Master of the Universe?

It may not be for everybody, but going back to school and getting a Masters degree is an option you shouldn't ignore if you want to refresh your career, change it or insure it against the vagaries of company reorganisations.

Be warned: companies have a cautious attitude toward their employees returning to the hallowed halls of academe because, furnished with a new, high-powered qualification, the new grads have a tendency to fly the coop. But the industry has come up with a model in which both employees and companies get what they want from the exercise, and it seems to work. It goes like this: if the employee can make a good business case for them having the degree, the company coughs up the tuition fee and maybe even some day release time. It appears that sabbaticals, or years off to study, are never granted.

Here's an example. Alan Cochrane, innovations manager for Willmott Dixon's housing business, will start a distance-learning Master of Arts in Sustainable Development at Staffordshire University this September. Although he'll have to do it in his own time, he did persuade his company to pay the tuition fee because of the intensity of the pressure to build sustainably coming from government and other bodies. Having a Masters in the subject should impress clients. "We're demonstrating an awareness of the issues and that we're well placed to respond," he said.

Cochrane was a rare case at Willmott Dixon. Personnel director Chrissie Chadney says there is no specific policy but there must be an "exceptional" business case.

Chadney is a bit wary about giving paid leave to pursue a Masters, having run a joint programme with the University of Luton, an MSc in Design and Build.

"With one exception, it was almost as if those who completed the degree, and there were only four of them, didn't really focus on their day-to-day jobs. Two have left now."

She said that keeping the degree short of a Masters seemed to work better. "When we started the venture about six years go the first cohort just went to postgraduate diploma level and it really paid off for them and us. Several are now directors or very senior managers."

The programme stopped because Luton discontinued its construction degree courses.

Suspicion at the top

At Willmott Dixon, having an MSc is an outright disadvantage at entry level ("Save me from MScs who have never been near a real building site!" Chadney said) but could be just the thing if you're going for a top job.

"We do like our senior managers and directors to have had to do something academically or intellectually demanding but we can provide this through our Management Development Levels Three and Four programmes which include residentials at Henley or Ashridge. Our very top people go to London Business School for their short programmes."

Bob White, chairman of Mace, has a similarly cautious approach to Masters degrees – and is suspicious of MBAs: "In my experience, a lot of individuals seek MBAs because they are frustrated by their ability to progress beyond a certain level, but having got their qualifications, the roadblocks are the same," he said.

"In many cases this is not to do with the skill of the individual but with their behavioural, man management and leadership qualities."
Put bluntly, for many it's an eject button: "I understand that in around 75% of cases, those who achieve MBAs or MScs use it as a stepping stone to a new organisation or career."

White says he pays more attention to the quality of the person than to the title of the degree. And Mace has its own bespoke MBA programme for senior managers.

Bovis Lend Lease currently has approximately 35 employees doing masters degrees in fields ranging from facade engineering (from the University of Bath) to IT. In common with other employers, Bovis requires there be a specific business benefit. Sometimes, that takes the form of getting closer to important clients. One employee is doing a degree in war studies, for instance, to help in the relationship with a key client, the Ministry of Defence.

"If you're working with sophisticated clients it's useful to have people who can talk to their brightest; who may be educated to a higher standard," said Bovis spokesman Andrew Bond.

Save me from MScs who have never been near a building site!

Chrissie Chadney

Mutual benefits

Recognising that companies demand a return on investment, some universities offer tailor-made postgraduate degrees in which the student tackles a specific problem his or her employer wants solved. The university helps the student do the research and write the thesis. In this model, everybody stands to win: the student gets a masters, the company gets what amounts to cheap consultancy, and the university gets the tuition fee.

One example of this is the Centre for Innovative Construction Engineering at Loughborough University. Skanska has taken advantage of this approach, sponsoring a student to look at the whole issue of design management.

Clearly, within bounds, employers see the use of Masters degrees. But is it right for you? Do you have the right background?

Some universities will want a record of high academic ability (2.1 Class first degree or better standard), but other universities have less strict entry requirements. Willmott Dixon's Alan Cochrane doesn't have a first degree but his CIOB membership was taken as a measure of sufficient achievement.

You also need to question your motive. People articulate all sorts of reasons for doing a masters, and some are better than others, according to Paul Kirby, course director for Cambridge University's Masters in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment. Common ones include boosting one's existing specialist skills, learning how to run teams, getting past the specialist bottleneck and heading into strategy and management, pursuing a detailed enquiry into an aspect of the work, and reawakening their interest in their job.

Love your degree

But Kirby warns that if it is only to move on in your career, it may not be a good idea. You should be interested in the subject, too.

"Life is too short to put the effort into a Masters if its purpose is solely to feed a career," says Kirby. "If the course is not enjoyable and rewarding then neither, probably, is the career."

And what about the payback? The bad news is that a Masters does not automatically entail a salary hike. The industry is far too canny to reward mere letters after names unless they improve the bottom line.

"Earning more as a result of acquiring a masters degree is not automatic but many participants see it as a component of a managed career progression," says David Baldry, a lecturer at the University of Salford, which has 150 students enrolled in six different taught Masters programmes.

Finally, a key question: Can you spare the time? You may have permission from your employer, but do you have permission from your wife?

Its common for people to underestimate the scale of the undertaking, says Baldry. "Those who enrol should have the commitment and resilience to sustain themselves over the duration of the programme alongside their employment and domestic responsibilities, and the time management abilities to manage their workflow and meet deadlines."

Alan Cochrane will need to spend about 15 hours of his spare time per week to complete his Masters. Some parts of his personal life will have to give way, but he's philosophical about it.

"When you look at all the crap that's on TV there's not really much to lose," he said.