As I've said before, I'm in the home stretch of my Master's in English (I should be wrapped up in December! Clearly the longest home stretch of my life...!)
I seem to be an anomaly in the freelance writing world. I know several highly successful freelancers who haven't gone beyond a Bachelor's; others haven't gone on to higher education at all. You certainly don't need an advanced degree to build a successful writing career, but it can certainly add another level of credibility to your portfolio. I'm a bit of a nerd and like learning for learning's sake (for the most part), but I find myself anxiously looking forward to wrapping up this program!
So why did I pursue a Master's degree? Well, mainly, it stemmed from a deep dislike for my job (that's gotten stronger since...), and the realization that I needed to figure something out fast if I didn't want to stay where I was forever. Of course, this was post-recession, and the job market isn't looking much more promising now. Unless something really amazing happens, it probably won't be much better in December, either. But I'm trying to stay positive--recession or not, I'll still have my degree and that should be impressive to someone. The main game plan is to use it to land part-time teaching jobs to supplement my freelancing gigs.
Much like freelancing, I've pursued topics and classes that I normally wouldn't have otherwise, so I think it's definitely helped to broaden my scope of knowledge. It has also helped me become more disciplined and sophisticated in my thinking, which I hope will help me with client projects.
What about you? Have you pursued an advanced degree? Why did you decide to do so? How has it helped your career?
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