees with postgraduate degrees? Do they stand out?
Selina: When it came to it, personally, if I was looking to recruit anybody I would want to recruit a graduate; one who has a basic idea of what’s going on, but also someone that I would invest sometime in to help them as well as help me. As far as looking for candidates for employers, [graduates] do always get quite a lot of attention, especially ones that have done postgraduate study. I’m finding that a lot of people that are applying for jobs all have Bachelors [degrees] under their belt, but it’s quite rare to see now, people who have got Masters degrees [in disciplines such as] business and Human Resource Management. So, I would say that staying on and doing a postgraduate course, especially now [with] the economic climate the way it is, would be a good thing. Improve your skills as much as you can, then you’ll have a better competitive edge for when the job market picks up in 12 - 18 months time.
Paul: Do you feel that people with postgraduate degrees have more of a safety net?
Selina: I do, because to an employer it shows that that person has invested time in their self as well. Training wise, there would be less to learn apart from the business’s processes; they’ve already gone and taken the step towards getting to where the employer would ideally want them to be. So, by having a postgraduate degree, it shows you’ve invested time in yourself to be the best that you can.