This was one of the headlines in the Boston Globe yesterday.  I get this question from a lot from clients.  And in this job market, it’s tempting to become what was refered to in the article as an “economic refugee”.  It would be easy to hide out from this terrible job market by going back to grad school.  In fact, it’s a good time to reevlauate your career choices and start to fill those gaps in your background. 

But make no mistake, the admissions couselors at the grad schools know this and are still looking for candidates who have career goals in mind before they apply to grad school.  It just doesn’t make sense to apply for a graduate degee without thinking ahead of time where it can take you and to make sure it’s where you want to be.  So take the time to establish your career goals FIRST.  If grad school is required, then go for it.  But let’s not throw darts at the board and hope for the best.  Grad school will cost you money and time and there’s nothing worse than more debt without a way to pay it off.