Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Then the jobs they got wanted candidates with a masters degree to start. If the base requirement was 2 years experience and a bachelor's degree, they wouldn't have been considered for those jobs because they were overqualified.
That's strange, because most jobs seem to simply count a Masters degree as 1 year experience in that situation. I know in our most recent round, we wanted a BS and 3 years, and we rejected 2 candidates with an MS and 1 year because they were underqualified. The basic rule is 2 years extra education = 1 year experience.
The exception is when an employer believes that the person with the Masters degree will demand too high of a salary. That's what a well researched salary requirement will avoid.
Then I guess you never heard of Hewlett-Packard. They paid for two of my graduate degrees, though a program called a 'Resident Fellowship'. They send you full-time, at 75% salary (so you are the highest-paid grad student on campus ). One of my peers got his PhD this way, and is now a professor at BU in BME.
I used to hear about it when I was at Oregon State. HP began discontinuing that program almost 15 years ago. I think they may have phased it out on a campus by campus basis, so maybe some of the campuses still offer it, but it is not longer a listed benefit in their benefits guide. Instead of tuition assistance, they now use campus based training. When I landed a NOAA fellowship for my MS, it was the first MS fellowship the department had seen in about 5 years. And this was a top 20 department in a developing tech field. I am sure there are workplace fellowships out there, but they have dried up considerably over the last 2 decades.
That's strange, because most jobs seem to simply count a Masters degree as 1 year experience in that situation. I know in our most recent round, we wanted a BS and 3 years, and we rejected 2 candidates with an MS and 1 year because they were underqualified. The basic rule is 2 years extra education = 1 year experience.
The exception is when an employer believes that the person with the Masters degree will demand too high of a salary. That's what a well researched salary requirement will avoid.
Yes, I've seen many job ads that say "degree and X years experience; additional education may be substituted for some experience". Many job requirements are quite flexible. Another example, in nursing, one often sees "RN/LPN needed for . . . ".
Yes, I've seen many job ads that say "degree and X years experience; additional education may be substituted for some experience". Many job requirements are quite flexible. Another example, in nursing, one often sees "RN/LPN needed for . . . ".
An RN is qualified to do more than an LPN though and while THAT job my be able to take either, most nursing jobs are either or. Sure there is some flexibility but MOST companies will NOT hire someone with a masters degree without any work experience for an entry level job that doesn't require a masters degree to start. As any hiring manager in your company if they would hire someone like that for their entry level jobs. The answer will be no. They will expect more pay and the chances of them stating in that position as long as expected for a normal entry level job are slim. This comes from years and years and years of working with HR and hiring management for several MAJOR international companies...
An RN is qualified to do more than an LPN though and while THAT job my be able to take either, most nursing jobs are either or. Sure there is some flexibility but MOST companies will NOT hire someone with a masters degree without any work experience for an entry level job that doesn't require a masters degree to start. As any hiring manager in your company if they would hire someone like that for their entry level jobs. The answer will be no. They will expect more pay and the chances of them stating in that position as long as expected for a normal entry level job are slim. This comes from years and years and years of working with HR and hiring management for several MAJOR international companies...
The above is not entirely true in engineering. Lots of engineers get a master's as "entry into the profession"; they have a bachelor's in math/science, etc. They start out working with no engineering experience.
I have been an RN for 40+ years, and I have seen many an ad for "RN or LPN". This is especially true in out of hospital jobs.
Haha "overqualified" never exist 30 years ago. Overqualified = not going to pay you what you're worth.
One of the problems with corporate America is there is such a huge amount of kids going to college nowadays and flooding the private sector American companies can be as picky as they want expecting the perfect candidate and job seekers to meet their requirements exactly. And only then will they pay you what THEY think you're worth. Try to bargain with them on salary or wage? LOL....see ya.....there are 10-1000 other joe's willing to work for less than you are and are just as capable. This trend will continue until Americans find themselves living destitute, poor and broke in a have and have not society where the middle class lifestyle has all but disappeared.
When you start talking about degrees and such, there are different rules to go with different fields. A master's degree is required for many jobs. A master's degree is considered over-educated for many jobs. I prefer say over-educated and not overqualified because you can have more education than is necessary and still not know how to do the job. I have interviewed several people with graduate degrees for administrative assistant positions. I never told them they were overqualified, but not many of then had the skills needed. One was a teacher and didn't write well at all. I would hardly call her overqualified because that particular role was for someone who could proofread, draft and edit correspondence, etc. She didn't need a college degree and certainly not a grad degree, but she needed to know how to write better.
Anywho, in this job market, people sometimes take whatever jobs they can get. Nothing wrong with having a job, even if it is not your dream job or even your dream career track. It is sometimes necessary to leave out certain details (like a graduate degree) or you could just play it down, particularly if you were working and leaving out your education does not leave a considerable gap. It is true, you cannot accurately predict who will leave soon after getting hired and who will stay, but employers try to weed out people who seem uninterested in the role. I did hire an assistant with a master's degree in social work because she had five years of experience working as an administrative assistant and none in social work. She explained in her interview that while doing her clinical work, she realized she didn't have the heart for it but she finished her degree anyway and just found a different job when she graduated.
Haha "overqualified" never exist 30 years ago. Overqualified = not going to pay you what you're worth.
One of the problems with corporate America is there is such a huge amount of kids going to college nowadays and flooding the private sector American companies can be as picky as they want expecting the perfect candidate and job seekers to meet their requirements exactly. And only then will they pay you what THEY think you're worth. Try to bargain with them on salary or wage? LOL....see ya.....there are 10-1000 other joe's willing to work for less than you are and are just as capable. This trend will continue until Americans find themselves living destitute, poor and broke in a have and have not society where the middle class lifestyle has all but disappeared.
The heck it didn't! DH and I got married 31 years ago. He had just finished doing a post-doc after his PhD and was ready to get a job in business/industry instead of academia. It was implied that he was overqualified many times. OTOH, at one interview for a job for which he was clearly overqualified, they offered him a job on the spot. There was a recession going on in 1980 as well, when this happened.
The heck it didn't! DH and I got married 31 years ago. He had just finished doing a post-doc after his PhD and was ready to get a job in business/industry instead of academia. It was implied that he was overqualified many times. OTOH, at one interview for a job for which he was clearly overqualified, they offered him a job on the spot. There was a recession going on in 1980 as well, when this happened.
Nowadays, for people who have PHDs in humanities, if they try to enter the business world (losing an adjunct position, or being denied tenure) or people who tried and failed to complete the PHD, they find significant difficulties in getting employed because companies want younger employees with less experience.
I would guess that anyone who has an advanced degree and is getting turned down for being overqualified is just not applying for the right jobs. You need to look for jobs that require a Master's or at least require a Bachelor's but prefer a Master's. I was told by my current employer that the fact that I have Master's degree is why they offered me a substantially higher starting salary (honestly more than I was ever expecting to get straight out of grad school). I make more than any of my co-workers that have the same job title, even though they've been there longer and have more experience, just because they came in with only a Bachelor's. I actually feel bad because I think they should be paid at least what I'm getting, but that's not my decision. In the end, it taught me that spending that extra few years in school really DOES pay off, if you know where to look.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
). One of my peers got his PhD this way, and is now a professor at BU in BME.
