No Employment for a BCMA with 20 year experience

[rfwoodvt]

Was cruising through the want ads for fun and saw a Senior Arborist position open.

As I read through it the required Ed & training were:

Graduate from a Forestry/Arboriculture program with at least xxx years of progressive experience
Current I.S.A. Certification...
A clean Driving record...
First Aid and C.P.R. certified

Sad thing is, I have about 7 years of college under my belt, two AS degrees and a couple of diplomas to boot. However, I do not have a baccalaureate, much less one in forestry or arboriculture.



This isn't the first time I've run into this. I saw a staff/entry level arborist position with similar requirements. I checked and asked if I could still apply given my my lack of degree considering my other credentials.

I was told, no dice, gotta have the degree to apply.

Back when I went to school you could sit for the CPA, Bar and Engineering boards with an AS. Today you cannot even wipe your baby's bottom with one.

Makes me wonder what a lifetime of experience, continuing ed, and international certifications really mean to the people in charge out there.

Apparently nothing.

 

[oldoakman]

Hey Rick,
I hear ya. I feel very fortunate to have the position I do without a BS degree. There have been several positions in other departments that have been lower grade positions that have required a masters degree. Personally I think a degree is good to a point, but should not be the only nor the major criteria. Depending too much on a degree is how we ge duds in positions like school superintendants. BTW, are you looking?

 

[rfwoodvt]

You know, we had engineers here at IBM Essex that put men on the moon with the computers they built.

Most of them them had NO college degree, of those that did have degrees the vast majority had AS degrees with the handful holding a BS, MS or PiledHigherDeeper worked at the upper management levels.

Heck, the machinists had a better practical grasp of trig, algebra, calc, physics, chemestry and metalurgy and calc than many of today's engineers not to mention any other college educated profession.

I remember when those same "uneducated" men were being laid off. It was about the same time that America had to start looking out of country for people smart enough to design domestic micro electronics.

Anyhow, today we seem to have PHD's who's only claim to fame, and hardest thing they ever did, was write some fantasy novel and read it to a review board. Master's who can't write a cogent sentence. Baccalaureates who are as capable of showing initiative as a tween and Associates who couldn't pass an old 5th grade graduation exam.

The minute the committee of "they" made any sort of degree so readily attainable, the quality and value necessarily had to go down. It is simply the law of economics.

The smartest people I know today are still the ones not hindered by higher education! And my best uneducated employees have a better grasp of this job then any college educated idiot.

I'm not against education, I married a doctor and sired at least one up and coming doctor, but they went to school to learn something , not earn a degree. I submit there is a big difference between the two.

OK, I'm off the soap box for a couple

 

[treehumper]

The problem with the degree requirement is it was supposed to be a clear demonstration of one's ability to learn, grasp concepts, commit to something long term provide a standard by which ones knowledge could be ascertained (this is why foreign education is not recognized at face value in North America). Instead it is a lazy approach to hiring. It enables a first pass in screening just to help reduce the number of resumes one need sift through. In reality though, this is really only a limitation in posted job competitions and closed markets, (i.e., union, professional association, government).

If you really do want to get in somewhere, network. It's not who you know, it's who you get to know....


It's amazing the number of people I've met who didn't have the credentials "advertised" but still got in to major companies.

 

[guymayor]

"This isn't the first time I've run into this. I saw a staff/entry level arborist position with similar requirements. I checked and asked if I could still apply given my my lack of degree considering my other credentials.

I was told, no dice, gotta have the degree to apply."

If you really wanted the job i bet you woulda tried harder and broken the barrier. I've shown my 100+ credit hours and certs to break through that barrier, with some persistence.

Dedn't get the job, but it didn't break my heart. but i hear ya re dilution of degrees' importance due to numbers. speaking of numbers my phd wife makes good money but her kids will probably inherit the college loan pmts--staggering.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Treehumper summed it up perfectly...lazy HR and courts that will take on 'bias' hires.

I've hit the 'wooden ceiling' a few times too

 

[Raven]

Maybe that's just not the job you really want anyway.

 

[rfwoodvt]

Nah, wasn't looking to get one is for sure. I was like the kid in signs, "so tucked my hair up under mah hat and I went it to ask him why.."

Just wanted to see how rigid they were.

Still, I find it almost laughable that they required a BS/BA for what amounted to a $10/hour sub-entry level position.

 

[treesandsurf]

I think the number of people graduating with BS/BA degrees has skyrocketed so it has become the standard rather than the exception. It seems to be competitive you need to get some type of postgraduate degree whether a MS or PhD, depending of course on what field you want to go into.

jp

 

[oceans]

[ QUOTE ]
Still, I find it almost laughable that they required a BS/BA for what amounted to a $10/hour sub-entry level position.

[/ QUOTE ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjfn84FcfdM

Dang, Rick. I'm thinking this experience should make you feel more like a rockstar than ever! Heck, even in SE Mass, we make at LEAST $11.00 an hour.