THE BEECHMONT CREST CAREER GUIDE:
SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN THE CORPORATE JUNGLE
Chapter 1: What do Employers Want?
Big companies like big degrees
“'Whom are you?' he asked, for he had attended business college.”
-George Ade, "The Steel Box", 1898
Remember the list of the four basic qualifications? Large companies tend to emphasize formal education more than small organizations. In fact, an advanced degree is often mandatory for career advancement in the Fortune 500.
An advanced degree can even be a prerequisite for getting hired. And in some cases, not just any advanced degree will do. An acquaintance of mine who interviewed for a marketing position at a well known Fortune 500 firm was told that the company preferred to hire “graduates of the top twenty MBA programs.”
Conversely, many small organizations place little emphasis on the origin or content of a candidate’s sheepskin. Their needs are more practical and immediate. The smaller the company, the less likely they are to need regression analysis, supply curve charts, or present value calculations. Abstract theoretical and forecasting skills would likely be wasted in these organizations.
What a small company does need is someone who can hit the ground running. Small companies operate on smaller cash reserves than their larger brethren. They can’t afford to hire someone on the merits of his or her “potential.” The optimal new hire is one with a proven track record, who can produce immediate results. Therefore, a resume with extensive job experience carries more weight than a resume loaded with academic credentials.
Small companies also worry about hiring someone who may exhibit a prima donna complex. Although small companies have formal hierarchies and organizational structures, rank becomes provisionally immaterial when there is a crisis (and small companies, on average, experience more crises than larger ones). Managers and salaried professionals at small companies regularly get their hands dirty performing menial tasks that would be routinely delegated to legions of underlings at a Fortune 500 firm. Rightly or wrongly, there is a widespread perception that highly educated candidates will balk at doing their own data entry, or supplementing the hourly staff when there is rush shipment to get out the door.
In fact, an education-heavy resume can sometimes be a disadvantage when applying for a position at a smaller company. Hiring managers at smaller companies often assume that an applicant with an advanced degree will be too expensive to hire, will be too theory-bound, and will leave for the first chance at a fast-track position in a larger organization.
"We don’t need any master’s degrees." Master’s degrees have the greatest clout with hiring managers who themselves hold master’s degrees. Managers at smaller companies often don’t hold this credential—and many of them bristle at the notion that a candidate with a master’s degree should automatically command a premium. I once heard the CEO of a medium-sized automotive components firm declare, “We don’t need any masters degrees” when reviewing applicants’ resumes for a sales and marketing position.
Counterpoint: The Averages Favor Workers with Advanced Degrees.
“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't.”
-Pete Seeger
The above section should not be read as an indictment of the master’s degree. Some advanced degrees (MBAs, in particular) do not command the premiums that they once did. On balance, however, it is still better to have a master’s degree than to not have one. Not every employer will be willing to pay extra for your advanced degree, but there is another perspective to consider: Which is worse—to be perceived as overqualified for a lower paying job, or to be perceived as unqualified for a higher paying one?
On average, workers who hold advanced degrees enjoy higher incomes. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, workers with master’s degrees earn about 27% more than workers who hold only a bachelor’s degree. Workers with Ph.D.s earn about 40% more than workers who hold only a B.A. or B.S.
However, these differentials do not hold across all fields. Moreover, earning a master’s degree involves significant costs. In addition to the direct investment in time and tuition, you may also have to incur an opportunity cost. If you take a two-year hiatus from fulltime work to earn a master’s degree, then you need to include these two years of forfeited earnings when you calculate the overall cost of earning the degree.
The important point here is that you should perform a cost/benefit analysis before investing the time and money needed to earn a master’s degree. Research the demand for master’s degrees among employers in your particular field, and the salary differential between your colleagues with master’s degrees and bachelor’s degrees. Then ask: How long will it take you to recoup the costs? And how much will the overall earnings impact be over the rest of your working career?
Get it?—Yes. Flaunt it?—No. CPAs and M.D.s regularly include their professional titles with their signatures (ex: Ann Riley, M.D.) An October 18, 2004 article in the online version of Fortune.com (“Where Not To Flaunt Your MBA” by Anne Fisher) cautioned readers with MBAs and Ph.D.s to follow suit. The article quotes San Francisco executive recruiter Jon Holman, who says "I cannot imagine a bigger business gaffe than to put 'MBA' after one's signature."
Copyright 2006 Beechmont Crest Publishing