Time was when if you were considering a course of postgraduate study, you had to contact each individual department in every college to find out what was on offer. The third-level colleges finally got their acts together and started to produce their own guidebooks on taught postgraduate courses, which was a great step forward.
Now Miriam Arundel, director of the Career Guidance Bureau, has gone a step further. She has complied a new Guide to Postgraduate Study in Ireland (including Northern Ireland). The guide lists hundreds of courses. Courses are listed both by discipline - from accounting and entrepreneurial studies through art and design, drama and music to social work, sociology and science - and by institution. There's some useful general information on the postgraduate world. Did you know for example that at postgraduate levels there are certificates and diplomas, as well as master's degrees and doctorates? Although third-level fees have been abolished at undergrad level, most postgrad programmes remain fee-paying. Some courses at the institutes of technology are funded by the European Social Fund.
"More and more graduates are opting for a postgraduate qualification," Arundel says. They do so for a variety of reasons. Arts graduates for example, may wish for a more vocationally related qualification which will improve their employment prospects. Some graduates go directly into postgrad work, others return from work to upgrade or update their knowledge.
Arundel highlights the factors to be considered before you embark on a post graduate programme. Firstly, it's likely to prove an expensive experience - you may have to give up a job. Is it worth it? Will the course improve your employment prospects? Will it be easy to get back into employment if you take time off to pursue a course? They're all important questions and answering them may help you make what is arguably one of the most important decisions of your life.
Guide to Postgraduate Study in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) is published by Oisin Publications (£5.99).
