Masters or Management Trainee?
Hi everyone, updating from my post 3 months ago https://www.reddit.com/r/JobsMY/s/Ifflgky64h
To recap: I'm a final-year HR student (currently interning in Industrial Relations) trying to decide whether to jump straight into a Masters full-time while working or focus on work first.
So I’ve just been offered a Management Trainee (MT) position at my current interning company while at the same time, I got details back from UPM regarding their Masters programme. My current dilemma is that I have two pathways at the moment:
1) Stay in IR (Contract) + Full-time Master's (UPM)
I'll stay on a 1-year contract strictly in IR while doing a 1-year full-time Master's (weekdays 630 - 930 PM).
Pros: Get the Master's degree and 2 professional certs out of the way early.
Cons: Low pay for now (around RM2.7k - RM2.9k). The schedule would be something like, going to work at 620 AM, finishing at 5 PM, rushing 1 hour to UPM every day. Limited exposure outside of IR, might fall into "overqualified but less experienced" trap when trying to jump later.
2) Accept the Management Trainee offer
So put the Master's on hold for 1 year, dive headfirst into the MT program, and then revisit the Master's later.
Pros: Higher starting pay (RM3k+). Direct exposure to all HR functions in rotation, fast-track to management and chances of future job roles as company is going IPO.
Cons: No academic progression for the first year which was a personal goal, possible friction with manager as they do not want to lose me from their team.
My brain is leaning heavily toward the Management Trainee track which is a once in a life time opportunity, and I can always do my Masters a year or two down the road. But.... not pursuing Masters makes me feel uneasy.
Do you think MT is the right decision?