Three2Tango, I may be in the minority but I don't feel you were in the wrong for asking your coworker about her degree or lack thereof. I think that political correctness is running rampant in today's workplace (not that I am a part of today's workplace, but I know people who are :D ) so management sort of panicked when she complained that people were wondering about her educational background. Hence the hammer that was dropped on the department.

On the bright side, I think your coworker has answered your initial question! ;)

Ah, youthful crusades are great -- whether you're right or not.

Since you don't appear to want to heed the overwhelming consideration of others -- even though you asked the question -- please consider this which I learned over many long years of painful experience, and at least one lost job:

Managers get to manage, which includes hire and fire.

Workers get to do what the managers tell them to -- until they get to be managers themselves and then get PO'd when workers go on youthful crusades.

Are you ready to put your job on the line or create the impression that you're a troublemaker? Think this over carefully.

I really am shocked that you'd post something asking for opinions, when you're totally unwilling to listen to dissenting views.

It seems that the entire problem here is you feeling superior to the woman because you have a degree - somehow, you are connecting her promotion with a lessened value to your diploma, and you're making this personal. You asked a point-blank, uncomfortable, personal question, and your rationale to explain it away seems weak, to be perfectly honest.

I think you were well outside of usual office decorum here.

Hi. I'm a 23 year old secretary who works for the government. I make $24k a year.

I did three years of school. Dropped out before the fourth to take care of my terminally ill mom. Turns out it's real hard to work a second job (for tuition) and manage school, too.

Boy am I glad I don't have somebody like you at my work making me feel shitty to justify why she thinks she should get a promotion.

If this other girl gets the promotion, it's probably going to be because she's working her ass off, not assuming she's entitled to things because she managed to eke out that four year degree. She probably knows how to interact with her coworkers with maturity and professionalism.

I'd way rather work with the girl WITHOUT the four degree than with you. She sounds like the type to pull her weight and not complain. A degree is great and very useful -- but with interpersonal skills like the ones you're describing, you're not going to get very far.

In the real world, you're right...you get the degree, you find the positions that require the degree...not all government offices run this way...in fact, many are so dysfunctional that you don't need a degree at all!

The last state job I held, I received a promotion upon completing my Master's degree, because my office was looking to refill a position after someone left. Another member of the office believed she was entitled to the position due to seniority. The management said, "No, AChiO has the degree, we're going to give her the slot." Needless to say that this other person wasn't happy and called in a 5-month disability leave (I never saw this person the whole time I was working in my new position!).

Upon my finding a new job (one that was less dysnfunctional!), I later learned the management ended up hiring this person into my slot!! This person had no degree!!! For a Master's level position!! Yeah it chapped my hide a bit knowing how I worked my butt off for the Master's and the slot only to find out someone with less qualifications was eventually given that position who held no degree....but in the end I know I have the degree....that person still has MANY problems and still no degree!

So what I'm saying is that you may feeling you're more qualified (and you probably are!!!!!!), but ultimately it doesn't matter in government jobs...it's who can kiss butt better and who can make the boss look better in the end....that's what it's all about! 15 years of experience taught me that...that's why I got out!

If it is REQUIRED that the job in question have a degree - the same as you're REQUIRED to have an Act 30 clearance to teach - do you think your boss is going to be dumb enough to put THEIR job on the line and put someone in the position who doesn't have a degree?

I doubt it.

However, if it's not really a lawful requirement, you just need to suck it up and move on.

There is no answer. That's what people here aren't telling you.

It depends on the environment, the people, etc.

Since you had this experience, I guess you know that you can't ask questions like this with that boss at this office.

Perhaps it'll be different next time. :)

-Rudey

i think its telling that the only person who really agrees with you is admittedly not a part of a professional work place

it was increadibly rude and unprofessional for you to ask a person about their degree status. its not any of your business, and its not going to be any of your business until you are a manager overseeing her.

i also agree with your manager calling you out on it.

i thought about this for a little bit, and i was about to say that i thought it would be slightly (very slightly) ok if you guys were going for the same position and she won it, but then i completely decided against it. if she got a position that you did not get, it would be appropriate for you to ask your manager what made her more qualified for the job than you, and what improvements can you make to ensure that you will not be passed up the next time a position comes up. but beyond that, its not really any of your business.

at my company i've seen mba's passed up more than a few times for promotions for just bachelors degree holders. why? because the people who earned the promotion spent the time working their asses off to get their promotion.

maybe you should spend less time worrying about other people, and spend more time working towards your next career step

Again, it's OK for some people. I guarantee I work in a much more formal setting than most people on GC and I talk about stuff like that all the time.

-Rudey

Sometimes we get a little over-proud of our degrees.

I also dropped out of college with one quarter left to go to take a TV director position at a station where I had worked over a couple of summers. It was a real coup to get the job with as little "real" experience as I had.

Of four of us directors, one had a Masters, two had Bachelors degrees -- and me.

Within six months, I was directing the 6:00 and 11:00 PM News which were the two most important programs on the station. I didn't have a degree, but was a better director.

By the time I finished my BSC some twenty years later I was running the Production Department at a top 20 market NBC Owned and Operated TV station, Freelance directing NFL Football for NBC Sports and teaching a class in sports production at The University of Colorado at Boulder.

Actually, I wouldn't have bothered finishing if it hadn't felt like a sentence in my life that didn't have a period at the end.

College degrees are very important and I highly recommend them -- but they don't necessarily make you a better employee.

This is Political Job 101 - it's not what you know so much as who you know (and what you can do for your boss/manager).

Political Job 102 - do you get along, or do you cause problems? Frankly, most politicians don't care if you have an MBA with a Doctorate in Quantum Physics - can you do the job and keep the office running smoothly?


In no way am I saying that the system is right, but that's the way the system is. I've worked several summers in governmental offices, and had a political job when I got out of school, so I know the system.

Nobody but you can decide whether or not you can handle this position as it stands. If you can't, start applying elsewhere. Hanging your degree is going to cause more problems than a nailhole in the wall!

Geez, I'm not a complete workplace ignoramous! I'm just not working at this time. But I did used to have a career. I had a secretary and everything! :)

ETA: I'm just playing around, aphigirly :)

******************************************

What people aren't seeng is that the job requires a Bachelor's Degree. So, if the young woman without one gets the job, that's not right. I know that experience matters, but if a job posting says that someone needs that piece of paper then someone without one should not be considered.

Look at it this way. Someone who is an EMT or nurse for 30 years might know more medicine than someone who received their MD yesterday. But, only one of them is a physician.

Or a longtime paralegal might be well-versed in law but did not graduate from law school so is not a lawyer.

Everyone has a valid opinion, but this just makes the most sense to me. Plus, it's the most fair (not that that usually matters in the office)

Unless the job posting says, "Bachelor's degree -- or equivalent." In which case, if the applicant had the equivalent amount of experience (depending on the job, probably 2-3 years), but not the bachelor's degree, then OP has less of a right to be angry.

Oh, absolutely! I'm definitely not disputing that; that's a whole other ball of wax. I can't get back to the original post from this screen, but I *think* the poster said Bachelor's degree.

My father retired from Ford after 35+ years. He started as a plant forman, and his last position was the supervisor of stamping and planning (his boss answered to the VP, the VP answered to the CEO). He was promoted to the suprvisor position about 10 years before he retired. That position had a requirement of being an engineer. My dad had a BA in education from 1969. Sometimes, someone is better than you and their experience far outweighs the degree requirement. It's going to happen in all sorts of working environments for the rest of your life, so you should probably get used to it.

As far as asking her, given the situation, I don't think it was a wise move. It does make you look like a nit-picky, nosey person. That being said, I don't think she needed to run and tell the boss either.