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Anonymous
07/13/20 at 1:52AM UTC (Edited)
in
Career

College selections

I am a 33 year old with 17 years of professional experience, but only a HS diploma. Lacking higher eduction has always been a pain point for me and as I grow increasingly unhappy in my current position, I am beginning to find that so many positions are requiring a Bachelors and very few recruiters or hiring managers are valuing the work experience I do have. I strive to want to continue to grow professionally and expand my skill utilization and know that it is not going to happen under my current leadership. I have the support of my spouse to go back to school but I find myself questioning what kind of college is going to get me the attention for the positions I’d like to achieve. I do have two young teens that I’d like to enjoy my last years with before they are off to college themselves so I learn toward online-based schools for the flexibility, but worry it won’t be taken seriously. I am also considering a transfer option to start with a local community college and gaining an Associates of Arts - Business and finishing at a bigger name University with a Bachelors in Business Management. Does anyone have any insight on what recruiters and hiring managers REALLY want to see. Is there a preference, or if I can show I achieved the degree, is that sufficient enough? The majority of my professional career has been spent on the real estate sector in sale operations management and more recently in Property Management as an Operations and Efficiency Manager.

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Laura McCann
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325
Driving results through people engagement
07/14/20 at 5:38PM UTC
Being able to do online courses is a huge exciting area. We do require degrees for certain roles and it's much easier to move forward when you get your foot in the door.
Monique Rinere
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28
Helping parents help teens succeed.
07/14/20 at 4:56PM UTC
You're in luck, since this fall most universities are online anyway! Non-traditional students (as college students over 22 are called in the business) are now the majority undergraduate population in our country! I went back to college at 28 and found the city university (I live in NY) to be the perfect place for me. The evening classes were designed more for older students. I took the number of courses I could manage, both time-wise and financially. It was a great experience. They do say that education is wasted on the young! You might be at just the right point in your life to dive in. Good luck!
Clydene Horrigan
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782
Process improvement is my game
07/15/20 at 2:52AM UTC
Education is wasted on the young! I got my degree at 40 - online.
Lady Pele
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3.96k
Retired Project Manager
07/13/20 at 1:56PM UTC
Many companies say "xx degree or equivalent experience", so it's good that you're applying for anything you feel qualified for. If asked about the degree in the interview, you can honestly say that you have been evaluating different education options and ask them for their opinion on colleges/universities.
Jackie Ghedine
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5.81k
Coach for Gen X Women | Jack Russell of Humans
07/13/20 at 11:10AM UTC
Is getting a degree what you want or is it something you believe you need in order to advance? If it's the latter, it's a story you're telling yourself and it can keep you stuck. I agree with Corina, apply for jobs that require a degree anyway and lean on your experience and expertise in the interview. Head into the conversation with conviction about your skills and how they will benefit the organization instead of worrying about the idea that a degree may come up and how to combat that. Confidence beats competence any day of the week, so head into conversations with both.
Anonymous
07/13/20 at 12:04PM UTC
It is a little of both. I've been actively applying to every position I feel qualified for (despite not having a degree) and have interest in. I've been on a number of interviews and the topic of a degree has come up in each of them asking if I have intentions to obtain my degree. There is a part of me that also would like to do it and be the first in my family to complete this, and complete it just for myself and eliminate it as an insecurity. I have also found that the positions that I've been interviewed for are not at the paying point that I need to be at, and the ones that are, I am not getting responses or request for interviews.
Corina
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855
07/13/20 at 7:23AM UTC
Hello! I understand you completely. I haven't graduated either, however I was able to climb the corporate ladder when I realized that there are many employers there that don't care about degrees but they care about how you can actually help solve their pain points. If I were you, I would apply to jobs that require a degree, as long as the other requirements suit your background. This is what I did. Good luck!

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