Nickel said:
I don't have a BA.
People constantly say that a degree isn't necessary, however every job I apply for strongly suggests having one. I agree with czygvtwkr, a degree tells me that someone was able to sit in class for 4 years and stay out of an alcoholic coma. At least I can prove I have work ethic...
Ok, the deal is this. This is a very technical area. Admin jobs are strictly overhead for most companies. In other words they do not bring in $$ they cost $$. They are somewhat scarce, yet the pool of people who can do and apply for admin jobs is somewhat large.
My neighbor was out of work for months. I sent her resume to HR along with a referal, nothing. Months passed and still nothing. I went over to HR and spoke to the HR director. We sat down and chatted. She pointed to a stack of papers 4 inches high. "Those are the applications and resumes for the admin job we posted yesterday". She went on to say that for every admin job they post (not that many for a company of 2,000+ because people keep them until they can move up) she gets about 300 applications. They divie them up among 4 or 5 people and crunch it down to about 5 to interview and hire within a week. They do not waste hours of management time on a job that pays $25-$30K and does not bring in revenue. If the applicant is hired and doesn't work out they just fire them and hire one of the 299 others. Because of this there are a significant number of applicants who have degrees, yes many are BA's because BA's are typically useless except in the specific discipline they are from.
Some people with BA's get hired for revenue producing jobs, not because of the degree but because the person they are looking for has experience in the field and happens to have a BA.
Bottom line, on paper you are just another seeker. Without a degree you are overshadowed by other seekers with degrees. You are wrong that a degree "just means they went 4 years in an alcoholic stupor. It means they invested in themselves, have resiliance, can research, write well and can function with minimal supervision, are trainable and have a brain. I would be willing to bet that in a room with 10 people, 5 with degrees and 5 without I could guess who had a degree and who didn't base don a little conversation. There are vast quantities of people out there who are too dumb to pour pee out of a boot and couldn't make it through college. Those are the ones they screen out by taking people with degrees.
If you want to help yourself out you need to network. Bobby Sue's brother in law's sisters cousin who works on the base is not networking. It is making friends with the influential people around, impressing them with your knowledge, demeanor, style and intelligence. Get a degree, I did (even though I cannot spell for crap but my company didn't hire me for my spelling ability) going to night school for EVER. I shuttled my little dude to the neighbors 2 nights a week while I sat in class and sat up the other nights taking classes on the internet. If you are going to get a degree do not do the stupid thing many do and go for the easiest one. AA in general studies will get you laughed at.
College means you will hang with educated people. Educated people hang with smarter people. Smarter people have good jobs. Smart people with good jobs hire smart people with degrees like them.
you keep wishing they would believe you are just as smart and they will keep picking others for jobs. Talk is cheap, proof is in the diploma. there are durhards with degrees too but many fewer than without.
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Our company isn't large enough to support the overhead costs of Admins. We all answer our own phones, make our own copies, file our own papers etc. etc... We even take out our own trash and vacuum our own offices. :shrug:
