Re: Do you need a degree?

[Sella Rush <SellaR -at- APPTECHSYS -dot- COM>]

I've often felt that the degree requirement was simply that age-old
tendency to choose people who are like ourselves.  It's what the old boy
network was all about, after all.  We tend to feel most comfortable with
people of similar backgrounds--and managers probably feel better able to
judge people like themselves.

It's not a particularly admirable tendency, but it is pervasive.
Everyone plays on it--some people put their hobbies on their resumes, or
make a point to bring them up in the interview.  Partly to provide a
deeper view of their character, but also to open the possibility of
having something in common.  We talk about it on this list all the
time--those with nerf ball guns in their offices are not going to call
up for a job those who think indexing jokes are "unprofessional," and
I'm certainly not interested in working for someone who thinks the fact
that I write (but haven't published) fiction makes me a lousy no-good
bum.

So when we see a degree requirement--find out why.  Maybe there are
other ways to establish common ground.

NOTE:  those big corps with HR departments aren't going to waive the
degree requirement--unless of course you already know the right people.
For three possible reasons:  first because some muckety-muck VP who went
to Harvard or MIT set the standards; second, because, like Tracy pointed
out, it upsets their little salary standards and threatens their
hierarchy; and third, which I experienced, because their government
contracts allow them to charge a higher rate depending on the number of
degreed people and type of degrees.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sella Rush
sellar -at- apptechsys -dot- com
Applied Technical Systems, Inc. (ATS)
Bremerton, Washington USA
Developers of the CCM Database

> ----------
> From:         Wayne Douglass[SMTP:wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM]
> Reply To:     Wayne Douglass
> Sent:         Friday, July 11, 1997 10:48 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: Do you need a degree?
>
> At 12:29 PM 7/11/97 -0400, Mary wrote:
> >Another possibility:  Those involved in the hiring process,
> >particularly other writers who interview you, might be of
> >the mindset that "I finished *my* degree in preparation
> >for the job, so they should have to have finished *their*
> >degrees, too!"  (Not always a fair or valid point of view,
> >but I've encountered that mindset at more than one
> >company.)
> >
> I call this the Hazing Ritual Mentality.
>
> --Wayne
>

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html