Wednesday, February 22, 2012

"Jealousy is no more than feeling alone against smiling enemies." Elizabeth Bowen



    I met with a man the other day who was giving me job searching advice. Once of the things he said to me really, REALLY bothered me. We were talking about the education section on my resume. I have two B.A.'s, one in English Literature and the other in secondary education (yes, they are two separate degrees). And I finished my M.A. in Literature last May. I also mentioned that a young Pitt student (majoring in Rhetoric and Language) told me that I should just simply omit my M.A. off my resume. You, know to give myself an edge over the competition (yeah, I don't get that backwards logic either). Needless to say, I took this person's comment with the proverbial grain of salt. One, this person is an idiot for a myriad of reasons, and two, I worked my ass off for that piece of paper to help improve my job prospects! It's staying on there.

     Turns out, I'm the idiot for leaving my higher education on the resume. "Well, you should probably take [the Pitt student's] advice." Turns out, and I should mention that the person I met with yesterday was a large chain manager for 20 odd some years, having a B.A. or even a M.A. makes some older employers jealous. My jaw went numb. 

    This person went on to explain that when reading over resumes, especially when it comes to lower paying or entry level jobs, the more education displayed on a resume, the less likely the employer will consider it for the job. "More than likely, the boss or the HR recruiter, will be jealous that you have managed to successfully achieve a level of education that's very difficult to complete." And to add the cherry on top of this very harsh realization, "... and your degree is one that a lot of people pass off because they don't know exactly what English majors do." 

     Needless to say I spent the next 24 hours with a major headache. I've put myself (and my mom, who is currently helping pay off the student loans because I currently make $14000 a year in the service industry) into a lot of debt to accomplish something I'd never thought I'd be able to do. The day I graduated with my M.A. (with a 3.5 QPA no less),  considering I was in remedial English and Reading classes for all of middle and half of high school, I was damn proud of myself. Now, it all seems like a total waste of time and a giant waste of money. I worked my ass off to prove I can handle high levels of stress, manage my time while balancing an outside job and an intense education program, develop knowledge and understanding of the English language, research and writing skills, to be effortlessly tossed away from an invisible person who is only looking at a piece of paper and being jealous of bite of information on a resume from a person they’re never seen.

     The more I think about it (because that’s all I do, think about crap until a migraine irrupts in my skull) the more of the frustratingly injustice of this situation. My generation is constantly accused of wanting instant gratification and not wanting to work from the bottom up. My question is, how am I going to work from the bottom up or prove that I am a good employee when I’m, not wait, when the piece of paper in HR’s hands is viewed as “over educated”, “not experienced enough”, “over qulitified”, and my personal favorite “too expensive”? Wonderful Catch 22 the baby boomers have created for my generation; can’t get a job without experience, and can’t get experience without a job. So why meet me face to face when it’s easier to delete a resume. 

   So future employers and HR moles, you want me to prove I can work my way up from nothing? Then my hard earned Master of Arts degree in English Literature is staying on my resume. 

Word Count 668

1 comment:

  1. I'd leave it on there. My English degree apparently qualified me for a job in accounting. :D

    Apply for anything that sounds interesting; most people hiring for a generally B.S. qualified position will hire a B.A. (or M.A.) knowing that person understands the politics of college and how to go along to get along. NO ONE knows that more than English majors writing papers for a different prof every semester. Or THREE different profs every semester.

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