Should I drop out of my masters degree?

CulptPrit

Just to give the back story, after finishing my undergrad microbiology degree and scraping a 2:1, I decided commit to searching hard for jobs, instead of almost predictable option of going for the one year biotech masters degree. I wanted to get out into the real world, and having previously done an internship I thought I'd the edge over the other students in my course. I thought that if need be, I could do a masters some time later in life, after having gotten a better sense for what I'm interested in. Having made this decision though, a very small part of me knew that there was a chance things mightn't work out, and if so, that I might have to go back and do a masters a year later anyway.

During this year I managed to become a manager in a Dealz pound store where I worked for a year, all the while applying for lab jobs. After a year, and no luck from a total of 5 interviews, I decided to bite my lip and do a biotech masters. The reason for the popularity of this masters being its final semester's 30 credit research project, which most students secure in industry.

So by the time I'd started this masters, I'd already unsuccessfully applied for more than 150 laboratory positions. This made it hard to continue applying for positions (albeit college internship programs now), and to somehow expect a different result. Eventually this April, after a phone interview, I was told that I'd successfully secured an unpaid industry research project. I finally had a huge amount of motivation for the first time in years, and I was looking forward to starting there, intending to work my ass off. I visited the company a few weeks later in early May, and shortly later relocated to a new apartment in order to be nearer for travelling purposes.

Then came the bad news just this Thursday, that this company has changed their mind and no longer want to hire me, leaving me in a very awkward location, if I'm to be instead commuting to the college. I've tried to ring the company but I think they're giving me the run around. To make matters worse, is that because it took 5 weeks for me to hear about their change of mind, this meant that during that time the research projects left in college were all taken! One lecturer is now trying to develop a project for me.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, I won't be graduating until next year due to 5 credits that I'm missing. This issue wouldn't have mattered if I'd secured the placement, as I'd get the industrial experience, which is what matters. After hearing this my motivation for college work is lower than it's ever been, so I just wonder if I'm fooling myself thinking that I can complete this next 3 months. I know you might say I've come this far, but maybe it's time to call a day to all this college caper. Without the industrial experience I'm back to square one anyway. This will really make me feel as if I'm completely at the mercy of third level institutions, who take my money and dangle the carrot out in front of of me, just to draw it back.

I feel like I've spent the last 2 years of my life pointlessly jumping through hoops. It's scary the amount of knowledge I could have learned, with the time I've spent tailoring cover letters to job specs. I think in the MSc career guidance module, they could have been more honest with students, in saying "X amount of students each year fail to secure projects outside college", instead of the 'cheer leading' nonsense they spouted at students. All the while I did have a sense of doubt about securing a project in industry, but even I, would never have thought things would get this bad. And if I were to put my current situation in the context of what my hopes were 2 years ago, I'd be fuming.

Obviously I'd be quick to point out 101 reasons why to drop out, and little to say as regards what I could now do with myself! It would feel good to just work an ordinary job for a while, but where could I go with it? This college course is killing my spirit. At least I have my undergrad degree? What sort of jobs are there out there that someone like myself could take up? However, there'll be a gap in my CV if I don't complete the masters. So this might mean that any hopes for ever working as a microbiologist might be crushed.

Although I've an interest in molecular science, I've always sensed that if I were to be really feel like I've value and motivation in my work, that it wouldn't have anything to do with lab work. At the back of my mind, I thought I could use some sort of lab job as a stepping stone to independence, and that years down the line I'd somehow use my wisdom and carefully saved money to go a different road.

Thanks for reading.

eeguy

Ok. A few things. 1: Sh*t happens. Jobs fall through, people who promise one thing do another. That's just a part of life and you need to deal with it and move on.

2:. Finish the Masters. No question here. 3 month of work to get a master's or throw away a year of work to get nothing. It's a no brainier. Just get it done.

3: Getting any entry job is a tough ask. I'd recommend getting someone to look at your CV. Ive hired grads and most CVs are sh*t. Full of the wrong information and filler. Get a pro to look at it. PM me if you want an honest option.

4: Do some extra curricular work. I've seen 10 CVs from grads in the same course and they were nearly identical. All the same modules, the same experience and roughly the same marks.
I always go for grads who have extra curricular stuff on the CV. It just shows they're interested.

5: It could be who you know rather than what. Go to career fairs. Chat to reps. Get contact details and sell yourself. Most managers don't care too much about qualifications. They just want someone who's not a weirdo and can take direction and work. It's easier to get a job if you're in with someone in the company. Jobs fairs are a great place to start.

CulptPrit

eeguy wrote: »

Ok. A few things. 1: Sh*t happens. Jobs fall through, people who promise one thing do another. That's just a part of life and you need to deal with it and move on.

2:. Finish the Masters. No question here. 3 month of work to get a master's or throw away a year of work to get nothing. It's a no brainier. Just get it done.

3: Getting any entry job is a tough ask. I'd recommend getting someone to look at your CV. Ive hired grads and most CVs are sh*t. Full of the wrong information and filler. Get a pro to look at it. PM me if you want an honest option.

4: Do some extra curricular work. I've seen 10 CVs from grads in the same course and they were nearly identical. All the same modules, the same experience and roughly the same marks.
I always go for grads who have extra curricular stuff on the CV. It just shows they're interested.

5: It could be who you know rather than what. Go to career fairs. Chat to reps. Get contact details and sell yourself. Most managers don't care too much about qualifications. They just want someone who's not a weirdo and can take direction and work. It's easier to get a job if you're in with someone in the company. Jobs fairs are a great place to start.

Thanks for your replay.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

happyoutscan

Finish it, it will be worth it.

baby and crumble

I would echo the others and say just finish the masters. Yeah it sucks you've relocated and all that hassle but to drop out now you've basically wasted a few grand and any chance of securing employment in this field int he future. A degree really isn't the basic job requirement these days, for most sectors it's at least a masters. You will be applying for jobs going up against people with a masters degree.

This is all assuming you anjoy the work, and want to stay in the sector. TBH I'd be saying finish the masters even if you don't, because havinga masters shows you have drive and determination to future employers, even if it's not in that sector.

And don't worry about not having 'industry' experience. There's nothing to say you won't get lab work in your university after you finsih up. That happens too.

Emme

Finish your Masters. A Masters is now practically a pre-requisite for any job in science.

CulptPrit

baby and crumble wrote: »

having a masters shows you have drive and determination to future employers, even if it's not in that sector.

Even if it takes me two years to complete it?

I don't enjoy the work. Microbiology is stamp collecting anyway!

Funny in that if I truly make a success of myself in life, I won't be doing anything in science. I'll probably end up with glasses if I do!

CulptPrit

Emme wrote: »

Finish your Masters. A Masters is now practically a pre-requisite for any job in science.

I hear a lot about colleges in America dumbing down undergraduate degrees, as a way to rake in more cash.

LolaJJ

Finish the masters. I had a hundred reasons why I didn't want to finish my masters but with a kick up the arse from my parents I dragged myself to the end of it. I didn't really appreciate how important that was to my life and career until about a decade later. Just suck it up, it will stand to you and you will NEVER regret seeing it through

Labcoats and Running Shoes

Finish the master's. An undergrad in microbiology will get you roughly nowhere within the biotech/biopharma sectors.

I always wanted to work within biotech/biopharma and I thought you needed a PhD to do it. So I did my undergrad in microbiology (finished 2011) followed by a PhD in molecular microbiology (finished 2015) followed by 2 post-docs, one in mammalian cell culture and one in bioprocessing. Looking back I should've done a master's in bioprocess engineering instead. Pharma tends to be "who you know" unless you have a desirable skill set. Thankfully I've developed my skills to the point where my current contract is ending and I have 3 industry based interviews scheduled based solely on my CV.

My advice would be: Make a list of what you enjoy doing and another list of what skills you have and a third list of what skills those jobs you enjoy require. Then look at what you need to do to improve your skill set and get the job you want. There are so many different things out there for you to choose. Maybe you just want to use your transferable skills to do something completely different. The world really is your oyster if you've the motivation to do something about it.

Teyla Emmagan

Finish the masters. You would be an absolute idiot to throw it away at this stage.

CulptPrit

Teyla Emmagan wrote: »

Finish the masters. You would be an absolute idiot to throw it away at this stage.

I don't know if you've read all of my post (as it is long), but I won't be able to say I've completed it until 12 to 13 months from now. So it won't stand to me until then anyway.

I'll be the guy who took two years to complete a masters. Although it might be possible to present that differently on my CV.

Labcoats and Running Shoes

CulptPrit wrote: »

I'll be the guy who took two years to complete a masters. Although it might be possible to present that differently on my CV.

It is possible to spin it differently on your CV. It looks worse to completely drop the master's and lose those years of work. I get that motivation can be fleeting and you were dealt a blow with the lack of industry placement, but you need to take a moment to have a word with yourself about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

baby and crumble

CulptPrit wrote: »

I'll be the guy who took two years to complete a masters. Although it might be possible to present that differently on my CV.

My second masters degree is the result of me dropping down from PhD after 4 years. Better than losing 4 years with nothing to show for it.

CulptPrit

Labcoats and Running Shoes wrote: »

It is possible to spin it differently on your CV. It looks worse to completely drop the master's and lose those years of work. I get that motivation can be fleeting and you were dealt a blow with the lack of industry placement, but you need to take a moment to have a word with yourself about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

If I complete this, it'll most certainly age me, along with making me bitter. I'll have officially been played by the college system... milked for all I'm worth and then discarded, with nothing to show for myself only that I've referenced and stamp collected for 3 months.

Forget any ideas of your own, who you are, and what you are. Your only hope lies in this piece of paper.

No matter how good a job I go on to get, it won't make up for the amount of money I could have made driving buses, rather than having my life on hold.

eeguy

CulptPrit wrote: »

If I complete this, it'll most certainly age me, along with making me bitter. I'll have officially been played by the college system... milked for all I'm worth and then discarded, with nothing to show for myself only that I've referenced and stamp collected for 3 months.

Forget any ideas of your own, who you are, and what you are. Your only hope lies in this piece of paper.

No matter how good a job I go on to get, it won't make up for the amount of money I could have made driving buses, rather than having my life on hold.

You're feeling sorry for yourself. You need to look at the bigger picture.
You probably have 50 odd years of working ahead of you. 2 months or 2 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

baby and crumble

OP, I can see you're feeling really dispirited. I know how you feel, I was there when I felt I had let myself and everyone else down when I had to drop down from my PhD to Masters, but at no time did I think it would be a good idea to drop out entirely and definitely have nothing to show for my time. What would be the point in spending all that time, money and effort to get nothing from it?

Look, the simple matter is this. You know you can't find work in this field without a masters. You tried, and you weren't successful. that's not a reflection on you or your ability but a reflection on how the market has gone. For skilled work like being alab technician, an undergrand won't cut in anymore.

Now you need to decide if you want to work in this field, long term. If you know you don't, and you're happy to train in something else (whether that be management, bus driving, or something else) then by all means drop out.

But having a masters won't harm your career prospects, even in another field. I've interviewed people for posts in a social science field that had a masters in something else entirely. What matters, esepcially for a lot of first jobs, is that you've shown you can stick to something, complete it, and work at masters level, which is essential for a detailed job like lab tech etc.

But you seem determined at this stage to essentially throw away a year of hard work because your research project fell through. **** happens. Funding gets pulled. Priorities change. The company had no obligation to hire you.

I know you have 5 credits to make up, but I would be very surprised if you spoke to your course director if there wasn't a way you could make up those credits in a different way, perhaps while working. Lots of people to part-time masters degrees, an employer won't look at you taking 2 years to finish a masters as odd, if you can back it up with actually finishing it.

heretothere

3 months really isn't that long and you certainly can spin it. When you finish up you can advise that you have 5 credits to complete.

Completely different industry but I have nearly finished my Chartered Accountancy exams. I failed the last one by a tiny amount and its soooo frustrating!! But even though I am not fully qualified I did manage to get the job I wanted. I just applied for newly qualified jobs and disclosed in my cover letter that I had one more exam to finish. Some places dropped their offering salary by €10k. So I know when I do get that one little exam I will be in for a nice boost. Surely you will be able to spin it too.

My mam does career coaching and professional C.V.s honestly I don't think there is anyone she couldn't get a job for! People are always saying after going to her they got jobs. One girl who didn't know me in the pub was saying her friend got "insert my mams name" to help with her CV and got a job within week, and that she then practically copied her friends CV and got a job too without having to pay. I was like ah ya.... That was my mam lol my mam wouldn't mind anyway.

Edit - Also my undergrad has zero to do with accounting so once you get your masters you can move. There are actually a fair few people in accountancy with degrees or masters in science.

Teyla Emmagan

CulptPrit wrote:

I don't know if you've read all of my post (as it is long), but I won't be able to say I've completed it until 12 to 13 months from now. So it won't stand to me until then anyway.

You do what everyone else does. You update your CV with your masters and then you write 'result expected 2:2'. It will stand to you the minute you do your last exam.

CulptPrit

baby and crumble wrote: »

OP, I can see you're feeling really dispirited. I know how you feel, I was there when I felt I had let myself and everyone else down when I had to drop down from my PhD to Masters, but at no time did I think it would be a good idea to drop out entirely and definitely have nothing to show for my time. What would be the point in spending all that time, money and effort to get nothing from it?

Thanks,

What happened that you needed to drop down?

baby and crumble

CulptPrit wrote: »

Thanks,

What happened that you needed to drop down?

A culmination of issues; my Mam got cancer and died within 9 months just as I was starting; my supervisor (and 3 subsequent supervisors) left the University for ot her jobs so I had 5 supervisors over the course of my studies; the post-doc on the project I was doing my PhD on left after 6 months, had done interviews she didn't tell anyone about, ran off with the data and published 2 papers without anyones knowledge making my work on the project for my PhD unusable.

I still wrote up as a Masters and got work from it, now I'm just finishing year 1 of a structured doctorate whilst working full time.

So just think long and hard what you want to throw away, is all I'm saying.

CulptPrit

baby and crumble wrote: »

A culmination of issues; my Mam got cancer and died within 9 months just as I was starting; my supervisor (and 3 subsequent supervisors) left the University for ot her jobs so I had 5 supervisors over the course of my studies; the post-doc on the project I was doing my PhD on left after 6 months, had done interviews she didn't tell anyone about, ran off with the data and published 2 papers without anyones knowledge making my work on the project for my PhD unusable.

I still wrote up as a Masters and got work from it, now I'm just finishing year 1 of a structured doctorate whilst working full time.

So just think long and hard what you want to throw away, is all I'm saying.

Yeah,

That sounds interesting what happened to you. Is there anyway you feel you could have seen some of those things coming on hindsight?

baby and crumble

CulptPrit wrote: »

Yeah,

That sounds interesting what happened to you. Is there anyway you feel you could have seen some of those things coming on hindsight?

My mother dying?
My supervisors all leaving?
Getting scooped by a researcher I trusted?

Seriously? That's actually a super offensive statement to be honest.

heretothere

CulptPrit wrote: »

Yeah,

That sounds interesting what happened to you. Is there anyway you feel you could have seen some of those things coming on hindsight?

What?! How on earth could she have seen any of that coming.

BTW well done Baby & Crumble for being motivated to get the masters. You had a lot of knocks on your way to it. It's really hard to keep going when you feel like no matter how hard you try something else will get in the way.

WELL DONE!

CulptPrit

baby and crumble wrote: »

My mother dying?
My supervisors all leaving?
Getting scooped by a researcher I trusted?

Seriously? That's actually a super offensive statement to be honest.

Well I guess I meant aside from your mother dying, and just with the issues at your university? I'm not suggesting you're to blame, but you never thought back about it?

I mean even in my own situation when I look back, and though it mightn't have been obvious at the time, I can now see the signs as to maybe why the internship being cancelled. Not that I blame myself, because there were many other things on my mind at the time. I was told that I'd got the internship, and so I relaxed, and told myself that I didn't need to worry about that again until it started.

But one always need to be keeping an eye on people, and can't take anything for granted. It's important to anticipate peoples' behavior as our lives can often lies in the hands of others. You will learn a lot more from reflecting on peoples' behaviors, than you ever will from a PhD.

So if you asked me the same question, I'd say yeah, I could have seen the signs coming.

baby and crumble

CulptPrit wrote: »

Well I guess I meant aside from your mother dying, and just with the issues at your university? I'm not suggesting you're to blame, but you never thought back about it?

I spent about 6 years thinking about it, obsessing about it, and hating myself for "not seeing it". I had to quit my job for 6 months and work in therapy about it. I have since moved on.

I'm actually not going to comment again, because I've done my best to illustrate my answer to your original question. You may not have intended to cause offence, but condescending to me about my experience and the lack of ability to forsee people i liked and trusted leaving and pretty much f*cking me over for their careers has indeed done that.

Now, with hindsight, all my experience has done is make me more determined than ever to obtain my doctorate and it has also showeme that yo have to rise above adversity and make the best of whatever situation you are handed. Throwing away your hard work because you've taken the hump over someone renaging on a verbal promise is stupid in the extreme.

Best of luck with everything.

Emme

baby and crumble wrote: »

A culmination of issues; my Mam got cancer and died within 9 months just as I was starting; my supervisor (and 3 subsequent supervisors) left the University for ot her jobs so I had 5 supervisors over the course of my studies; the post-doc on the project I was doing my PhD on left after 6 months, had done interviews she didn't tell anyone about, ran off with the data and published 2 papers without anyones knowledge making my work on the project for my PhD unusable.

I still wrote up as a Masters and got work from it, now I'm just finishing year 1 of a structured doctorate whilst working full time.

So just think long and hard what you want to throw away, is all I'm saying.

Did anyone pull her up on it or contact the journals that published the papers to say she had committed plagiarism?

Seriously, academia is full of people like that and they are the ones that seem to get ahead. I know of professors and department heads who get away with using students' data and passing the research off as their own.

Blaizes

CulptPrit wrote: »

Just to give the back story, after finishing my undergrad microbiology degree and scraping a 2:1, I decided commit to searching hard for jobs, instead of almost predictable option of going for the one year biotech masters degree. I wanted to get out into the real world, and having previously done an internship I thought I'd the edge over the other students in my course. I thought that if need be, I could do a masters some time later in life, after having gotten a better sense for what I'm interested in. Having made this decision though, a very small part of me knew that there was a chance things mightn't work out, and if so, that I might have to go back and do a masters a year later anyway.

During this year I managed to become a manager in a Dealz pound store where I worked for a year, all the while applying for lab jobs. After a year, and no luck from a total of 5 interviews, I decided to bite my lip and do a biotech masters. The reason for the popularity of this masters being its final semester's 30 credit research project, which most students secure in industry.

So by the time I'd started this masters, I'd already unsuccessfully applied for more than 150 laboratory positions. This made it hard to continue applying for positions (albeit college internship programs now), and to somehow expect a different result. Eventually this April, after a phone interview, I was told that I'd successfully secured an unpaid industry research project. I finally had a huge amount of motivation for the first time in years, and I was looking forward to starting there, intending to work my ass off. I visited the company a few weeks later in early May, and shortly later relocated to a new apartment in order to be nearer for travelling purposes.

Then came the bad news just this Thursday, that this company has changed their mind and no longer want to hire me, leaving me in a very awkward location, if I'm to be instead commuting to the college. I've tried to ring the company but I think they're giving me the run around. To make matters worse, is that because it took 5 weeks for me to hear about their change of mind, this meant that during that time the research projects left in college were all taken! One lecturer is now trying to develop a project for me.

And if all that wasn't bad enough, I won't be graduating until next year due to 5 credits that I'm missing. This issue wouldn't have mattered if I'd secured the placement, as I'd get the industrial experience, which is what matters. After hearing this my motivation for college work is lower than it's ever been, so I just wonder if I'm fooling myself thinking that I can complete this next 3 months. I know you might say I've come this far, but maybe it's time to call a day to all this college caper. Without the industrial experience I'm back to square one anyway. This will really make me feel as if I'm completely at the mercy of third level institutions, who take my money and dangle the carrot out in front of of me, just to draw it back.

I feel like I've spent the last 2 years of my life pointlessly jumping through hoops. It's scary the amount of knowledge I could have learned, with the time I've spent tailoring cover letters to job specs. I think in the MSc career guidance module, they could have been more honest with students, in saying "X amount of students each year fail to secure projects outside college", instead of the 'cheer leading' nonsense they spouted at students. All the while I did have a sense of doubt about securing a project in industry, but even I, would never have thought things would get this bad. And if I were to put my current situation in the context of what my hopes were 2 years ago, I'd be fuming.

Obviously I'd be quick to point out 101 reasons why to drop out, and little to say as regards what I could now do with myself! It would feel good to just work an ordinary job for a while, but where could I go with it? This college course is killing my spirit. At least I have my undergrad degree? What sort of jobs are there out there that someone like myself could take up? However, there'll be a gap in my CV if I don't complete the masters. So this might mean that any hopes for ever working as a microbiologist might be crushed.

Although I've an interest in molecular science, I've always sensed that if I were to be really feel like I've value and motivation in my work, that it wouldn't have anything to do with lab work. At the back of my mind, I thought I could use some sort of lab job as a stepping stone to independence, and that years down the line I'd somehow use my wisdom and carefully saved money to go a different road.

Thanks for reading.

Like all the others have said finish the Masters.It' s near completion anyway so why throw it away.Setbacks happen and it's a pain but all part of the school of life.Things don't always go according to plan so you just need to accept that.My cousin was doing an apprenticeship with a company who went busy during the recession.They let him go obviously and it set him back about two years in terms of finishing college and getting qualified but he got there in the end and now has a great job.Had he decided to quit when he was let go he'd have nothing.Keep going and finish the thing out and other opportunities in the future may present themselves to you and new doors open.

CulptPrit

I remember Dunnes stores were very sceptical of hiring me because I'd just finished a microbiology degree. They were asking me if I might find work in my field, and leave them. I very cleverly pretended that I'd secured a work placement that wasn't due to start until 6 months. It just goes to show how you bloody degree can come against you.

So if I've an undergrad and a masters in the same area, I really do hope it won't come against me when applying for jobs to try and get away from this bloody area!

Labcoats and Running Shoes

CulptPrit wrote: »

So if I've an undergrad and a masters in the same area, I really do hope it won't come against me when applying for jobs to try and get away from this bloody area!

You seem to be set on dropping out of the master's and feeling hard done by so tbh after this I'm taking a leaf out of B&C's book and bowing out. Before I go I'll give you 1 more example of why you shouldn't drop out.

An ex of mine was doing a PhD and decided to write up a master's and leave. It was in the biomedical field with an undergrad degree in physics with astronomy. Since then she's worked for a PR company, a business consultancy, and back in the lab as a materials scientist (which is not at all similar to what she did for the master's degree). She's now pursuing cookery which is her real passion. If you want to do something in the biotech/biopharma sector then yes, you will need the Master's. Even if you don't, you can use those transferable skills in completely different sectors. You just need to know how to spin things in an interview.

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

beauf

Finishing something difficult is always seen as an achievement in life. Regardless if you use afterwards.

TheTruthIsMine

beauf wrote: »

Finishing something difficult is always seen as an achievement in life. Regardless if you use afterwards.

Not if it brings a tonne of stress, and leaves you bitter. If the only satisfaction there is from achieving it is being able to say 'oh thank god it's all over', then I would say that it's not really an achievement. It's always worth considering cutting your loses with certain things. There's plenty of other challenges to set yourself in life - ones that give a sense of purpose to people. You just need to have a very clear idea of what you want. The OP does not seem to... hence the dilemma.

Whether he should or shouldn't drop out, is also largely down to how much he is paying for it! Something that no one here has mentioned.

Blaizes

CulptPrit wrote: »

I don't know if you've read all of my post (as it is long), but I won't be able to say I've completed it until 12 to 13 months from now. So it won't stand to me until then anyway.

I'll be the guy who took two years to complete a masters. Although it might be possible to present that differently on my CV.

I don't think you should get at all hung up on the Masters taking two years.Some Masters are actually two year programmes like the teaching one or people who do a post graduate diploma in year one then go on to year two and do the thesis.It used to be this way anyway when I was a student.I don't think any reasonable employer is going to haul you over the coals for spending two years doing a master's. Please don't be so hard on yourself.

beauf

TheTruthIsMine wrote: »

Not if it brings a tonne of stress, and leaves you bitter. If the only satisfaction there is from achieving it is being able to say 'oh thank god it's all over', then I would say that it's not really an achievement. It's always worth considering cutting your loses with certain things. There's plenty of other challenges to set yourself in life - ones that give a sense of purpose to people. You just need to have a very clear idea of what you want. The OP does not seem to; hence the dilemma.

Whether he should or shouldn't drop out, is also largely down to how much he is paying for it! Something that no one here has mentioned.

Couldn't disagree more.

People with lots of experience, are all saying finish it.
Sometimes it worth playing the odds.

JustAThought

Absolutely finish it. It may seem like a drudge or waste at the moment but you will be on a different salary basis and peer basis for roles your entire working life - 40+ years - once it is done. And people DO look for the finished certs -writing achieved or expected is 1990s think and you can be caught badly on it - particularly with the new trend of outsourced reference checks and copies of certs requited as mandatory prior to signing contracts/doing medicals. You may be finding Ireland a dark place and a waste but remember that other countries have wider horizons and exciting real industries where you can actually get a well paid and relevaNt job. And points for higher level degrees or multiple degrees get you those visas to Canada/Australia and the US. Fair dues to the supervisor in the uni trying to sort something out for you. Stick with it and finish. Imagine sitting in an interview and trying to explain why you gave up on your goals and dreams so close to.the finish line and expecting them to be impressed and hire you. Keep at it - it is always darkest and hardest before dawn - you are nearly there. Perserverence and strength of character.

Resverathrole

I finished the pile of ****e in the end. Don't know where I'm going from here.

Rubberchikken

Its good you finished it. Shows perseverance and ability to stick with something even sonething s@hite.

Start applying for jobs. Jobs that youre really intetested in.
And maybe having someone look over your cv might be worthwhile.
Good luck

beauf

Fair play. That was always the best option.

Blaizes

Resverathrole wrote: »

I finished the pile of ****e in the end. Don't know where I'm going from here.

Fair play.Well done.Stuff will fall into place.Main thing is you got it.. onwards now...

Resverathrole

Rubberchikken wrote: »

Its good you finished it. Shows perseverance and ability to stick with something even sonething s@hite.

Well it would have taken a lot of balls to drop out. Easier to be passive and just go through the motions for the remaining three months.