Strange question, maybe, but have you ever felt like your college degree was a liability?

[Tobin S.]

I can't prove it in a legal way, but I'm pretty sure that it was by making a certain person aware of my college degree at my last employer that I lost that job. I just mentioned in passing when I was telling him about my job searches before I landed there. I later realized that that person saw me as a threat to the advancement of his career. He was in a position to influence HR about whether I stayed or not. It did not matter what I did or how good a worker I was after that point. My job there was doomed.

That's why my termination there totally blind-sided me. I thought I was doing a good job. I was doing everything that was asked of me. I wasn't screwing up. I was never warned or written up. It was just out of the blue, "We don't like your job performance and we're going to have to let you go."

For that reason, I'm not revealing the fact that I'm college educated to fellow employees from now on. If it's not relevant to the position, I'm not talking about it.

[Kali]

1. I have seen it mentioned any number of times

people pretty desperate for a job saying they didn't get it because they were determined to be "overqualified" - so yeah I am sure it could be a liability in some circles for sure.

[stopbush]

2. My experience is that the opposite is true.

[elleng]

3. No, Tobin,

but I'm way older than you, and times and people have changed.

Had no idea what I'd do with my b.a. degree after college, went to Chicago and stayed with a friend studying at U.Chicago, resulted in me getting job for attorneys, and I thereafter followed suit; no feelings of me challenging them at all. Lucky me, I guess.

[cwydro]

4. Nope.

Never.

[lastlib]

5. While I didn't get a law degree.....

I have often felt that my legal education was detrimental to getting jobs I wanted. I've had a strong feeling that I would be deemed over-qualified for what I was applying for if the employer knew that I had legal education. I generally list it on my resume as "additional business management/administration courses" at the particular university I attended. And I don't mention it to my co-workers or managers either. In general, I just try to let my performance on the job speak for itself. Most of them eventually figure out that I'm not an intellectual lightweight.......

[mrmpa]

6. The one thing I would like to point out is..........

if you do omit your BA/BS either on your resume or application form, if your employer does learn about it, they could possibly terminate because of this omission.

[Tobin S.]

8. I've been up front about it with HR.

But as far as the people I'm going to be working with every day go, I don't think they need to know.

[hibbing]

7. Nope, but I have not changed jobs a lot n/t

[CanSocDem]

9. I haven't.

Of course, that said 'college degree' made me smart enough not to over-value what I had, in respect to what was needed for the job.



.

[Populist_Prole]

21. Exactly. Dunning-Kruger in reverse

I've had to work with ( suffer through ) some odious co-workers who constantly snarled about how they aren't getting paid any more than the rest of us because they have this or that degree...while demonstrating not one ounce of better proficiency at our tasks than the rest of us. They "worked harder to get here" and thus "deserve" to be compensated more, even if they suck, and despite the fact their degree isn't a requirement.

A friend of mine's wife tells of the exact same dynamic where she works.

[malthaussen]

10. It's situational.

In certain circumstances, the degree would definitely be a liability. In others, it is a necessary pre-requisite. When you're in the former situation, best keep it to yourself.

-- Mal

[cwydro]

16. Exactly. I've worked in white collar and blue collar positions.

In the white collar positions, we all knew that we all were college grads, so there was simply no reason to discuss it.

In the blue collar positions, I never felt the need to advertise my academic credentials because really, who cares?

[NightWatcher]

11. Maybe they thought you were over qualified AND still looking for better work

If you've a Juris Doctorate and apply for a desk clerk job, the employer might assume that you'll only keep the desk job until you find better work and leave. They wouldn't want to waste their time and effort.

[Tobin S.]

13. Then they shouldn't have hired me in the first place.

I gave them no indication that I was looking elsewhere and I wasn't. When I took the job I thought I might be there for the rest of my working career. It turned out that I was only there three months.

[IronLionZion]

12. Yes, petty jealous people exist

if someone doesn't like you for whatever reason, they can have you let go if they have the authority.

I've encountered an anti-education mentality from some folks. Where they say if you have too many degrees/certifications than you probably haven't done enough real work and don't deserve a job. Especially if your education cost a lot of money or if it's not directly relevant to your duties.

Someone with less degrees/certifications may believe the opposite, that not having it could be a liability. And that people don't value their experience.

The truth is probably specific to each case. It depends on people's attitudes and values. There are many different career paths people take. I don't regret my education. That's what my family values and it gave something to apply for jobs with with earlier in my career when I had less experience or wanted to change fields.

[Generic Brad]

14. At times - yes

My Masters degree was a liability when I drove truck and worked temp jobs. Now, decades later, that gave me the skills necessary to go into a different field, master it, gain even more skills, and become extremely valuable. It is now an asset. Hang in there and put what you learned to good use.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

15. I was given advice from a professional career counselor

On an application where the requested information may be interpreted as a negative, might not be legal as a pre-employment question or even seems superfluous to the position for which you're applying, answer the question with "N/A" or "not applicable". This allows the hiring activity to interpret the answer as they wish, investigate further or ask about it during an interview.

Always consider any communication between yourself and a company that you're being considered for hire as an interview. If you apply to a large company with a number of HR folks, chances are good that they have "a hiring process". The process probably involves a few people that have as their mission the weeding out of the easy "bad fits". Sometimes these folks have absolutely no idea what you do, how to interpret your experience and/or no familiarity with some of the tasks for which you'll be responsible if hired.

A landmine on some apps is the "expected salary" blank. I make it a habit to NEVER answer that. Mostly I don't apply for anything without knowing if the pay fits my needs. Sometimes that gets complicated when benefits are included that have to pay no now.

If you get hired on a trial or provisional basis (where the trial period includes a pay raise at the end) and you have to hunt down the folks to make that happen, keep looking. That is company that doesn't value its employees.

[Paladin]

17. Never. Not even once. (nt)

[Cairycat]

18. I have been harrassed on two different jobs because I had a degree

by co-workers who did not. I do not believe, nor do I believe I act as though I believe, that my education makes me superior. There are some people who just feel inadequate if they don't have the same level of education.

Since it's not always easy to tell who these people are, or what kind of trouble they may make for you, your position of not revealing your education is a wise one.

[benld74]

19. I could tell tales to curl your hair

[progressoid]

20. It's a problem in police departments

The standard range of scores applied for police officers is a score between 20 and 27. According to ABC News, The average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an IQ of 104, or just a little above average. A perfect score on the Wonderlic is a 50.

On March 16, 1996 Robert Jordan from Connecticut, and 500 others underwent a written screening process which included the Wonderlic Test, conducted by the Law Enforcement Council of Southeastern Connecticut, Inc. (“LEC”), a coalition of fourteen cities and towns, in order to apply for a position as a police officer.

Several months later Jordan learned that the city of New London started interviewing candidates. After not hearing from them, Jordan inquired as to why he was passed over.

Jordan eventually learned from assistant city manager Keith Harrigan that he would not be interviewed because he “didn’t fit the profile.”

Thinking it was obviously age discrimination because he was 46 at the time, Jordan filed an administrative complaint with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.

The response that he received was completely out of left field. The city responded that it removed Jordan from consideration because he scored a 33 on the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test, and that to prevent frequent job turnover caused by hiring overqualified applicants the city only interviewed candidates who scored between 20 and 27.


Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/court-police-departments-refuse-hire-smart/#GEMlVRKZAXtz2JDd.99