So what kind of jobs are out there for people with a Masters degree in International Relations (entry-level, no related experience)?

I'm currently an Airline Pilot and am trying to give myself a backup for if/when (more likely 'when') I need to move on to another job due to industry cutbacks. I've been trying to decide what degree best suits me and I decided, after looking at the course work of a lot of other degrees, that International Relations really interests me. If I graduate with this degree I'd have no direct experience, just the experience from being an Airline Pilot (I suppose that's something, but I'm not sure how that would fit in with having the MA in International Relations degree). I'm just wondering what possibilities were out there for recent MA grads with not a lot of experience.

Has anyone been through the MA program at Salve Regina University or heard about the reputation of that program?

Thanks!

Thanks for that reply! Anyone else have an opinion or some advice?

Another question I have: is it wise to get a Masters in the same major as your undergrad (i.e. a BS in Aviation followed by a MS in Aviation)? My initial thought would be that it would be better to get a Masters in something else, but I also have no idea what I'm talking about.

Thoughts?

I'm currently an airline pilot and am looking at getting my Masters degree.
I plan to continue flying while I earn this degree, as well as after its earned, so I won't really be using this degree to get a Wall St job, work as a CEO, or anything like that.
What I'm trying to do is set myself up for a teaching position down the road, since airlines are very unstable places to work and chances are very high that I will need a back up.

I was wondering, what would be the most useful Masters degree to get, if what I'm hoping to do is teach someday by using my experience in aviation and supplementing it with academic credentials.

I also do not want to corner myself and get a degree that is ONLY useful for teaching, so I do want some flexibility to possibly go into other things like government work with the FAA or NTSB, and hopefully move on to a PhD.

Thanks everyone!

The days off are mainly due to regulatory restrictions on how many hours commercial pilots can work. However, this doesn't mean that my days off must be free from duty or obligation. I happen to be single and have no children, so my days off are even that much more void of responsible activity (for now). I know other pilot's who have gotten their Masters Degree (slowly but surely) while flying. I'm just trying to find out how best to do it, and whether or not there are any programs that allow for acceptance into a PhD program right away, since I will eventually pursue one in the future.

On a side note, I did a little research into the credentials of the faculty members of the two most predominant aviation universities in the country, and what I found was that most of the faculty (over 90%) did not have PhD's. I'm thinking that I should probably try to find an affordable MBA to do online and go from there...what do you all think?

Thanks!

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Thanks so much for the posts. I'm excited to think that I may have a flexible enough schedule to accommodate a PhD.
To give you a closer look at my long-term goals, I'm basically looking to teach someday, or perhaps work for a research group, consulting agency, or agency such as the NTSB in the field of Aviation. Specifically, I'm interested in research dealing with decision making, learning, safety, and cognitive theory as it relates to Aviation (i.e. how pilots make decisions, training development, etc). With that in mind, can anyone please give their opinion as to where to go from here.
Again, I'm not looking to do all of this in a short amount of time; these are long-term goals. However, I'd like to be as efficient and economical as possible. It seems to me that I would first need to get my masters degree somewhere, and then move on to a PhD...is this correct?

Does anyone know of some schools that have good programs in these areas of study, or of any schools that might have a Masters/PhD combination program (i.e., Bachelors to PhD transition)? I'd like to start formulating a plan of action as to where to go from here.

Thanks so much!!!

Hi there,
I'm new to this forums and this is my first post....
I want to pursue a PhD but am having a hard time finding out how to do it without quitting my job and studying full-time.
I have a BS degree in Aviation and am currently in Airline Pilot. I do have a considerable amount of time off...however, the time off is extremely irregular and unpredictable. This seems to be a big problem when I try to work out a part-time school schedule at a college, as I'm not able to reliably say I'll be on campus every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, etc. So I'm left with tons of free time that gets squandered away. I could be working towards something productive if I could only find out how to get started.
I found some online programs, like Walden University, but I'm not sure how this institution is viewed in academia (I want this PhD so that I can teach at a college when I'm either furloughed or retired from the airline).
Three questions I have are:
1) Is there a way that someone like myself could get a PhD part-time (perhaps online)
2) What is the attitude towards institutions such as Walden University and how practical would having a PhD from there be (I do understand that Walden is accredited, but just being accredited doesn't mean it's going to get you anywhere when you graduate).
3) Assuming that traditional "brick and mortar" schools have higher levels of credibility, are there ANY such schools that offer a PhD program online (or mostly online)? preferably a BS to PhD program (no Masters degree prerequisite)
Thanks so much everyone in advance!

Hi there,
I'm new to this forums and this is my first post....
I want to pursue a PhD but am having a hard time finding out how to do it without quitting my job and studying full-time.
I have a BS degree in Aviation and am currently in Airline Pilot. I do have a considerable amount of time off...however, the time off is extremely irregular and unpredictable. This seems to be a big problem when I try to work out a part-time school schedule at a college, as I'm not able to reliably say I'll be on campus every Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, etc. So I'm left with tons of free time that gets squandered away. I could be working towards something productive if I could only find out how to get started.
I found some online programs, like Walden University, but I'm not sure how this institution is viewed in academia (I want this PhD so that I can teach at a college when I'm either furloughed or retired from the airline).
Three questions I have are:
1) Is there a way that someone like myself could get a PhD part-time (perhaps online)
2) What is the attitude towards institutions such as Walden University and how practical would having a PhD from there be (I do understand that Walden is accredited, but just being accredited doesn't mean it's going to get you anywhere when you graduate).
3) Assuming that traditional "brick and mortar" schools have higher levels of credibility, are there ANY such schools that offer a PhD program online (or mostly online)? preferably a BS to PhD program (no Masters degree prerequisite)
Thanks so much everyone in advance!