mrken30

I have been seeing more and more jobs that previously just required a Bachelors Degree now requiring a Masters. This is the same job, why the change in academic requirements? I am not going to go out and do a Masters , just so that I can have the same job. Has anyone else noticed this trend?

chawkins99

It's just a way to reduce the pool of applicants.

With the majority of kids going to college these days, a job requiring a degree that 15 years ago attracted 15-20 applications, now receives 100+.

A bachelors degree just doesn't have the reputation it used to have.

Some kids at my daughter's college had been at it for 5 or 6 years before graduating.

mrken30

I noticed some used to say or equivalent, where they would take years of experience in lieu of certain academic qualifications. I do know a lot of H1-Bs do have a masters. In the UK , no qualification was required. Very different environment.

ian-mstm

And that's exactly why they're doing it. As chawkins99 notes, it'll decrease the applicant pool.

Ian

mrken30

For better or worse I guess. Seems shortsighted that they would excluded someone with a Bachelors and 30 years of experience. Lot of these jobs are staying open for 6+ months.

tom169

Try create a connection with someone in recruiting or hr for the company.

That's what has always worked for me.

Last two jobs I've had have said they require higher education than I have.

Hiro11

I work for a well-known Fortune 500 company. The vast majority of entry-level jobs here don't require graduate degrees. These include up to Project Manager-level exempt roles. However, for more senior strategy / project management / technology leadership /personnel management roles a graduate degree is frequently a requirement. We also have several entry level (but highly compensated) rotational programs for recently graduated MBAs from top schools (HBS, Booth, Stanford, Kellogg etc). These MBA programs serve as a fast-track into more senior positions. I'd say the majority of people here at the Senior Manager or above level have a graduate degree (MBA, engineering, finance / accounting, MIS etc). This is a bias of my company's culture, though. Many other companies around here don't emphasize graduate degrees.

PetrifiedExPat

Absolutely, and with the current climate of encouraging almost everyone to go to college (regardless of their career goals and/or needs), it will escalate even further. I predict it will go further up the chain (PhD, MD et al) in 10-20 years, then total saturation will be reached. The solution? No idea..

Small sample size, but, two close friends of mine left school 18 and became very successful plumbers and graphic designers, respectively. Salaries in the 70k GBP range.

Overall point being is that I imagine, as others have noted, it reduces the candidate pool. Education is entering a new era, thats for sure..

scrubbedexpat027

I agree. Nobody is owed anything by any company. If they want to hold out for the best employees then good for them.

It's essentially an attitude check though. If the initial reaction is 'no way am I doing that' then they're better off without you.

I did a masters before getting my job in the US (even though I didn't have to with 14 yrs specialized experience at the time) because it would reduce my time to get a GC.

If you want something badly enough, you'll do whatever it takes.

mrken30

Doing a Master would be purely economic. I know my qualifications have expired in the UK, so I would need to do another BEng or maybe something different in order to do a masters. I had 16 years in which to do it and that opportunity has now gone. I think in the US , qualifications do not expire for continued education.

retzie

The best thing is that graduate programs can often demand higher fees as well

A lot of academics are clinging to the idea that PhDs won't get dragged into this mess, which may be a pipe dream. My money's on 'professional doctorates' being the next stage: mainly coursework and no requirement for original research*. This has been standard in medicine and law forever (MD, JD), but it has started creeping into other professions.



*i.e., what everyone used to call a masters program...

PetrifiedExPat

Absolutely agree, although, I was lucky in that industry (Masters) and UK government stipend (PhD) paid for my continued education. I believe that is long gone, esp. as pressure mounts with increasing candidates. Much like free tuition was scrapped for Ba/BSc programs back in the day.

I believe that the higher professional degrees will be affected, since, where else can the candidates funnel, too?

PetrifiedExPat

I learnt something new, today. Do qualifications really expire (EDIT: in terms of being eligible for further education)? Had not heard of that before, and ashamed for it!

scrubbedexpat091

They do sometimes in Canada depending on various things, many colleges/universities will require academic upgrading if it's been more then 5 years since one has been in school.



Trades needs to be encouraged more, instead of trying to funnel every high school student into college, trades needs to be encouraged, at least in regions where trades are in demand and short supply.

In British Columbia where I am some trades you can become qualified in with little to no money between the grants provided and paid apprenticeships.