I have a post-graduate degree in Mass Communication and journalism. After that, I did not pursue a career in academics. I’ve been working in the public sector of my county for about 5 years unrelated to my degree. I live a middle-class life by my county’s standards. Recently, some of my friends are opting for a master’s degree and beyond in the USA, they also plan to settle there. I am thinking of applying for higher education in the USA. The general perception of Americans on communications degrees is pretty unfavourable it seems. Can I build a decent career in the USA if I finish another master’s there?
12 comments
Communications degrees are very “catch all” here. You could do marketing, advertising, media, journalism, etc. A masters degree won’t hurt, but is not required
> The general perception of Americans on communications degrees is pretty unfavourable it seems.
The perception is that it’s generic and that folks get those degrees to just get any sort of degree because they couldn’t figure out what they wanted to do. The perception is that it’s a rather “meh” degree.
> Can I build a decent career in the USA if I finish another master’s there?
In *something other than* “communications,” perhaps. Otherwise, getting yet another degree in that is really not distinguishing yourself.
I have a Communications bachelors degree. I didn’t end up getting a job in that field, but I have a decent wage as a generic office worker. Getting your masters is definitely the way to go if you want a good career in Communications, because like others have said, it’s a pretty generic degree otherwise.
A common path to an H1B work visa is a US masters in engineering or computer science, followed by a couple of years of Optional Practical Training, which is a sort of paid internship. It would be unlikely that someone gets an H1B with a degree like a masters in communication.
My friend who has a Communications degree is a middle school teacher. She did go through extra schooling after her Bachelors to get a teaching certification. She started in Elementary school.
The us doesn’t value this degree as much, but it still values people who use what they learned effectively. My so has a graduate degree in comms and they do well in the advertising and marketing space. I would caution against placing too much importance on your degree either way. A better way to think about it would be to figure out how to bring value to a company with your skill set. Cuz no one really cares what you learned in school, only how you can use it to make money (usually)
Honestly, the best jobs are in the hard things. Like Science and Math. I don’t mean that in a hostile way. I was a Political Science Major. I wish I had done CS. Your English seems very good, what is your view on teaching?
> Can I build a decent career in the USA if I finish another master’s there?
Of course. Those with a master’s generally earn a premium over those without. It also opens up the opportunity to apply for positions that require them.
I have a com degree and an English degree that have led to a 25 year marketing career. STEM backgrounds often look down on liberal arts degrees, yet the highest percent of S&P 500 CEOs have liberal arts backgrounds.
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=744#:~:text=Over%2098%20percent%20of%20the,%25)%20of%20these%20business%20leaders.
I have a friend that got hired down in Texas right out of college. He’s from Pakistan. So I’d say there are pretty good opportunities. Good luck on your search!
Hard truth: Communications/marketing/journalism corps have a good pick of qualified citizens, many recent college graduates that don’t need sponsorships. Getting a company sponsor in these fields would be difficult. And English/writing skills are key in these fields, so a non-native speaker might take another hit. ONE EXCEPTION: translators of some sort, depending on how “in-demand” your native language is. But that’s niche.
Graduating from an American school with any degree would make that sponsorship process easier and open more opportunities.
I have journalism and English degrees, and most of the fields listed do NOT have high salaries, at least in US. Marketing has the highest ceiling and would likely be the most open to your skills.
So, suggest finding a degree program you like at a US university/college, then find a job based on that and your communications background. Your best skill is proving you know how to competently write and get ideas across to the masses. That’s more important than you might realize.
I have a communications BA degree and I have no idea why people see it unfavorably as I have had no problem growing a successful career in advertising over the past 20 years. I think people who look down on it just don’t know what it is. They think it means learning to talk to people. They don’t realize it means marketing, public relations, journalism, even website development classes were taught in com programs etc. These jobs don’t go away. However it is quite a wide range of careers. Are you thinking of going down to journalism path or the marketing path? I chose the marketing path and 10 years later I went back for a Masters in UX Design and a post grad certificate in Digital Communications and landed in Digital Advertising strategy. Another one of my friends is an Emmy winning producer for a major news network. Another is a successful graphic designer for a large corporation. I could go on. But yea, com is useless. LOL. Most of my com friends went to grad school to be a specialist in a specific area- but also because technology has changed it’s good to learn more and catch up. Journalists don’t really make a lot here. But if you’re on the sales side- anything that helps the companies make money- you will have a very good career.