What Kind of Education Do You Have & What's Your Job Currently? (job offers, interviews)

[amIayankee?]

BA International Studies

Marketing Manager for an Audio Visual company

Training to be an AV systems engineer.

[phylogeny]

I believe there is a degree creep process going on in this country. What used to require a high school diploma now requires a bachelors. And since bachelor degree is a dime a dozen, a masters is starting to become popular. I was reading about the development of a professional masters degree recently. A masters for those that want to upgrade their bachelors but without the normal thesis and research accompanying it.....

In health care, I also see this degree creep. Nursing programs are starting to look into requiring all midlevels get a doctoral level degree. Pharmacy used to be a bachelors now upgraded into a six year pharmacy doctorate. Physical therapists now require a doctoral degree when a bachelor was the norm before. However, I don't think these jobs necessarily saw needed this huge jump in educational requirements. I guess only time will tell if a doctoral trained providers are superior to the bachelor trained. I mean, nursing used to not require a bachelors and now it's sometimes required for certain nursing jobs.

I don't think a college degree is "required" to be successful, nor is it a guarantee. However, I do believe a hard working, smart person can be disadvantaged by a lack of degree. Certainly, the way our system is set up, a lack of a college degree closes doors to certain professions, and certain corporate jobs. That said, I think we are over degreed and over educated as a society.

Your avg high school student should NOT be going to college. A high school diploma can probably train people to do a majority of jobs in this country. Apprenticeships would probably benefit most young people. Vocational training would certainly be better for many. College should really be attended by those desiring a future in research or teaching, or those interested in technically difficult jobs such as engineering and medicine. It should also be a place of further enrichment. It should not be a place where mediocre students, or students with no desire to sit and study for four years to party and drink for four years before entering the job market. We now see the downside of pushing subpar students to attend colleges. Rather than improving their chances in the job market, it only gave them debt and four years of delayed start on adulthood.

The sad truth is, if someone is lazy, unintelligent or unambitious, no amount of education will improve that. If someone is smart, focused and disciplined, many options are open, even without a college degree. Education is a tool. Only those that know how to use it, those that can successfully navigate through it, will benefit from it. We should encourage those students who are academically successful, those inclined to research and wonder, or those interested in jobs requiring college degrees to attend college. The rest would probably be far more successful in apprenticeships and vocational training careers. Sadly, people like to think their children are "above" such jobs because they lack prestige. Too bad prestige doesn't pay the bills.

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by phylogeny

I was reading about the development of a professional masters degree recently. A masters for those that want to upgrade their bachelors but without the normal thesis and research accompanying it.....

Sounds interesting to me. I tried a Master's degree class and hated the research ... I wanted something more hands on. Can you tell me more about the professional masters?

[phylogeny]

Originally Posted by skeet09

Sounds interesting to me. I tried a Master's degree class and hated the research ... I wanted something more hands on. Can you tell me more about the professional masters?

I believe this is the article I read it:

The degree of the moment is the professional science master’s, or P.S.M., combining job-specific training with business skills.

With this economy, I guess education is one way to separate people. Just do your research before committing too much money. Education is always enriching but it can also be very expensive!

[tvdxer]

Education:

High School Diploma
B.A. in Languages and International Studies with a minor in Spanish

Working as:

Night shelf stocker

I was planning on applying to graduate school and getting a master's degree or even a doctorate in my junior and senior years of college. I was still unsure of what I wanted to do, although I had my schools and programs picked out (I was applying to programs in Geography, Anthropology, and International Relations). Then my life turned on its head, literally, as I was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. I had it partially removed, went back to school within a month, started chemotherapy (in the form of a pill you take at night, not anything dramatic), graduated on time with a summa *** laude, and restarted the process the next fall. Then, as a result of a misunderstanding about the GRE as well as several new stressors I did not have before (my house recently burnt down, my family's business was failing, etc., etc.), I missed the test deadline. This fall, my business had failed, none of my family were employed, my assets were stolen, and and money I did make went to paying bills or my internet. I was too poor to afford graduate school application or GRE fees, which are actually quite expensive.

I witnessed a practical application of the lesson "life is not fair".

[Redrover]

BS in Education

Working as an executive assistant in an oil and gas company

[titan78]

Originally Posted by Dr_Pepper

NO HS Diploma/GED. ...long story.

$7.75/hr Executive Assistant. Have had this job since I was 17, and have been promoted twice.

I'm currently working toward both my AA (Dec '11) and BA (May '12).

How are you in a degree program without at least a GED? I don't think any accredited college would accept someone without a HSD or GED.

[Braunwyn]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

Education:

High School Diploma
B.A. in Languages and International Studies with a minor in Spanish

Working as:

Night shelf stocker

I was planning on applying to graduate school and getting a master's degree or even a doctorate in my junior and senior years of college. I was still unsure of what I wanted to do, although I had my schools and programs picked out (I was applying to programs in Geography, Anthropology, and International Relations). Then my life turned on its head, literally, as I was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. I had it partially removed, went back to school within a month, started chemotherapy (in the form of a pill you take at night, not anything dramatic), graduated on time with a summa *** laude, and restarted the process the next fall. Then, as a result of a misunderstanding about the GRE as well as several new stressors I did not have before (my house recently burnt down, my family's business was failing, etc., etc.), I missed the test deadline. This fall, my business had failed, none of my family were employed, my assets were stolen, and and money I did make went to paying bills or my internet. I was too poor to afford graduate school application or GRE fees, which are actually quite expensive.

I witnessed a practical application of the lesson "life is not fair".

Wow, I'm so sorry. That's rough.

[jane_sm1th73]

Originally Posted by Gatornation

Looking at your other posts it's kind of clear why you are responding this way. Your other post talks about being 36 and making 50k. The average salary for a man with a masters is 61k. Now that is the average person and that data includes people who went to any school. Ones who went to top schools like you did surely are making much more than 61k on average.

So again going back to the point of individual examples not being very useful. You mention how you are probably making less than Andy. Well of course, you are making as much as the average person with a bachelors. So using yourself as a representative of top schools or your Ivy buddy making 42k is useless. You both are outliers who earn much less than most of the people with similar degrees and education.

It's the same as using someone like Andy to as an example of a HS graduate. He is much more successful than the average HS graduate can hope to be.

IMHO, in this economy, we should all be grateful to have a paycheck, PERIOD.

[MAXIALE02]

Associate in Science in1996

Working as a radiographer ever since. Paid well but pay depends on how long you stay at a facility. Looking for a change (DH thinks I'm nuts because I quit my job). Been there for 10 months. I told my boss that I wasn't performing in the capacity he hired me and lacked the motivation to get better. The next day, I get a call from the local college asking me to be a clinical coordinator (go figure). The pay is less, but it's less stress, less risk and still a living wage. I've always been a hard worker and I guess they saw something in me worth salvaging. When I was younger I used to burn the midnight oil and now I'm just burned out. Luckily I get along well with others and the students recommended me based on my helping them at the job i quit. And I ask god for guidance daily.

I agree, you can't teach work ethic and perseverance in college. If you're lucky, you came from the good gene pool.

Lastly, I'm kinda scared because the field is finally over saturated and like other fields, the quality is being watered down. I'm preparing for Act 2.