I can't decide on which of these to get my Master's Degree in?

Graduate School
1

First of all, thanks for reading :slight_smile:

I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration & have been teaching/coaching sports at my high school for 2 years now!

Ideally I’d like to get my Master’s Degree but can’t decide in what. My options are:

  • Web Development
  • Higher Education
  • Human Resources

1. Web Dev The beginning stages of Web Dev was honestly SO fun to me. I spent this last year occasionally going through Colt Steele’s course off Udemy so I practiced in HTML, CSS, Javascript/Jquery and Bootstrap before work started up again. I like the idea of possessing “hard skills”.

Web Development as a starting hobby has been a blast and I love seeing the websites I’ve created using code. I’d love to be able to pursue this further (bootcamp/master’s). I know you can learn Web Dev on your own and create your own portfolio, as I already started that with Colt Steele’s Udemy Course. My issue has been seeing a project completely through, especially while I work full-time (55+ hours). I know with a Master’s degree I am more inclined to follow through because I’d be paying for it, and I’d be knocking a Master’s out at the same time.

2. Higher Education I love working with students. I’ve been doing it all of my life in a variety of roles. Education and recreational fields are mostly what comprise my resume. I’m currently a Teacher as it is, but teaching hasn’t been all that I had originally chalked it up to be. I don’t hate it, but this year will be a crazy one for me. It’s more stressful than I initially imagined, and know that this could vary based off the district and/or school I’m at. I know I’d love working in a University (not as a professor) in either academic advising or student affairs. This is a plausible direction and would be consistent with my resume, but it’s still narrowly in the education field. I know a lot of teachers who pigeonhole their way into the education industry have a difficult time finding something else.

3. Human Resources HR has always been on my radar. I think being a Corporate Recruiter/getting into the hiring process (NOT the sales gigs) or getting involved in staff development/trainings would be right up my alley.

I like the idea of not doing Higher Education because the other 2 options would give me a little more flexibility with my resume. For example with applying for Web Dev jobs, I’d switch to a skills-based resume to highlight what I’ve done with that Master’s program and the accompanying projects. I know realistically I could get my Master’s in HR or Higher Ed and teach myself more Web Dev… It’s just difficult to see a project through while working without the extrinsic push that would come from signing up for a program.

How the heck can I decide when all these options seem great to me?

Thanks for the read :slight_smile:

TLDR:

Teacher wanting to choose between HR, Higher Ed, or Web Dev as a Master’s degree. Can’t decide.

2

You need to decide what you want to do as a career first before you decide on the master’s degree. You have the most experience close to higher education, and you already know that you love it; HR and web development are sort of further afield.