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The value of a masters

Account Executive Beccy Pascoe reflects on how her choice to pursue further study set her up for success in agency life

Higher education is a daunting prospect and subject to lots of debate over whether the financial costs justify the ends. I came straight into my role at Farrer Kane from an MA in Corporate Communications, Marketing and Public Relations and in my opinion, my masters was absolutely worth it. Let me tell you what I learnt and why it set me up for life in a busy agency role.

Being able to juggle multiple tasks at once is an absolute must in agency life. A masters is much the same and the large numbers of modules and projects was a definite step up from what I was used to at undergraduate level. Especially having started my role at Farrer Kane while still finishing my dissertation, I had to quickly get the hang of prioritising my time efficiently to make sure all the day’s tasks were finished, giving me time to get my studying done in my down time. This is a skill I use every day at Farrer Kane and thanks to this (albeit massively stressful!) period, I am now able to take on multiple tasks at once without breaking a sweat.

Not just this, but further study gave me an extra year to develop my writing skills. Of course, writing is the bread and butter of what we do at Farrer Kane; the same as with most masters degrees. However, undertaking further study in the specific area in which I was looking for a career enabled me to hone my skills to ensure I was ready for the workplace, with modules such as persuasive writing and marketing communications allowing me to lay the groundwork before I started my new role. I don’t think any course can teach you what you learn day-to-day at work on the job, but it was definitely a good start!

Finally, my course definitely gave me confidence to communicate my skills and interest in communications in my interview. Having freedom to take on communications projects that lay within my personal interests gave me a real platform to show why I wanted the job, which I feel stood me in good stead.

A masters was no doubt the right option for me and I feel it was a great stepping stone as I entered the real world of corporate comms. If you do ever have the chance to pursue further study, no matter your stage in life, I’d recommend it strongly!

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