By Melinda Ham
Most people think about postgraduate study as a benefit to their own career, but don’t underestimate the benefit to your employer. This is why it can be smart and strategic to try to get your employer to contribute to the cost of your studies - or, even better, to fully fund them.
The first step to persuading your employer to fund your postgraduate study is to do your research and write a business case (see tips below). This should show how both you and your employer will benefit from your effort to acquire additional skills and knowledge.
Funding postgraduate studies will help your employer attract top talent.Credit: Marija Ercegovac
How it benefits your employer
Becoming an employer of choice
Most employers recognise that it’s more cost-effective to build on the skills and knowledge of existing employees before they go through a lengthy and costly recruitment process to get new employees.
“If you’re in a dynamic business, your employer is likely looking to create new opportunities and expand into new business areas,” says Professor Eric Knight, executive dean of the Macquarie Business School at Macquarie University.
“The great motivation for them is to help you develop as a staff member already on the payroll into those new areas of business, since they are often hard to recruit for, particularly in emerging areas.”
If your employer funds your postgraduate studies, it will also be an investment for it to improve its standing in the current competitive marketplace, says Dr Hossein Ali Abadi, course coordinator in management at Edith Cowan University (ECU). “It will contribute to them being regarded as an employer of choice. This will enable them to attract top talent.”
Keeping up to date with change
Dr Judy Lundy, MBA director at ECU, says completing a postgraduate degree will equip you with the knowledge to help you transform your organisation to keep up with escalating complexity.
“A business needs to keep up with the new legislation, societal expectations and the new challenges in their industry, particularly the wicked problems facing the world,” Lundy says. “You will be learning from lecturers who are industry experts themselves and very connected.”
For example, she says MBA students at ECU learn about how businesses undertake the cultural transformation necessary to implement the “positive duty” of eliminating workplace sexual discrimination in the workplace, because from last December, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission now has powers to investigate complaints in the workplace.
How it benefits the employee
Upskilling for the future
Lundy says that by taking a postgraduate course, you will be better prepared for the jobs of the future.
In many degrees, you will be immersing yourself in the latest developments in rapidly changing areas such as data analytics, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
Especially if the course is part-time, you will be able to start applying your new skills and knowledge in real time in the workplace and hopefully show your employer tangible results, Knight says.
“It’s not just on the technical side,” he says. “You will also acquire skills and knowledge on the business practice side, such as ESG (environment, social and governance) considerations which are becoming more integrated into business decision making.
“You’ll be exposed to cutting-edge areas where your business or organisation may be able to carve out new areas of expertise.”
Acquiring a postgraduate degree can also help you feel more motivated in your current organisation, Knight says, because it could lead to internal promotion or a move into a different part of the business.
“For example, if you’re already an accountant or a lawyer and want to move into leadership, the C-suite or drive a new business unit in your organisation, your legal or accounting background alone may not be sufficient,” he says. “An MBA will give you skills to make better decisions.”
Networking and learning from other professionals
Knight says that learning at a university is a very different experience from in-house training in a business.
“Universities provide a learning environment that can’t be replicated within an organisation,” he says.
“At a university, your ideas are continually challenged thanks to the varying perspectives and backgrounds that surround you. This makes for a more diverse and greatly enhanced learning experience.”
Ali Abadi says a coursework masters provides the opportunity to get involved in interactive group work with other students and obtain unique insights into what other businesses are doing.
“You’ll get exposure to different industries and people with varying experience,” he says. “This enables you to network, [and] expand your connections and career opportunities.”
Flexibility in action
Studying a postgraduate course will give you the experience of workplace flexibility in action and will force you to improve your time management and efficiency. Most students taking postgraduate courses are working full time, and so all universities offer postgraduate study online, part-time, in block intensives or in the evening.
Lundy says a handful of her students have received permission to take a sabbatical from their work to study.
“This is very generous of the employers and I am sure that the employees will come back more loyal, refreshed and rejuvenated,” she says.
More postgraduate stories from Campus
What now? The latest data shows enrolments in postgraduate degrees are changing. It’s just not what we are studying (hello health degrees) but also how we choose to study while we work.
Working reality: How do you work full-time, study at the same time and stay sane? Three postgraduate students who have done exactly that reveal what it’s really like and what skills they needed to be a success.
The MBA effect: Thinking an MBA will work magic on your career? According to the experts, it depends on why you are doing it and how you use your new powers.
Serial student: In our new series The Third Degree, we talk to Kylie Hasse, an Australian Army officer, nurse, mum and master’s student. She has been studying since she left school and she’s not done yet.
Hands up: Should you opt for a master’s degree or a PHD? And how much will it all cost? Ask (and answer) these important questions before you take the plunge.