Free Career and Job Search Advice

[vishi]

Is it possible? I just turned 40 with no "formal" (4 yr) college education, However, I have many years of "on-the-job" experience, which I believe makes up the lack of "college".

Here's the problem: When applying for a position I know I am well qualified for, my application and/or resume doesn't get a second look due to the lack of "formal" education and, if an interview is scheduled, the "education" (or lack there of) is usually one of the first topics that is brought up.

I have been able to talk about "life experience" and try to approach things from a "mature" standpoint, but it doesn't seem to work.

Can you help me figure a way to impress upon the interviewer that life experience is worth alot as well?

[abhi]

There are two ways to handle this sort of situation.

The first is to simply place a section on your resume that says, "Education" and accompany it with a "My College, B.A." No date. Now, that isn't true but no one will ever check it unless the job you're going for requires a B.A. The reason no one will ever check it is you're, by your own admission, forty and you would have been out of school for more than twnety years. The other way it will be checked is if you go after a job in the CIA or FBI, where they'll do an in-depth security check. You must be willing to not tell the truth here, I acknowledge that, but it will remove the problem.

The second is to find out what the problem behind their job is and show how you, only you, can solve it better than anyone else. Then they won't care if you have a formal education or not. This requires understanding that a job always represents a problem that has to be solved for the employer; I've explained this in a prior issue of a newsletter I send out and would be glad to send it to anyone who e-mails me for it.

I also suspect that there may be more to your being asked about your education than you have explained in your letter. In most of my clients' experience, education does not come up as a discussion point unless it bears directly on the job qualifications, as in a community college job.

[Chris]

Let's draw a few distinctions here, emotions aside:

Case #1 is a job that absolutely demands a degree or certification. This could be a teaching credential, an EE degree, a PhD in physics, Sigma Six credentials, a PMI certification. It's specialized and it will always be checked.

Case #2 is if you apply for a job with the FBI, the CIA, a government agency, or a firm that requires a security clearance. This will always be checked and any lie or fudging will be outed.

Case #3 is where a BA degree is asked for or preferred but it will possibly be irrelevant if you have the ten to twenty years of good work experience that screams out how proficient you are in your particular discipline.

Case #4 is when nothing is said about the degree.

Analyze each job listing with this in mind. And remember, as Shakespeare states, All's fair in love and war. My son used to protest, It's not fair. He got tired of having me agree with him.

[vishi]

Thanks for your advice! I would like to receive that back copy you refered to.

There are 2 particular incidents that this issue came up. Both times when dealing with the state unemployment department and their job referal program. The listings included (Associates degree "prefered").

The lady doing the referal refused to release the information on the job because I lacked the "formal" education requested by the employer. I pointed out to her that it was only "prefered", not required and that my experience through the years more than made up for the education level requested.

However, she remained firm. Needless to say, it was a very frustrating time for me, as I am re-entering the workforce after having a very long-term position in which the employer I was working for has closed the business.

The hunt continues,

[jobseeker1]

Maybe it's just me, but I think you should never lie, even a white lie, on a resume. The Coach is probably right that most of the time your credentials won't be checked, but what if they are? Being a 43 year old honest person who spent almost 10 years NOT finishing college, it would hurt me to the core for anyone to doubt that I was as honest as I think I am. I always put "some college" because it is true, but I also make sure I put NO DEGREE. Also, you could never be sure that the word about you would not "get out". Perhaps you should try a different approach. Instead of trying to explain how your life experiences can meet the needs of your job application, perhaps you should look at them in terms of what jobs flow naturally out of your life experiences. As a Network Admin, I would find it difficult to fill a resume with only experiences that show me to be a dedicated, hard working, intelligent, loyal, responsible person, without one single reference to "completed MCSA in Windows 2000" or "designed TCP/IP-based networks utilizing Cisco routers", etc. Finally, look into what I call "schooling for school-haters," i.e., try to find cheap quick certification training in whatever field you may wish to pursue, if available.

[jobseeker1]

Perhaps I should not have responded, as this is a forum for Career Professionals to respond to questions, although I have twice ghost-written advice to Network Computing magazine on behalf of a career counselor, and it was an old question. Anyway, the reason I even felt I needed to comment was that it is dangerous (not my opinion), although I expressed a moral judgment, about what I personally would not do and why. I said "you" shouldn't lie, but I meant humanity in general. Also I thought I had offered a constructive alternative of not putting oneself in a position of having to lie. I had just read earlier in the day the book *How To Say It*, by Rosalie Maggio. She quotes Robert Half, founder of Robert Half International, probably not as great a mind as Shakespeare:

"Avoid embellishments, exaggerations, half-truths, and of course outright lies. These are not always discovered, although many companies have resume fact-checkers. If you are found out, you will be immediately dismissed, will suffer at the least a great deal of embarrassment and humiliation, and may be liable to civil charges." (1990, p. 296)

I understood perfectly well what you were talking about when you summarized when someone should be honest and when you advised it was OK not to be honest. My attempts were at humor, not emotionalism. I can certainly understand that if I were a Career Advisor and someone basically accused me of giving unethical advise, I would have to defend my position. I apologize.