More Education & Experience=Less Opportunities?!

[winneythepooh7]

Has anyone working in a specialized field noticed the trend of hiring less educated and less qualified staff for what can only be IMO to pay them less?

I went on an interview today where they advertised they were hiring an MSW (Master's level Social Worker) and it was a group interview and only 2 of us had our MSW. Some were still working on it, some had only a degree in Psychology, some had a degree in Education. Also there were 10 of us at the interview and about half were not even LIVING in NYC at this time.

I walked out of there feeling very discouraged. I feel like I wasted close to 80K getting a degree for a job that people with a BA or less are being given, or people who are not even a Social Worker are being given. I am feeling like the more education and experience I get, the less opportunities are available I am not feeling very happy right now. I know it's not just me either because many of my colleagues are feeling the same way Also, it is really upsetting that I have been living in NYC since 1999 and I am extremely knowledgeable of the areas and services available and I have to compete with people who are not even living here and may or may not have the same level of knowledge in this area

I have no idea whether or not I got the job.....................

Does this happen in other fields? How do you keep yourself from getting discouraged?

[ADPiAkron]

I totally feel the same way as my boss only has a Bachelor's Degree and I have a Master's Degree (she graduated the same day I graduated with my masters). She was hired after me and is my boss!?

Not to harp on that but I totally agree about the education issue. This day in age with jobs being slim for the pickens they do not really care what education you have unless it is required to do the job (i.e. lawyer, doctor, etc). So people with experience are more likely to get the job vs. education....and with the lack of money in the economy they will pay who ever will work for the cheapest I think!

But I have never heard of a job requiring something and them hiring someone with less experience/education...that is definitely not right!

They want their workers college educated but the college educated seems to get screwed in the deal!!!

[SilverTurtle]

A couple I'm friends with recently moved to Alabama. He got a really cushy job doing science research stuff. (He has a masters). She received her masters in social work a couple of months before they moved. Last I heard, she still hasn't found a job in her field, because everyone is hiring people with only a Bachelor's. Luckily, he makes enough to support them both, and I think she's been working part time just to have something to do until she gets something.

But on the flip side of the coin, my mom only has her high school diploma (not so uncommon for graduating in 1967). A few years after she was hired on at her current company (a newspaper), they instituted a policy that they would only hire people with a minimum of a Bachelor's degree. It doesn't have to be in their field, just a degree. When she applied for a promotion to an editorial position, she was turned down. Her boss, who was hiring for that position, actually said to her, "You are the most qualified person for this job and would do the best. But I can't hire you because you don't have a degree." Her company doesn't offer any tuition assistance or anything, even, for her to go to school.

So I think that black and white policies, unless in the case of something like doctors or lawyers, definately have their flaws. I think each candidate for a job needs to be weighed on their personal merits. If that extra education will be a big advantage, it should weigh heavily. But, in my mom's case, it was just "policy"- a policy that meant they paid more for someone who wasn't the best choice. Kind of stupid from a business stand point.

[kateshort]

Originally posted by ADPiAkron
But I have never heard of a job requiring something and them hiring someone with less experience/education...that is definitely not right!

It happens, and kind of happened with me.

I was hired for a one-year-only position as a library media specialist in a middle school when I didn't have any library coursework, and had never worked in a library. They hired me based on my two degrees, my experience with computers, and my enthusiasm and my really good interview. (I had a certificate to teach MS-HS English and had BA English and MATeaching English.)

Two months into it, I knew that it was the career for me, and started library school. I interviewed at three places that summer, even though I wouldn't have my media endorsement that fall. One hired me, and I got a one-year waiver to complete my library media endorsement at the middle school level. [Some of my colleages were *shocked* to find out that I wasn't "highly qualified to teach in my area"-- they wouldn't have known otherwise! They didn't mind, because they and I worked well together and I knew exactly what I was doing.]

I completed my it, and took another full year to finish my degree and get my K-12 certificate.

Same thing just happened with my husband-- the lead cataloger at our library resigned, and my husband was hired from within the department, even though he doesn't graduate and get his MLIS until May, because he is such a strong fit with that staff and because he knows his stuff cold.

I served on an interview panel (myself, a 6th grade teacher, and our new principal) to hire a new teacher this year. We had three very good candidates, but in the end it came down to which one we thought would have the right mix of leadership and gentleness to work with the other (right-out-of-school) person on our team. One was a very strong candidate, but rushed out as though she was headed to another interview, which totally changed our impression of her the moment she did that.

I guess it's kind of like recruitment. You can be a PNM legacy with two recs, but if you don't really click with that chapter on that campus, you simply won't get a bid. OTOH, you can be a PNM with no greek ties and no recs who just absolutely knocks people's socks off.

In the end, some companies would rather have someone who's on their way towards the degree, and who has the right chemistry to fit the current management and department structure, and whom they feel they can train to meet their needs, standards, etc. As long as you can meet their criteria within the next 6-12 months, it's just the same. If you can't meet that, then you may be let go.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

Well, if I were you, I would start by working on your grammar. I am going to get flamed for this, but an education doesn't mean a hill of beans if you can not communicate effectively, and a phrase like "less opportunites" makes me cringe.

[trisigmaAtl]

.

[winneythepooh7]

Well luckily in my field (at least in NYS) a licensing law is going into effect this Sept. That should make things a little better at least. I think that the "better" jobs will hire Social Workers who are licensed anyway. Unfortunately non-profits since they don't have as much $$$$$, are not unionized, etc., don't always have this option. In the end, it's always the clients who get screwed by incompetent staff because of reasons like this. It's too early in the morning to vent about the horrible things I've seen because of this, and current messes I am cleaning up right now by former co-workers who lacked both the education and experience and called themselves a "Social Worker".................