Can your level of education hurt your chances at a job? As a recruiter, Ive seen instances where: 1. A person is considered to be under educated: Ive dealt with several companies who wont consider a candidate unless they have a certain level of education ie. a university or college degree. In some cases a certain level of education might be absolutely necessary (ie. if youre an accountant, the company might require you to be certified) but in other cases it might simply be company policy that every employee needs a minimum level of education. 2. A person is considered to be over educated: I can recall several instances when a hiring manager declined to interview a candidate because they felt that the candidate was too educated or looking at it another way, too theoretical and not hands-on enough. How can you strike a balance between the two? To be honest, it really depends on your specific situation and the job you are pursuing. While you dont want to leave out your educational achievements, the truth is that how you present your scholastic achievements can effect your ability to get interviews and get jobs. Ive spoken with hiring managers who Ive had to convince to interview excellent job candidates because at a first glance, the persons resume appeared to the hiring manager to be too school-centric with not enough real life work experience on it. When youre putting your resume together, you really need to tailor it to the specific job you are applying for. Obviously if you are applying for a job in the education industry, listing all of your publications, papers and other similar items makes sense. If you are applying for a job where your education is a nice to have or just a simple requirement, you need to focus on highlighting your real life work experience and use your educational achievements as something that might help to distinguish you from other candidates, not as the main selling feature. In other words, you need to ensure you focus your resume to highlight what the employer needs based on what they are asking for. |
