Employers feel intimidated by individuals with several academic degrees?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm another one with multiple advanced degrees and I encountered some issues with this when job searching. There were perhaps a couple of employers who seemed intimidated by the many degrees or my age (I was a career changer). I agree that more were just probably confused and wondering if I was flighty and not serious about a career path. I found the best approach was to craft an extremely logical, simple and coherent narrative about why the varying degrees made sense and were part of my development and overall plan. Once I did this my unusual resume became an asset rather than a liability. Good luck to you.

Great answer, PP

I agree with this too. Now I can understand someone with an undergraduate accounting degree followed by a law degree and then an MA in Sociology creating confusion. But the OP can definitely weave a story that ties their experiences together into a coherent package for employers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op unfortunately you'll have to do what I did remove one of 2 of the degrees from your resume and you'll start getting job offers. It worked like magic for me. I only did this to get more experience towards my target professional goal. Yes, I've spoken to hiring managers who are afraid the candidate with more degrees will take over their job especially if the manager only has a bachelors degree. Reality sucks. Play the game and you win in the end. My salary went up way higher from prior job to another when I did this. I finally got the job that was the best fit for me and all my degrees.

I think you're incorrect on this one. First off people aren't typically promoted based on their degrees. Often times a degree lands you a job and your performance is how you're promoted. Or even more common is that your experience lands you a job. I have a bachelor of science and if I didn't hire someone it would be because they don't have the qualifications for the job or I wouldn't work well with them. I would never ever equate their degrees or lack thereof to taking over my job. That's crazy. If anything you may simply be working in an industry where these degrees aren't valued as much as you'd like to think they are. You need your resume to be focused on experience and why you can excel at the job vs a degree which doesn't tell the employer as much about you.

[Anonymous]

I have multiple advanced degrees in different but related fields...including a PhD in physics from Harvard (and an MS in Engineering from another top 5 school), though I'm pretty good at crossing the street

I've never thought/felt that an employer was intimidated by my degrees, and I am also a career changer (twice actually, due to a move necessitated by DH's job and a lack of opportunities in my prior line of work). What I have felt is that employers are concerned about hiring me in a junior position that may be appropriate to my skills/experience in their industry; because, they think that I would probably leave or want to jump to a higher position as soon as I come up to speed in what they do (I've had a recruiter tell me this based only on my degrees, before the interview even began). It's not an unreasonable concern, especially for a smaller employer that may have limited advancement opportunities in the short term. They may also be concerned that you will want a higher salary because of your previous experience, even if it isn't directly relevant to your job...also a valid concern based on age and degree.

I think the PP who talked about crafting a good narrative has a good point. You might also look for programs/fellowships that are specifically designed to help PhDs move into another field (e.g. AAAS policy fellowships or the mini-MBA programs the major consulting firms offer to their new PhD recruits). An alternative is looking for jobs that are closely related to what you do, but provide a stepping stone to a different sector/industry etc. For me, specifically due to my research background, I was able to bring a lot of value immediately as a data scientist, and on-the-job training gave me a lot more insight and recognized expertise in a new industry. It's not the ideal path I would've taken, since I wanted to leave behind doing a lot of technical work. But it's also unrealistic to expect an employer to just ignore the last decade(s) of your life and training. And at this point I'm recognized as one of very few people with expertise applying my skills in my industry...and I can see a path over time where that will evolve into more of the kind of role I would ideally like to have.

Just like research, you need to take baby steps to get to where you want to be.

[Anonymous]

I am a supervisor/hiring official at a federal agency that employs a number of people with multiple post-bach degrees. Here's my take: if it indicates a steady and logical career path, multiple degrees is no problem. For instance, I've seen a master's in economics followed by an MBA, and an MBA followed by a PhD in economics. Clearly the same general focus area, with an interest in both finance and management. Or if someone has a PhD in biology, followed by an MPH. That's all great, and is only a plus.

Where it's a problem is when candidates have a bunch of completely unrelated degrees that indicate a lack of focus or strategic thinking. I've seen, for instance, an MFA in creative writing, followed by a masters in political science, followed by a JD. Typically, these candidates also don't have very much useful work experience (bookstore assistant manager often accompanies these resumes). This will hurt them, but not because they are intimidating. But because I seriously question whether they will be dedicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a supervisor/hiring official at a federal agency that employs a number of people with multiple post-bach degrees. Here's my take: if it indicates a steady and logical career path, multiple degrees is no problem. For instance, I've seen a master's in economics followed by an MBA, and an MBA followed by a PhD in economics. Clearly the same general focus area, with an interest in both finance and management. Or if someone has a PhD in biology, followed by an MPH. That's all great, and is only a plus.

Where it's a problem is when candidates have a bunch of completely unrelated degrees that indicate a lack of focus or strategic thinking. I've seen, for instance, an MFA in creative writing, followed by a masters in political science, followed by a JD. Typically, these candidates also don't have very much useful work experience (bookstore assistant manager often accompanies these resumes). This will hurt them, but not because they are intimidating. But because I seriously question whether they will be dedicated.

I like what you say about a general focus area. That is what the jobseeker has to communicate.

[Anonymous]

I highly doubt it OP. Not in this area.

[Anonymous]

I think it's less about intimidation and more about not having a solid read on who you are and what you want. When that story isn't clear, the other party is left to assume a lot.

When you're interviewing, you need a clear message, often called an elevator pitch - and I'll pull in this point from my political campaign training, a message has three points; people can't remember or make sense of more than that, and less seems underdeveloped. So, you're a clinical practitioner, who enjoys working with clients, but is looking to [change industries/venues] so that you can more directly help people - something simple like that. Your message can not be your life story - first I went after XYZ, got tired of that, then went after ABC, then was inspired by 123 . . . that's not a story, or at least, that's not a story that gets you a job.

Decide what it is you want to do next, which of your qualifications are most relevant to that, and shape your resume around that. It likely will mean taking quite a bit off your resume so only the relevant pieces remain. A resume is not an exhaustive employment history - it is not dishonest to skip the less relevant parts. In fact, you have to skip something to keep it to 1-2 pages, which is professional norm outside of academia in the U.S.

I have several relatives with multiple higher ed degrees like yourself - they don't include all their masters degrees on their resume, because it is extraneous information for the specific job at hand.

[Anonymous]

I consider myself over-educated and under-skilled

[Anonymous]

I think people get suspicious of candidates with so many degrees. Because after too many it becomes highly likely that the candidate is way better at attending school and playing in academia as opposed to holding down a job. Also most people know these degrees aren't free so then I would start to wonder why on earth someone would spend 300k plus on multiple degrees unless they are independently wealthy or don't have any direction in life.

That's my two cents.

[Anonymous]

They wouldn't be human if they weren't, OP! I agree it's a combination of intimidated and confused, and some might even be jealous.

My husband has an MD, a PhD as well as multiple other graduate degrees in various scientific fields. He had trouble finding a job at one point, and his current job in no way taps into all his knowledge, but it makes him happy and they appreciate him there.

[Anonymous]

Most of the response make no sense, why assume concerning multiple degrees? Just ask the candidate. Crazy to read all these comments about possible lack of direction or degrees in different areas mess.

Sounds like a bunch of assumptions and presumptions, lol

Now we all know why customer service and the work industry are so messed up, look who is doing the hiring. Assumers, 😂😂

[Anonymous]

I was in a board that hired a candidate with a PhD in an unrelated field but others were very taken by the doctorate. Suffice it to say, she was a disaster. The next hire had only a BA, in her 20s, and has been amazing.

[Anonymous]

This thread is SEVEN years old. The OP could be dead by now. Give it a rest.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you've had the same job at the same employer for 15 years, that's very impressive.

Yes, they're worried about your pay rate. That's all. It's not really "intimidated."

I've been in offices where the business owner or the hiring manager will tear up the resume of someone with a Ph.D. and throw it in the trash.

It's also ridiculous that some jobs are being classified as needing "7 years experience." Why 7? Why not 10 or 16? Oh, that's the magic number for someone who is around 28 years old. LoL.

Some fields are so young, that NO ONE has 7 years of experience.

[Anonymous]

No one feels intimidated. Outside of certain fields, I can’t imagine mid career people with multiple degrees are any more qualified than those with equal number of years of relevant experience. In certain fields a single advanced degree is a requirement, the extras aren’t any value.

Hiring managers see those degrees and they don’t make any difference, they’re looking at experience and the mba if it’s business and the mph for public health jobs, but no one gives a damn about the mph at a tech company, for example. The phd is only relevant within the field that it is concerning. Plus, people have too many experiences with a phd in one field expecting to be called doctor when then aren’t even employed in a field related to that phd - though that probably has little to do with what you’re experiencing.

You invested in education waaaaaaaay beyond the point of diminishing returns.