Graduate Certificates, are they worth it?

oldmanken

Hey folks,

I've just returned from a couple of years teaching overseas, and am looking to get back to working in my field, which is Politics. While looking through job postings, I have noticed that I'm really lacking in some skill areas, in particular statistical and analytical areas. As such, I was thinking about going back to school.

Now, getting into a Masters program may be difficult for me. I've been out of University for a while, and while attaining my undergrad I had a bad semester which dragged my GPA down significantly. The other reason a Masters program may not entirely fit is because I have no inclination at the moment to go into academia, and I want to be working in a relatively short period of time.

So, that leaves me with a Graduate Certificate option. I've found one that interests me and would give me the skills I desire (Public Policy), and just happens to be located where I am moving (Southern California). It's seems to be exactly what I was looking for.

So, what's the deal with Grad. Certificates? How are they regarded? Am I looking at them from the right perspective, and is it something that will help me the way I want? Does it improve job prospects? Or is it a waste of money/time, and should I just aim for a Masters anyway?

Aldo

Lemme get this straight:

You finished a degree in PolSci, but without any courses in academic research.
Then you started in education, teaching English to kids abroad.
And now you're in the market competing against recent PolSci graduates who will have awesome grades, relevant courses, maybe a few relevant internships and some volunteer work under their belt.

Yes, I think you should look into beefing up your CV in any way you can. If you can afford it I think that a Graduate Certificate is a great way to do that. What I'm reading about it is a relatively cheap and universally recognized way to patch up the hole in your CV.

*e: wait, Politics is not the same as Political Sciences?

CorcoranCadet

What exactly are you trying to do? Work at a policy think tank? Work at a university? Depending on this,we might be able to offer more specific advice.

oldmanken

Sorry, if I wasn't clear. Aldo, you're about on the mark, though I've also done some work in government and working with politicians. And ultimately I would like to work in policy analysis, either with a policy think tank or a government department.

I guess I'm less questioning whether a Grad. Cert. is a good idea, and more questioning what kind of reputation these things have...

EDIT: And I did Political Science and History.

CorcoranCadet

My field is not in public policy, but I've worked at policy think tanks and for politicians. In my experience, a graduate certificate will not be terribly useful to you. If anything, go ahead and get a masters degree in the subject. At the think thank I worked at, most everyone had a masters and the top people had Phds or JDs. This was in the research division mind you, which seems similar to what you're talking about.

The graduate certificate is probably going to largely consist of coursework with no research. A masters, I am assuming, could include research. Now, I'm not sure what you really want to do. If I was hiring for one of these companies I would prefer someone who has done research and specialized in one area, such as education for example. A masters degree would also give you a chance to apply the statistical methods you might learn. As to working for politicians, you don't need any sort of certification for that. You just need networking. Just based on my understanding of certifications/masters, this is my opinion. You don't need any sort of certifications in public policy anyway, so I don't understand the point of it aside from being a money making enterprise for the university. (You probably have no chance of getting any money with a cert program)

Aldo

CorcoranCadet wrote: »

My field is not in public policy, but I've worked at policy think tanks and for politicians. In my experience, a graduate certificate will not be terribly useful to you. If anything, go ahead and get a masters degree in the subject. At the think thank I worked at, most everyone had a masters and the top people had Phds or JDs. This was in the research division mind you, which seems similar to what you're talking about.

The graduate certificate is probably going to largely consist of coursework with no research. A masters, I am assuming, could include research. Now, I'm not sure what you really want to do. If I was hiring for one of these companies I would prefer someone who has done research and specialized in one area, such as education for example. A masters degree would also give you a chance to apply the statistical methods you might learn. As to working for politicians, you don't need any sort of certification for that. You just need networking. Just based on my understanding of certifications/masters, this is my opinion. You don't need any sort of certifications in public policy anyway, so I don't understand the point of it aside from being a money making enterprise for the university. (You probably have no chance of getting any money with a cert program)

OK, please listen to CorcoranCadet, he knows way more about this than me.

One thing: would it even be possible to get in a Master's Programme if you don't know how to analyse statistical data? From my experiences in the Social Sciences it is a rather vital skill to get anything done. It's not that hard a subject to be competent in, but a good understanding of how statistics work, what they can tell you and what they cannot tell you is vital to being a good scholar, in my opinion.

oldmanken

Well, that's kind of the other way I'm looking at this. If I were to look at going into a Master's program, I'm obviously not competitive enough to get into one as is, so what kind of measures could I take to get me there? Could I use a Grad Certificate as a segue into a Masters program? Or would it be more prudent to do some undergrad upgrading of some type?

Deebaser

I did not finish a graduate certificate I was working on, but instead used the GPA boost to get into an MBA program

CorcoranCadet

I'm certainly not an expert by any means so if someone who is actually in public policy could answer that would be great.

As to what Aldo said, I'm not sure you need much statistical training to get into a grad program. In all honesty, you could learn pretty much all the statistics you need for public policy in one course. Granted, that's why a lot of academics in the humanities or socials sciences are horrible at statistics. They may have learned the methods, but they can't apply them properly. Pretty much what Aldo said in more or less words. If you could get into a program that actually allowed you to learn and then apply statistics, as opposed to just taking it as a course, that would be most helpful to you. It would certainly look better to a hiring committee as well.

I'm not that great at actually using statistic for analysis simply because I am not in a situation where it is used a lot. However, I can tell when the statistics cited in a paper have holes in them. In some fields this happens a lot. Education for example. Learn how to apply the methods, but also get that statistical mindset so you can really evaluate things for yourself.

oldmanken

Just for the sake of giving you an idea of what I was looking at...

http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/programs/certificate/public_policy.html

CorcoranCadet

I hate it when schools don't actually put up the intended course program for a degree on their website. I noticed USC also has a masters and I am going to assume that it is a 2 to 3 year program. My other assumption is that these certificate courses are basically the same as the ones in the masters program, but you have less room to specialize and you are only taking part of the core courses. I'll tell you flat out that the masters will look better on a CV/resume. That's obvious. The certificate will also look better than not having the certificate, but probably not by much. Think about your personal situation and whether or not you can stand/afford to be in the courses for two years vs. one. I would like to point out that on the USC website they mention that many of the masters students have paid summer internships. That's something to consider as it proves that you have recent experience working at a group and there's the networking benefits.

I'm sure you COULD get a job without the certificate or the masters. If you're only worried about the statistics then just take a statistics course. Don't bother with the other classes that you probably already know or had a bit of in undergrad. If you want to possibly research a problem that is interesting to you AND pad your resume, then I would get a masters. You might want to investigate what th credentials are of the people in jobs you want. My guess is that many of them will have higher degrees and few of them will have certificates that basically are just catching up on something they missed in undergrad. I took a quick look at one of the top think tanks in my state and out of roughly 8 people in the research division, 4 had doctorates, 1 had a JD, and the others all had masters (though not in public policy.)

Morgaine

(First time poster /waves hi)

Background: I work for an advocacy group that does a good bit of policy work and we’ve got MPPs crawling all over the place. Of course, our head policy person got the position without an advanced degree, and ended up working on an MBA program while working, so ymmv.

I'd recommend against a certificate course, and instead prepare for an MPP, though even that may not exactly be needed, depending on what you want to get into.

To beef up your GPA and your stats set, take a statistics class, maybe an econ class as well, either through University extension programs, or through a local junior college. This would be the best course of action – it would get you the statistics skills that you need, and also prepare you to enter a public policy program later down the road if you choose to do so.

You may also want to consider, if you’re up for moving again, the Capitol Fellows program (link: http://www.csus.edu/calst/capital_fellows_programs_overview.html) which sends you up to Sacramento for a year to work in either the Assembly, Senate, Judicial, or Executive branches. The bonus is that you also essentially take a year of public policy courses, which could help you decide whether or not you want to continue in politics or policy.

However, schooling aside, it sounds like you may benefit from touching base with people who either have a job you’d want, or work in the field. Down in SoCal, you might want to see if someone from RAND would be willing to let you pick their brain for a bit – they’ve got a compound out in Santa Monica. WestEd (www.wested.org) also has an office down in SoCal (I think).

Hope this helps!

oldmanken

Yeah, I'm not only worried about the statistics. I'm also worried about just being qualified for these positions. There were gaps in my undergrad, and like I've mentioned, I've been out of university and doing something unrelated since leaving (a poor personal/career move on my part).

It's not so much that I am uninterested in doing a Masters, it's just that I'm not sure I can get into a program right now. I see the Grad. Cert. in two ways. 1. It fills gaps in my undergrad, and improves my career prospects by getting me back in the mix. 2. Should I be able to, and should I so choose, I could transition into a Masters program.

I don't think it is ideal, but I think it's my only real option if I am going back to school. That could change when I move down to California, if I can manage to get into a relevant job and build some experience on my CV. But that's if I can get into a relevant position... and quite simply, I'm not getting any younger and I'm tired of bouncing into jobs with no career relevance.

Deebaser

Old, seriously. Just apply. The worst they can do is tell you 'no'. I sat on grad school for years because of my shitty undergrad GPA and lack of motivation/embarassment writing a personal statement explaining/justifying my existence.

CorcoranCadet

I'm not sure your chances of getting into a policy program would be as bad as you say. Ask around at schools and see if it is an option. Make sure to spin your experiences in terms of public policy.

However, if it is simply not possible for you to do it, try and find a job first. I feel like any job that requires a masters would not accept a certificate. My inclination is that jobs that might like the certification are also available to people with only an undergrad degree. Maybe try and get an internship for a year, which will atleast give you experience even if the pay is incredibly bad. I know a lot of people that did an internship between their undergrad and their masters, and it only paid 10 dollars a day. That's enough to live on if you're doing it 9-5 though.

oldmanken

You guys have been very helpful, and have given me a lot to think about. I really appreciate the advice and suggestions.