For some, the prospect of completing a masters degree can feel a little out of reach.
But the best part about undertaking a graduate certificate or graduate diploma with Deakin University is that completing either of these qualifications could enable you to complete a masters degree in less time.
If you’re enjoying your studies and want to keep going, you might be surprised at how easy it is to progress from one degree into the next. For example, Deakin University allows students who complete a Graduate Certificate of Communication or Graduate Diploma of Communication to easily transition to the Master of Communication.
The great news? If you’ve already completed one of these shorter courses, the units you’ve ticked off already may help you with your masters application, or even count as prior learning, putting you ahead of the game.
Changing plans
Dr Erin Hawley, course director of postgraduate communication at Deakin, says most students are already working in the industry when they decide to undertake postgraduate studies in communication.
‘Often students are trying to address a gap in their skillset, so there’s a particular skill they want to develop,’ Dr Hawley says.
However it’s not unusual for a student to start to really enjoy the process of learning, develop an interest in a particular specialty and want to pursue that further in a masters degree, she says.
Enjoying studying
For May Sivakumaran, now 36, a return to study was all about keeping up to date and staying competitive in her field.
‘I had enrolled in the graduate diploma wanting to refine the skills I had developed from years of practical experience working in the areas of design, event management and social media communication,’ she says.
During her first stint at university, Sivakumaran says she ‘messed about with an arts degree for a little bit’, before shifting her focus to professional work without graduating.
However that relevant work experience meant she was eligible to enrol in the Graduate Diploma of Communication without an undergraduate degree this time around.
Sivakumaran says she was hooked on the course from the start.
‘I just started reading and reading and reading. I really love reading; I forgot how much I loved it,’ she says.
While studying her second unit, Sivakumaran realised she was interested in pursuing academic research, in addition to upskilling herself to move up in her industry.
Beyond a pipedream
When she enrolled in the graduate diploma, Sivakumaran knew continuing on to a masters degree was possible, but she says it seemed like ‘a pipedream’.
However that pipedream is now reality, with Sivakumaran knee-deep in her masters.
She’s found a particular passion for research and is excited to start her first research project next trimester.
‘The masters has been really interesting and has provided me with an opportunity to develop my research skills – these skills I would not have been able to acquire vocationally,’ Sivakumaran says.
Along the way, she’s learnt a huge variety of other skills too, including digital photography, curation and social media.
‘There are so many areas that are covered by this degree, and it’s great because you can tailor it specifically to what it is you’re interested in, and what you grow to become interested in.’
Progressing into mastery
Dr Hawley says while a graduate diploma or a graduate certificate is more of an ‘exploratory’ exercise, the masters is a ‘deeper dive’.
She says that while students gain a greater sense of how communication works across various industries in their graduate qualifications, the masters enables them to become an expert in their specialty area.
In the Master of Communication, students can pick from five specialties: journalism, public relations, digital media, television production or visual communication design.
They can also undertake an internship.
‘Students come out with a very strong sense of who they are in that professional context, what skills they have and how they can contribute,’ Dr Hawley says.
She adds that it’s very straightforward to progress from, say, a graduate certificate into a masters.
The courses in Deakin’s postgraduate communication suite all have a shared set of units.
‘So every unit that a student takes in their Graduate Certificate of Communication counts towards the Master of Communication.’
Don’t know what your plans are yet?
Naturally, you don’t always know where you’ll end up when you start your postgraduate studies.
But that doesn’t matter, says Dr Hawley.
‘You do tend to discover things about yourself while you’re studying, and one of them might be that you have a passion for a particular subject,’ she says.
‘Or you find that developing your skills in a particular area is really beneficial for you in a professional sense.’
And making that next step is a much easier progression than many people realise.
Ready to future-proof your career? Take it to the next level with a Master of Communication.