| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Poll: Do you have a degree higher than an undergraduate degree (MA, PhD, etc)? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you have a degree higher than an undergraduate degree (MA, PhD, etc)?".
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| | | | neilmac
Spain
Local time: 08:17
Spanish to English
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I took a post-graduate course (RSA Dip. TEFLA) back in the 90s when I was teaching EFL, but I suppose that doesn't really count.
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I hold a degree in Economics. It took me so long to get it that I didn’t consider going further. I was a student-worker and by then the student worker status was unknown, so I had to compensate every hour I spent in university…
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It wasn't considered necessary for non-academics to get higher degrees when I started work. Now it seems to be pretty much a criteria for entry into any profession. It's a shame for young people that they have to spend so long in education and then get told their qualifications are worthless because they have no experience.
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Rachel Waddington wrote:
It's a shame for young people that they have to spend so long in education and then get told their qualifications are worthless because they have no experience.
To make the situation worse some undergraduate courses (event management) do not prepare their students to face the reality of the workplace. One of my granddaughters is a telling example, having completed her course three years ago she first worked as a supermarket cashier, then as a receptionist and finally found work as an event planner to discover to her dismay that she knew nothing about preparing a budget for an event…
| | | | Dan Lucas 
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:17
Member (2014)
Japanese to English
Rachel Waddington wrote:
It wasn't considered necessary for non-academics to get higher degrees when I started work.
I think in the era in which we graduated it wasn't considered necessary to have even an undergraduate degree for many jobs, with a few obvious exceptions. Totally agree with your point about young people. There's no unsurmountable reason why on-the-job training supplemented by specialist courses shouldn't have continued, and the requirement for a degree puts off people who might otherwise excel in a particular career (midwives, police, etc.). And that's before you even discuss debt...
Edit: all I have is a humble BA.
Dan
[Edited at 2022-10-16 12:45 GMT]
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My degree (staatlich geprüfter Übersetzer - state-approved translator) is not even common in 15 of Germany's 16 federal states, but appears to pretty much be the norm in Bavaria. This has never prevented me from getting any valuable work, though; I simply sometimes end up explaining that this odd degree is somewhat comparable with a B.A.
[Edited at 2022-10-16 14:05 GMT]
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I have a BA (Hons.) in EU studies and it provided ample opportunities for work and work programmes, hands-on experience at the institutions and MA in Baroque studies which was purely for pleasure if you can call studying and doing a dissertation while working, that. I mean I love Art and History of Art was my subsidiary subject at university. At the time, no one told us about the work opportunities after studying art and there are plenty. When I did my MA, the course I did was the only Art cours... See more I have a BA (Hons.) in EU studies and it provided ample opportunities for work and work programmes, hands-on experience at the institutions and MA in Baroque studies which was purely for pleasure if you can call studying and doing a dissertation while working, that. I mean I love Art and History of Art was my subsidiary subject at university. At the time, no one told us about the work opportunities after studying art and there are plenty. When I did my MA, the course I did was the only Art course available at MA level, otherwise I might have chosen a different period or a more general one. I translate a lot of EU stuff so my BA course came in handy, also because I spent some time at the institutions and help during visits and when Malta has the rotating presidency.
[Edited at 2022-10-16 15:30 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| Master's in Spanish Lit ... quite useless | Oct 17, 2022 |
Thanks to an MA in Spanish Literature, I taught for a few years in the US, but that training has proven quite useless to being a good translator. In fact, it was pretty useless when it came to being a good Spanish teacher too, but legally required ... which is, unfortunately, a pattern. Too often the degrees required are not really essential to the different professions for which they are compulsory. Nowadays you need a degree to do just about anything, which is ridiculous. The universities,... See more Thanks to an MA in Spanish Literature, I taught for a few years in the US, but that training has proven quite useless to being a good translator. In fact, it was pretty useless when it came to being a good Spanish teacher too, but legally required ... which is, unfortunately, a pattern. Too often the degrees required are not really essential to the different professions for which they are compulsory. Nowadays you need a degree to do just about anything, which is ridiculous. The universities, particularly in the US, are one of the biggest rackets in the world. ▲ Collapse
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I am an agronomist (MSc) and got an additional BComn degree (equivalent to BA) as a translator.
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:17
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| The Third Degree | Oct 17, 2022 |
My only degree is "Dottore Architetto" from the University of Florence. For more than 20 years I was also registered with the Order of Architects of Tuscany, which entitled me to practice the profession. As I no longer live there, I've given up my professional registration in Italy and am now registered in the UK instead.
But for all Italians I'm still addressed as "Architetto" or even "Dottore". Anyone with a professional qualification in Italy is always addressed by that qualific... See more My only degree is "Dottore Architetto" from the University of Florence. For more than 20 years I was also registered with the Order of Architects of Tuscany, which entitled me to practice the profession. As I no longer live there, I've given up my professional registration in Italy and am now registered in the UK instead.
But for all Italians I'm still addressed as "Architetto" or even "Dottore". Anyone with a professional qualification in Italy is always addressed by that qualification, for example "Ingegnere", "Avvocato" ecc.
I became a translator after spending many years working bilingually, as an architect.
[Edited at 2022-10-17 08:13 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | expressisverbis
Portugal
Local time: 07:17
Member (2015)
English to Portuguese
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I have a Post-Graduation (Specialisation) in Computer Assisted Translation.
I wish I had learned a lot more, or even better: that the teachers had gone into more depth in this course.
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Max Jeremiah
United Kingdom
Local time: 07:17
German to English
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I have an MA in Translation and Professional Language Skills. Not sure how useful this has been in getting freelance work. I suppose it adds to my professional image, but, practically speaking, it felt like a very superficial look at translation techniques -- sort of like a 'beginner's guide to translation'. I think the main issue was that only a couple of hours were dedicated to translation proper each week.
| | | | Tradupro17
United States
Local time: 02:17
English to Haitian-Creole
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I have an MA in Applied Linguistics.
| | | | | No, but I have a postgraduate diploma | Oct 17, 2022 |
It is the equivalent of one year's study, but not a degree. (Special Language Diploma/ Erhvervssproglig Diplom from the University of Southern Denmark.
It was highly relevant to translation, however.
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