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University Degree in International Relations: Is it worth it?

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TSbuggeroffpunk
post Aug 27 2018, 07:00 PM, updated 6y ago

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I am stressed out.

I am going to U very soon

I have always wanted to be a PTD (pegawai tadbir diplomatik), ambassador thing like that. I have deep passion in this. I love politics, languages & cultures. I also found a new interest: debating. I want to join Model United Nations in university. I was planning to go to APU, since they have degree in IR.

My sister is against my choice however. She recommends something more valuable, like Computer science. Idk shit about programming tho. she says a degree in IR is not worth it. It doesnt really offer any valuable skill. Anybody could pick up the skills. She said you dont need a degree in international relations to be a PTD. And i guess she's right. My aunt is a PTD and she had a degree in biochemistry when she got the job. And upon brief research, most ambassadors dont have IR degree.

I know that its not easy to be selected as a PTD. Things are getting harder. A lot of people are going for it. The evaluation tests are way difficult now.

The worst case scenario is I graduate with IR degree, with 80k debt on my head, and couldnt get a PTD job. What could I do with my degree ? What are my job prospects?

In a moment of desperation, i went on to reddit... to find that they're all saying the same thing. Sad.

To add insult, my backup choice, International business, was also deemed 'unworthy' because its too general. The general consensus was to get a more specialized degree, like accounting, marketing or finance.

I like maths. I dont really like addmaths but i guess if i really push myself, i could nail it.

Idk what to do now. My friends told me to go for what i like but i cant help thinking, 'what if my sister's right? What if 10 years now, looking back at this moment and wishing that i had listened to my sister?"

Please help.
Lady Irrawaddy
post Aug 27 2018, 09:32 PM

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Are you sure a private uni graduate can join public service?

I studied International Affairs at UUM. My total course fee was 11k. My batch, 200+ students. None of them became a PTD officer, majority of them took a year preparatory course and became educators (at school, college, university).

I changed my field of study, and surviving now.
anggaPra
post Aug 28 2018, 08:44 AM

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Your sister is right. The job requires soft skills mostly, and you can get it with pretty much any degree, although it isn't easy to land a job in that area. If getting employed in the industry is your main concern, I suggest that you choose other courses with higher employability rate. Following your passion is important, but you also have to be realistic.
TSbuggeroffpunk
post Aug 28 2018, 11:23 PM

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QUOTE(Lady Irrawaddy @ Aug 27 2018, 09:32 PM)
Are you sure a private uni graduate can join public service?

I studied International Affairs at UUM. My total course fee was 11k. My batch, 200+ students. None of them became a PTD officer, majority of them took a year preparatory course and became educators (at school, college, university).

I changed my field of study, and surviving now.
*
My aunt told me it's possible, but I have to work a little harder. Maybe gain some handy experiences & usefull skills.

Why did you change your field of study, and to what?
Lady Irrawaddy
post Aug 29 2018, 07:43 AM

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QUOTE(buggeroffpunk @ Aug 28 2018, 11:23 PM)
My aunt told me it's possible, but I have to work a little harder. Maybe gain some handy experiences & usefull skills.

Why did you change your field of study, and to what?
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I will be careful when ppl answer "it's possible" or "maybe". Sounds uncertain, as such the future may not be possible too. Sorry to say that. Moreover, you specified that "have to work a little harder".

Join public uni, so you have access to public and private organizations. If you join private for an ordinary degree, there are already pools of them. Think about it.

Management/ Industrial- psychology - i love this field so much now.

There are thousands of courses out there, do something you have passion about it, and practical as well as good pay.

Good luck.

This post has been edited by Lady Irrawaddy: Aug 29 2018, 07:46 AM
toMochika27
post Aug 30 2018, 03:10 PM

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Heya, just adding my 2 cents la

Personally, my opinion is to always follow something you are passionate about. Of course, most people would disagree, since you can literally become poor simply doing what you love and not making a profit of it.

But, as I had seen among my friends and seniors, especially those who doesn't have any specific degree like accounting and comp science, they tend to mould their passion into their career. I have a friend with a BA in Literature, currently teaching, tutoring and writing. Another one with a BA in Sociology currently doing research and actively worked under an NGO championing for Orang Asli rights.

So in the end, it would be up to you of course.

Regarding your degree btw, I was a bit suprised that private uni actually offered this course. I know a few friends taking this program back in my uni, and after checking out the APU degree and ours (I'm in IPTA btw), it seems that APU degree are geared towards journalism. Ours on the other hand, relates much more to diplomatic relations, focusing on law, history and political/regional conflicts. I know that there was one graduate in my uni worked with an NGO focusing on Australia-Malaysia bilateral ties (specifically in aboriginal issues) as researcher. Although, he is the only one working related to his field, most, tend to end up outside of their field. So, if you are still adamant into taking this degree, might as well take it under public, and have less debt to think about.

Another thing is with PTD. Gotta tell you sis, not that I'm looking down on you la, but PTDs are considered creme de la creme among all government officers. One can argue that some of them use cable or anything, personally, I've met PTDs before and they are exceptional in their field. Tend to graduate first class, or MPP back in uni, or recipient of the Anugerah Pelajaran Diraja, and quite a handful of them, worked successfully in demanding jobs back in private sector before pursuing a career in the public sector and become a PTD. Not to mention, that the new government now is cutting down on recruitment, so it's harder to join the government sector (it's been like that since forever though).

So those are some points to consider. Pursue what you want, and if you believe you are at risk of being unemployed, get good results, learn all the soft skills you can, and be creative on how to make money with your knowledge.

Good luck!
nexona88
post Sep 1 2018, 06:58 PM

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PTD huh?

hard to get in..

so many application both government & private universities graduates...

anyhow... u don't really need to take international relation degree to get PTD jobs.. Biz or finance degree also qualify...
Oyster96
post Sep 15 2018, 09:50 PM

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Hey, don't be stress, I have just finished my second year studying a major in International Relations at APU. Right now, I just started my internship as a human resource recruitment for 3 months (which is totally unrelated to IR) Most of my classmates are foreigners. Some of them are doing their internship in Ngos, medias and the rest of us went into business field such as consulting, sales and marketing.

So, my advice to is that, if your plan is to make a lot of money in the future, don't major in IR but if you think you're happy wi
th getting an average job in the future while you pursue your passion studying IR, then great, go for it.

This post has been edited by Oyster96: Sep 15 2018, 09:56 PM
amerazmi
post Oct 15 2018, 12:42 PM

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You do not need to take IR in order to become a diplomat or PTD. You may take more industrially-applicable courses such as Law, Accounting or Economics if one want to become PTD.

At the very least, in case you do not make the cut for PTD (regardless of how many times you try to get into the civil service for PTD), you can still work somewhere else and gather more knowledge and experience that may help you in the end if you are eventually chosen to become PTD.

Remember that annually, there are 100k applicants (from various courses, including Engineering and Science fields) vying for 300-400 places for PTD Cadetship Programme, before they become an official PTD officer after 1 year.

And we do not know, if the government only accepts PTD from IR degrees background, and that is not always the case. Most of the time, those that become PTD are non-IR graduates (Economics,Law, Engineering, Science, etc).

So, I would suggest you to take up other relevant courses in the current time unless you come from a well-to-do family in which you can simply take up any courses that you like and still having a secured safety net in case you do no get a proper job or a career that you want.

This post has been edited by amerazmi: Oct 15 2018, 12:45 PM

 

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