Career Options After MA: What To Do After MA?

In my experience, pursuing an M.A offers in-depth knowledge compared to a bachelor’s degree. However, there’s a limitation – immediate job prospects. M.A programs often lack a focus on hard skills, which can hinder graduates in their job search. To bridge this gap, many graduates opt to acquire additional skill sets in fields aligned with their interests. These skills empower them to enhance their employability and better align with their career aspirations. The choice of skillset to pursue typically depends on individual interests and goals.

In this article, you will learn more about career options after MA.

• Lawyer
• Manager
• Digital Marketer
• Journalist
• Data Scientist
• Insurance Executive

Read more to know each in detail.

“What to do after MA?”

Every Master of Art (MA) graduate faces this question when they are near the end of their postgraduate degree. If you’re facing this confusion, then you’re in luck because this article will help you remove the same. You’ll learn the best career options after MA, which get you lucrative pay and growth opportunities.

M.A is a field where the students get the opportunity to learn the subjects in-depth as compared to the Bachelor’s. But there comes a limitation, and that is the limitation of landing a job immediately. The M.A studies usually do not tend to focus on the hard skills which pose difficulty to the M.A graduates in the job hunt. This is one of the reasons why graduates choose to pursue certain skillsets to bridge that gap. Based on the interest, the graduates get to choose the field to pursue.

From law to data science, we have discussed plenty of Courses after MA. So, let’s begin:

Career Options After  MA

1. Lawyer

A great career prospect for MA graduates in the law. If you have excellent observation and oration skills, becoming a lawyer can be an excellent option. As an MA graduate, you only need an additional law degree to become a lawyer. There are many specializations in law, and you can choose one according to your preferences and knowledge. You can pursue the law course after your MA to enter the field of law.

Lawyers advise their clients with the appropriate suggestions. Researching and drafting legal documents is another aspect of the job of lawyers. The lawyers are trusted by their clients for their legal knowledge and understanding. They advise their clients on what are there legal rights or duties are. Based on the types of cases they represent their clients either in criminal or civil lawsuits. 

Law is an interesting field to pursue after an MA, as law students get to study various important and relevant fields of subjects. Such as property law, marriage law, human rights and international law, environmental law, jurisprudence, etc. And in this field of study, there are various specialisations the lawyers could pursue to carve out a niche for themselves. Some of the many specialisations are environmental law, business law, criminal law, corporate law, etc.

Also, in the field of law, there are various job fields that are available for law graduates, such as-

1. Law firms
2. Corporate Counsel
3. Litigaion/ Trial Advocates
4. Research/ Academia/ Professor

The median pay of this field

The average salary of a lawyer in India is INR 4.68 Lakh per annum. With experience, this number can go up to INR 40 lakh per annum, so it’s a lucrative field. However, you should note that your pay depends on multiple factors such as your location, employer, specialization, etc. 

Learners receive an average Salary hike of 58% with the highest being up to 400%.

What you’ll do in this field

As a lawyer, you’ll have to consult your clients on legal matters. Lawyers are also known as attorneys. You would have to represent your clients in court, if needed, and help them with the case.

Lawyers have to advance their client’s cases through written documents and oral arguments. Due to the unique nature of their role, they should have strong oratory and investigative skills. It would be best if you had a firm grasp on your field’s laws as a lawyer. 

The lawyers need to be having the certain skillsets that sets the standards high. They lawyers should be well equipped with the proper documentation, research, scheduling of court hearings, strategy creation for each case.

Minimum Eligibility

You must have a Bachelor of Law (LLB) degree to become a lawyer. As a MA graduate, you’re eligible to pursue a law degree. After you complete the LLB degree, you’ll receive the necessary certification to practice law. An LLB degree will cover the basics of law and various branches of law such as criminal law, civil law, evidence law, intellectual property, etc. 

Finished 12th and pondering over the future? Unveil the multitude of career options after 12th arts to find a path that resonates with your passion and skills.

2. Manager

If you’ve always wished to become a leader, then you should pursue a career in management. Companies look for management graduates to handle their teams and departments. Management professionals are in high demand, and as the number of companies increases, the need for managers will rise accordingly. If you are wondering about “After M.A what can I do?” then you can also consider upskilling yourself, getting experience, and getting into a management role.

The management field gives an opportunity to grow to leadership positions to the professionals by providing them the knowledge required to operate business functions. 

The management degree laids foundation for various subjects such as business management, operations, supply chain management, marketing, sales, finance, economics, etc. Professionals having the caliber of management tend to get seen in a different light while getting hired or being promoted. There is a reason behind that and that is the curriculum and subjects taught in the management degree, they affect the business growth and the degree in management becomes a testimonial of having the relevant skills and knowledge.

During the course of management degree the students not only get to learn the theoretical aspects of these subjects but also they get the opportunity to perform case studies that are related to real- life business situations, that allows the businesses to grow.

What you’ll do in this field

As a manager, you’ll be responsible for a particular section of your organization. Managers are accountable for their team’s performance and results. They have to tackle business problems their organization faces, so they need to have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. As they are responsible for their team’s performance, they chart out plans and goals to help them achieve the same. 

Managers are required in every domain of business and are given important tasks to bring out the most productivity from the team. There is an expectation from the managers that they would be having a sound knowledge of domain that they are working in that would be a lighting guide for the team to stay steady. Along with that, managers also keep a broad vision for their team and organisation that allows them to keep the culture high.

The median pay of this field

The median pay of a general manager in India is INR 20 Lakh per annum. Beginners in this field earn an average salary of INR 5.17 Lakh per annum; with experience, however, you can increase your pay exponentially in this field. Experienced professionals in this field earn around INR 50 Lakh per annum. Your location, experience, and expertise are the most important factors in determining your pay in this field. As you can see, management is among the best career options after MA. 

Minimum Eligibility

To become a management professional, you’ll need to take a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. Prominent institutes that offer MBA programs include the Indian Institute of Management, Xavier School of Management, etc. You can join a Global MBA program from upGrad and earn an internationally recognized degree. 

3. Digital Marketer

There’s a common misconception that you can’t enter the tech sector if you don’t have a B.Tech or BCA degree. It’s a myth. You can become a proficient tech professional as an MA graduate by entering the digital marketing sector. 

There are lots of questions that comes to the minds of MA graduates about their career and one of those is after ma what can i do? Digital Marketing is a very good option after MBA. This industry is growing rapidly due to the advent of digital shift. Businesses have shifted digitally due to better and wider reachability. Online presence has become important to the businesses. CGenerating online traffic that brings more revenue is a skill which the digital marketing professionals are expected to be having.

The digital marketing professionals promote brands online and create the awareness of the brand among people. The digital marketing allows the businesses to expand and grow by generating more leads, more customer base, acquire new customers and help to retain the existing customers. There is a proper strategy to approach the digital marketing, some of the strategies used are Social Media Marketing (SMM) Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Each of these strategies serves different purposes for the brand to grow online. Also, digital marketing is not of one type but of various types, such as pay-per-click, content marketing, email marketing, mobile marketing, etc.

What you’ll do in this field

As a digital marketer, you’ll be responsible for handling the online presence of your client. Digital marketers promote their clients on the internet through social media, ad campaigns, content marketing, and various other strategies. They usually work with a team of specialists to perform these tasks. Digital marketers should be experts at search engine optimization, search engine marketing, social media management, and many related skills. 

It is one of the very sought-after options to pursue for jobs after MA. The digital marketing professionals understand the brand, its vision, and products of the company. They devise a brand strategy that how it should be marketed online, set the budget, and identify the target audience suitable for the product or service. They approach the customers through various means such as google ads, email marketing, content marketing, etc.

There are various job roles available in the digital marketing field, some of them are mentioned below-

1. Project Manager
2. Strategist
3. Graphic Designer
4. SEO specialist
5. Email Marketing specialist
6. Content Writer

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The median pay of this field

The average pay of a digital marketer in India is INR 8 Lakh per annum. The income of a digital marketing manager ranges from INR 4 Lakh to INR 18 Lakh per year. Apart from digital marketing manager, you can pursue many other roles in this field according to your interests, such as content marketer, SEO specialist, PPC (pay per click) specialist, etc. Learn more about digital marketing salary in 2020.

Minimum Eligibility

To become a digital marketing professional, you should be proficient in online marketing and related skills (SEO, SEM, Content Marketing, etc.). You can take a digital marketing PG course to learn these skills. A PG certification will help recruiters know that you’re a skilled digital marketing professional, and it’s undoubtedly one of the most popular courses after MA. 

4. Journalist

Journalism is a field of creativity and courage. It’s an excellent sector for passionate people who want a career to explore their interests.

Journalism is one of the most important pillar of society that is expected to be the voice of people and many more. The journalists should be having a good general knowledge and research skills. They report on many aspect including environmental, international, political, etc. The most important thing is for them to be presenting this news in a most balanced manner that is impartial and is representing both sides’ story equally. After MA job opportunities are not restricted but there are plenty of good options to choose from and journalism is one of the most reputed ones.

The journalists are expected to be good in various skills that allows them to produce good results. Some of those skills are good communication, problem- solving, research, attention to detail, logical reasoning, investigative skills, etc. These skills are core to the profession of journalism and are of eminent importance. Most of all the journalists are expected to be impartial and represent both sides of the story instead of taking any sides.

What you’ll do in this field

A journalist is responsible for researching, writing, editing, proofreading, and filing news stories, articles, and features; journalists usually work with newspapers, magazines, television news channels, and online publications. You should have strong written and oral skills and exceptional interpersonal skills for this role. 

The journalists are also expected to be really active in their work, they are expected to be updated with the current trends, read all the press releases, research, document, edit the articles, attend events, etc. Journalists are ired by the newspapers, magazines, websites, publishing house, radios, television news channels.

The median pay of this field

The average salary of a journalist in India is INR 3.5 Lakh per year. Beginners in this field earn around INR 1.02 Lakh per annum, whereas professionals with experience earn up to INR 9.5 Lakh per annum. Note that your pay depends on your location, experience, and expertise. 

Minimum Eligibility

You should have a bachelor’s degree minimum to pursue a career in this field. Specializing in Journalism and Mass Communication can be pretty helpful. However, you can take a PG course in journalism to learn the required skills for this role. 

5. Data Scientist (PG Certification)

Data science is among the fastest-growing sectors in India. The data we generate every day is quite valuable, and companies recognize this fact. Moreover, companies have tons of data they can use to enhance their results. A great answer to the “What to do after MA?” question is data scientist. As an MA graduate, you can pursue a role in this field and start a lucrative career. 

Data science is an emerging field in today’s times as the amount of data is increasing and requires to be managed and analysed efficiently there is seem to be a big demand for data science professionals. With the advent of technology and more online presence of businesses, the organizations want to gain an edge over other competitors by reacting to the customer’s demand as quickly as possible. To understand the customer’s demand scientifically, analyse the data the data science professionals play a big role. The data science professionals allows the companies to become data centric and after running certain algorithms and tools the professionals are able to come up with actionable insights. 

The domain of data science has various job roles to offer and is not restricted to being data scientist only. Some of those job roles are data analyst, business analyst, data administrator, data manager, etc.

What you’ll do in this field

Data scientists are responsible for analyzing large quantities of data to help their company generate valuable insights. They use machine learning algorithms and related technologies to find patterns in their data.

Apart from machine learning, they are also proficient in programming, data extraction, loading, wrangling, exploration, and visualization. Data scientists generate insights that can help their company in tackling complex business problems. They work with data engineers and analysts in teams; that’s why strong communication skills are a crucial part of this role. 

There are certain tools, libraries that the data science professionals should be familiar with that allows them to perform tasks with big data in shorter time. These tools facilitate in drawing better actionable insights, quicker data visualisation, etc. The field of data science is a very demanded field and it comes in one of the mostly high paying careers. In today’s times the demand for data professionals are high and the companies provide competitive salaries to acquire and retain the qualified professionals.

The median pay of this field

The average salary of a data scientist in India is INR 8.13 Lakh per year. Beginners in this field earn around INR 3.4 Lakh per annum, whereas experienced data scientists can earn up to INR 20 Lakh per annum. It’s undoubtedly one of the best career options after MA.

Minimum Eligibility

Along with an MA degree, you’ll need certification in data science. That’s because recruiters look for skilled professionals who can showcase their expertise. You should be proficient in statistics, mathematics, and the related technologies to pursue a career in this field. Having a specialization in Statistics or Economics would undoubtedly be helpful. Data science is one of the best courses after MA. Learn more about career in data science.

6. Insurance Executive

If you’re a people person and want a career that allows you to solve unique problems, pursuing a career in the insurance sector might be the right choice for you. The insurance sector in India was expected to reach $280 billion by 2020, so you can understand how massive it is. The demand for Insurance professionals is significantly high. 

The insurance executives are required to understand the demands of the customers, their problems, paying capacities, etc. And they guide and advise them on various insurance options they can choose based upon the suitability factor. The insurance executives, are responsible to understand the customer’s needs, meet them and have listening ability. 

There are various types of insurances that people are looking to get insured for such as any commodity, life insurance, health insurance, property, etc. The insurance advisors after understanding the needs and suggesting the right insurance, plan, strategise and advise various ways to get protected against the concerned asset they want to insured for.

The insurance executives are required to have certain set of skillsets in order for them to be able to excel at their job roles, such as problem-solving, customer service, critical thinking, communication, numeracy, etc.

What you’ll do in this field

As an Insurance executive, you’ll be responsible for the sales of your companies’ insurance plans and products. You’ll have to generate leads, follow-through, and create sales. It’s an exceptional career choice for those who have a knack for sales and persuasion. 

The median pay of this field

The median pay in this sector is INR 2.5 Lakh per annum. With experience, your income can increase exponentially. Like many sales-focused sectors, it stresses a lot on incentives. Your pay can increase up to INR 10 Lakh per annum in this role. 

The insurance executives are expected to be having the knowledge of the policies the organisation offers, along with that they should be having the skills of listening to the customers, understanding their needs be empathetic and have a rational approach toward suggesting the policies. The professionals would also be required have a strong follow-up with their clients.

Minimum Eligibility

You should have a bachelor’s degree minimum to pursue a career in this field. As an MA graduate, you’re eligible to pursue a career as an insurance executive. You can take a course in Insurance to further your chances of getting a lucrative role in this field. Taking a course will help you learn various skills related to this role and become a skilled professional. 

Top skills required for MA

The jobs after MA become many when the individuals acquire the skillsets. Some of the top skill sets are-

• Communication skills
• Research
• Organisational skills
• Strategic planning
• Critical thinking
• Interpersonal skills

There could be many of you who would often find yourself wondering “After MA what can I do?” There could be competitive exams you could sit for. 

Entrance exams for Masters

• AUCET
• TISSNET
• JNUEE
• TUEE
• ITM NEST
• IPU CET
• PU CET
• CUCET
• MGU CAT

The career after MA becomes more employable once the individuals acquire specialisations and build a niche for themselves. So if you are wondering what to do after MA, you can consider choosing one of the top specialisations and develop your skills to get started.

Top specialisations to consider

• Psychology 
• Philosophy 
• Literature
• French 
• German
• History 
• Sociology 
• Anthropology
• Political Science
• Economics
• Literature
• Agriculture

Various job opportunities to pursue after MA courses have always been mentioned. Some of those are mentioned below.

• Journalism
• Columnist
• Video Jockey 
• Content Writer 
• SEO Specialist
• Psychologist
• Social Worker
• Teacher
• Radio Jockey
• Anthropologist

Areas of Recruitment for Master of Arts

In my extensive experience, I’ve identified various recruitment opportunities for individuals holding a Master of Arts (M.A) degree. M.A graduates possess valuable skills that make them attractive candidates in diverse fields. Some prominent areas of recruitment include education, where M.A graduates can excel as teachers, professors, or educational administrators. Additionally, the public sector offers opportunities in roles related to policy analysis, social services, and government administration. Non-profit organizations often seek M.A professionals for positions involving research, advocacy, and program management. The corporate sector also values M.A graduates in areas such as human resources, communications, and market research. Exploring these recruitment avenues aligns your career with your M.A expertise and aspirations.

Final Thoughts

Understanding the most lucrative career options after an MA is crucial for making an informed decision. While considering your choices, always prioritize your interests because they play a pivotal role in job satisfaction. If you enjoy your work, it becomes much less challenging. 

This article aimed to provide clarity on career options after an MA and address the common post-graduate question, “After a master’s degree, what next?” We hope it has shed light on your path forward.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this article, please share them in the comments below. Your feedback is invaluable, and we’re eager to hear from you. Your journey after your MA is an important one, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. 

It is best to upskill yourself with the latest technologies. Checkout upGrad’s top courses in Data Science, Machine Learning, Digital Marketing, MBA from LBS & Full Stack Development.

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