Finding the Most Versatile Master's Degrees

Why should versatility be a factor in choosing a master's degree? Just think about how much can change in 40 years -- the length of an average career -- both personally and economically. Unless you can accurately predict all the changes that might affect your life in those 40 years, some versatility might come in handy.

To be sure, there are highly specialized fields of study where narrowly focused degrees can give you the most advanced training. However, if you define your interests and skill set in broader terms, choosing a more versatile master's degree may be right for you. This guide discusses reasons why that versatility might prove valuable, and then list a number of versatile master's degrees.

The Value of Versatility in a Master's Degree

As mentioned above, many things can change over the course of a career. The following are some reasons why versatility in your master's degree may turn out to be important.

• Fighting burnout. A Conference Board study found that less than half of Americans were satisfied with their jobs. Over time, measures of job satisfaction have declined on a variety of fronts, including interest in the work itself, job security, and happiness with bosses. You too may reach a point in your career where you need a change, and a versatile master's degree gives you more options.
• Escaping dying businesses. The passage of time sees individual companies and even whole industries go through huge reversals of fortune. The less you can tie your career to one particular industry, the more able you should be to survive the destructive side of economic change.
• Capturing opportunities. Just as some companies and industries suffer declines, new entrants come out of nowhere to become big success stories. Having the flexibility to go where the growth is would be another benefit of a versatile master's degree.
• Earning promotion to management. While some occupations rely on a highly specialized training, what virtually all industries have in common is that management roles call for a broader skill set. Having a more versatile degree might help your chances for advancement.

Versatile Master's Degrees

The following are examples of versatile master's degrees. They should be widely available in both on-campus and online master's programs, and can give you an advanced educational credential with a fair amount of career flexibility.

MS in Accounting

Accounting may seem like a specialized field, but it is surprisingly broad. Certainly, it involves quantitative work to some extent, but an MS in Accounting could qualify you for work in industries as diverse as insurance, investments, real estate, business consulting, and finance--not to mention accounting itself. In addition, given that both government entities and private employers generally involve some accounting functions, you could potentially find work in just about any type of field you could name.

Master of Business Administration

The Master of Business Administration (MBA) has become an extremely popular degree because it blends a teaching of management techniques with strategic and analytical thinking. Those fundamental business skills should qualify you for employment--and advancement--anywhere in the private sector.

MS in Computer Information Systems

Certainly, an MS in Computer Information Systems is likely to commit you to a job working with computer systems, but as one of the bigger-picture degree programs in computer science, it should leave you with a good amount of flexibility to pursue management roles in the computer departments of just about any type of organization--including businesses, not-for-profits, academic and research institutions, or government entities.

MS in Information Technology

An MS in Information Technology can offer the same broad employment prospects as described above for an MS in Computer Information Systems, and with the convergence between computer and communications technologies, the scope of information technology jobs continues to grow.

MA in Human Resources

Just about anywhere you find more than a handful of employees, you can find human resources roles. A master's in human resources--which may be an MS or an MBA with a concentration in human resources--is another one of those degrees which can be applied across pretty much the full spectrum of employer types.

Master's in Project Management

A master's in project management (as with human resources, this may be either an MS or an MBA concentration) may be the perfect degree for 21st-century career versatility. The nature of the work may change, but good project management skills never go out of style.

Master's Degree Programs: Study Your Options

Unless you have a very narrowly-defined career in mind, don't choose a master's degree which is going to pigeon-hole your career. Take the time to review comprehensive lists of on-campus and online MA or MS programs, so you can see the whole field of possibilities before choosing. After all, a more flexible approach to choosing a master's degree could leave you with more career options down the road.