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i have no choice. i only got an online degree from the uni of wales, which basically makes me unemployable in singapore. it is not even treated as equivalent to a diploma.

the only way is to get a more credible masters level certificate i think. in fact, i am thinking of transferring credits to get a new and more reputable degree after i finish my masters as well, this can be done in one year full time or 2 years part time.

Not guaranteed. But the Msc and PhD are the same department, so they seem to like their own graduates a lot and even waive courses for Msc graduates.

Employers in Singapore have problems even accepting my online HND/wales degree as a diploma equivalent it seems.

Frankly speaking, in Singapore, very few people want to do a PhD because people are pragmatic and they recognise that there is very little money in doing a PhD. So all my friends have gone into banking, medicine, law, civil service, big companies, etc.

So 90% of those who do a PhD are non locals. So, my gut feeling is that they will be happy to accept any local student and provide funding, especially to their own student.

Personally, I think I wanna go for the PhD. But I have very limited research skills (only did some applied research, mostly qualitative surveys, triangulation of techniques, and wrote a qualitative 40 page dessertation, etc). Will it be hard to learn the more technical research stuff? Such as meta analysis, regression analysis, etc?

I am a qualitative person so long essays and words are not a problem, I do well with words. 4 years is a long time, and I got to wait another 6 months as well, so that is almost 4-5 years.

Looking at profiles of PhD students, they are all mostly from top universities, so I do feel a bit small I guess.

If I do the Msc in Politics and do well, I can also do a 3 year Phd after that with funding.

Hi, the PhD offer is from a good university in Asia. It is a PhD in Business (my online BTEC/degree were in Business). The supervisor is pretty top notch as well, he published in many top journals. I am just worried I will be looked down upon even if I get into the PhD and do relatively well and be unable to find a job in academia later given my 'degree mill like' bachelors.

I can exit with a masters in research after 2 years but a masters in research is viewed as a failed PhD in many cases. I might as well go all the way and not let my supervisor down.

The PhD is funded but after all deductions (rent, food, tuition, etc) , I will have very little savings at the end of each month, basically, I will be without income for 4-5 years.

I think I may go into industry as well, particularly research for government or private companies, or consulting roles.

The politics masters (with many economics modules inside) offer is from a university in Singapore. It think it may provide me an option to apply for a corporate type job in a MNC in Singapore, once again not sure if my online degree from wales will be an issue here.

There is an option to transfer credits from my bachelors and complete a reputable degree from a group of 8 Australian university ranked around 100 globally in a year or two.

Hello friends, I have been caught in a dilemma recently.

When I was 24, I completed a BTEC HND and an online bachelors degree from the uni of Wales from the UK. It was a bad move because it turned out that the uni has a horrible reputation and my validated degree is not recognised by most employers, making it hard to find a graduate job back home in Singapore. It also doesn't help that the two biggest universities back home are ranked 12/13 in the world and are churning out graduates.

After that, I went backpacking for a year or two and then worked in universities in China teaching English.

Now, I am already 30-31. I want to go back home, earn a decent salary, get married, buy a house, etc. I applied for a few courses and I have been admitted into 2 courses

1. Do a masters in politics from a top 20 global university

2. Do a mphil/phd with funding from a top 40 global university

I am not sure if I complete a masters in politics, will my lousy online degree still hinder my job search/career progression? I hope to work in the government sector or in a bank after this.

I am also quite interested in doing the phd as I have been working in universities for a few years now. However, surely in academia, they will not hire someone like myself even if I have a phd since my bachelors is of such lousy calibre? My age is also a slight issue as I will be 35 when I complete the phd.

There is also the option of transferring my online degree's credits onto a more reputable degree and completing it in 1-2 years time, but I feel a little tired at doing another bachelors again and wonder if it is necessary.

What do you guys think?