Man regrets pursuing a master’s degree as he remains jobless from being considered “overqualified” by many Singapore employers

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean woman shared on social media that her boyfriend now regrets pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Sciences, which has made job hunting more challenging.

In her post on r/askSingapore, a Reddit forum, she explained that her boyfriend decided to enrol in a master’s degree program right after finishing his undergraduate studies, as he believed that this would become advantageous later in his career.

However, he soon realized that many of the topics covered in his master’s program closely mirrored those he had already studied during his undergraduate years.

Additionally, he discovered too late that he did not meet the requirements for many job positions. He was often considered “overqualified” due to his advanced degree or found that jobs requiring a master’s also demanded two years of work experience, which he lacked.

“My boyfriend now feels he’s wasted those two years,” she said. Although she suggested temporarily leaving the master’s degree off his resume, her boyfriend declined. He argued that excluding it would create a gap in his resume that he must explain to potential employers.

“This is not an issue of over-qualification but more lack of internships or full-time experience.”

In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors empathized with her boyfriend’s situation, sharing their own experiences and advice. One Redditor from the field of social science research pointed out that opportunities in this area are ‘far few.’

She wrote, “Only a few places employ Research Assistants and Associates – government agencies, local universities and market research companies. This is why he is having issues finding a job: too few opportunities exist. I pivoted to data science since it is a similar field.”

Another shared, “My partner has the same issue! Has two master’s degrees plus a first-class honours degree. Has been looking for a job for 10 months with no success.

I suspect it’s an overqualified issue, too; in Singapore, employers may feel they have to pay a premium for a master’s degree?  Overseas, no problem. He also has work experience; the masters were done alongside work.”

On the contrary, others argued that having a master’s degree might not always translate to better job prospects. In certain industries or job markets, they said that practical experience and skills may be valued more highly than advanced degrees.

One Redditor added, “I don’t personally know anyone in Singapore whose master’s value-added anything when the master’s was taken immediately after the bachelor’s. Everyone I know who did that ended up in bachelor graduate level jobs.

The only ones I know who may have an added benefit were those who took the master’s after working for a few years and had their companies sponsor them. But even with that, the effect was limited.”

Another remarked, “Master’s are typically not worth it, but a master’s in social science? Double ouch. This is not an issue of over-qualification but more lack of internships or full-time experience.”

Read also: “Is it common in SG?” — Worker asks because after he got a car, his colleagues, who had never spoken to him before, are now asking for lifts

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