My Education is Useless

As a child, I've always heard that education is the key to success. So I made sure I got as much education as possible. Along the way, it dawned on me that the quality of the education is important as well. Therefore, I refused to go to the resource scarce schools in my community and opted to take a farther journey in exchange for a richer high school experience.

That realization paid off well. I sailed through school afterwards. Then it was time to get a job. Getting my first job was relatively effortless. I started working a week after my last exam in school. The job only required a Bachelor of Science degree so I was underemployed given that I had a Master of Science degree. However, I had no work experience so that did not bother me.

After working in positions that only required Bachelors degrees for about two years, I decided to start a PhD. I guess I never really thought about the job market for PhDs in Jamaica. I thought of the ease with which I would be able to enter an international organisation. Little did I know that it would still be difficult to get a foot through the door.

Anyhow, I've woken up from the dream of getting into an international organisation easily, so I started looking at all the job postings around me. It turns out that 90% of the job postings I've seen so far only require Bachelor of Science degrees. This is usually coupled with many years of job experience. So it turns out that post graduate degrees are useless in the Jamaican market, unless you become a University lecturer or consult on a rare high level project.

Therefore, for those persons thinking about graduate studies, I would advise you to do it while working. If you take time off to pursue education in Jamaica, when you get back to the job market, you will be back to square one, qualifying for the same jobs as those with only first degrees.