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Institute of Public Administration - Recognised by Employers?

  • 21-08-2020 2:40pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    I'm thinking about applying for the two-year part-time Masters in Business and Management at the Institute of Public Administration. The modules seem very interesting and the propsect of being able to work full-time alongside studying for a Masters appeals to me. I'm hoping to transition to a career in the financial services sector, but there doesn't seem to be any Springboard courses that are suited for this.

    Firstly, I was wondering how well recognised the IPA is by employers in Ireland? I have to be honest, I only first heard of the IPA when looking for relevant business postgraduate courses and had not heard of it prior to this. The degrees used to be accredited by UCD but now it seems that they're accredited by the National University of Ireland.

    Secondly, I was wondering if anyone has ever had difficulty finding work when studying part-time? At the moment I am unemployed but I am hoping it would not go against me if I was studying part-time but still available for full-time work.

    Finally, I was wondering if the course's focus on public sector finance would prove problematic when applying for jobs in the private sector? I have read on here about some employees in the private sector studying at the IPA, but at the same time I don't want to limit myself to applying for jobs in the public sector only.

    If anyone else has completed the course or studied at the IPA, I would greatly appeciate any advice!


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 127 ✭✭DeeAvery


    I have no idea how the Business sector would view IPA (but that doesn't mean anything, I'm just not in the sector), but from my experience of the policy and academic sectors, it is definitely recognised. Their policy publications are also well known and cited, and involve public and social policy academics who are big-hitters.

    Also, NUI is a federal university system of constituent universities, comprising of UCD, Galway, Maynooth and UCC, as well as several other recognised colleges e.g. art and cooking schools. IPA is one of them. So the qualifications are 100% accredited, the question would be if your prospective employers would care about the fact it's not as well known as TCD, UCD, DCU, TUD etc. which I can't answer.

    Many employers don't care where you get your qualification, many employers only want Oxbridge/TCD types, and many employers find people who have studied part-time and work full-time attractive. So it will depend on where you're applying and the individual who is reading you're CV.


  • Registered Users Posts: 57 ✭✭Josuke


    DeeAvery wrote: »
    I have no idea how the Business sector would view IPA (but that doesn't mean anything, I'm just not in the sector), but from my experience of the policy and academic sectors, it is definitely recognised. Their policy publications are also well known and cited, and involve public and social policy academics who are big-hitters.

    Also, NUI is a federal university system of constituent universities, comprising of UCD, Galway, Maynooth and UCC, as well as several other recognised colleges e.g. art and cooking schools. IPA is one of them. So the qualifications are 100% accredited, the question would be if your prospective employers would care about the fact it's not as well known as TCD, UCD, DCU, TUD etc. which I can't answer.

    Many employers don't care where you get your qualification, many employers only want Oxbridge/TCD types, and many employers find people who have studied part-time and work full-time attractive. So it will depend on where you're applying and the individual who is reading you're CV.

    Thanks very much for your response. That's a good way of putting things all round and it makes sense. I guess the employers' perspective could be something that's important for finding my first position after graduating, but perhaps its the case the degree came from could be less meaningful after five years of experience in a particular area.

    Dealing with HR and recruiters always feels like a minefield, you never truly know what they're looking for. I wonder will degrees obtained through blended/online learning receive greater recognition given that face-to-face teaching is going to prove difficult for the foreseeable future.


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