Sgt. Pepper Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 I’m dwarfed by you guys-es smartnessness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 1 hour ago, sparquelito said: I really don't know that much about them. A friend I had on the phone (old Army friend who lives in Texas) was doing the Liberty thing, and going for his PhD. He recommended using them. I still need to do my homework. 🙂 I know you wouldn’t be looking for a job, but just mentioning, they still sit pretty low in the school rankings, if you are going to throw money at a school or let the government throw money for you. Sort of you get what you pay for. They are less expensive than some schools. Of course, from an employers view, as a science based firm, whose work is grounded in geological and evolutionary processes, we would be unlikely consider a candidate with a degree from there. Although, conversely, it’s probable that anyone who successfully graduated from there would also not find a very comfortable fit with our firm or the sort of work we do, chuckle. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 Hey Sparky, I was all prepared to commence a BA (maj. Creative Writing) last year and was enrolled at local University, however following Covid and 1 in 100 year floods smashing the town they moved many units to other campuses and/or on-line. I have no real interest in on-line study as meeting new and likeminded people was an important aspect for me, so I cancelled enrolment. I’m happy with that as I have no need of another degree and have since studied and developed my skills in art, writing, fitness, philosophy, music etc without having to undertake units of study of less interest. I did join the Uni gym though and have benefited greatly…now if I could work out how to get a library card there without being a student! good luck, and IMO its one where you measure twice, cut once in hindsight 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 I was never once on a job interview asked about my college (university) degree, even though it was on my resume. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 23 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: I’m dwarfed by you guys-es smartnessness. “I’m pretty smart, in spite of my dumbness” …Buk. i think my degree was price of entry to getting my first job as it was a ‘graduate position’ but, yeah, it never actually meant anything after scoring me an interview. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: I was never once on a job interview asked about my college (university) degree, even though it was on my resume. In my experience, on both sides of the table, the degree is mainly a quick screen to judge a candidate’s ability to follow through on a task, and how much effort they may have put into it. It’s not perfect, but you can surmise a lot about a person and their ambition from, 1. Just finishing a degree, and 2. How rigorous the school was they went to. In a sea of competing applicants, a four year degree from a school known for its academics will carry more heft and reflect more, than one from a “get your degree in six months” diploma mill. Especially in directly related jobs where the training/knowledge base matters, like ours. If the degree isn’t relevant to the position, yeah employers aren’t gonna go into it, what’s the point? It’s just enough you accomplished it. Shows you can follow through on assignments. We are a pretty good place to work, with a good rep in the field, so we get our pick of candidates when we are hiring. One way to winnow down the candidates is we do ask about their degrees, classes and experiences. We also request they provide a transcript so we can verify they actually have the skills and passed the courses they need to perform the work. (You’d be surprised how many kids think they can just bluff through being qualified, eye roll.) We had one candidate who looked great in the application, but the deeper dive into their academic work finally revealed them as just a poser with no real qualifications. Dodged a serious bullet. I was all set to hire them they wrote such a good cover letter and the bullets on their resume looked spot on. But it was all padding and mirrors. They were applying for a management position but by the end of the interview it was clear they weren’t even qualified to be a tech. Edited July 24 by PrairieDog 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 In my case, the short term goal was meeting the US Army's requirements for getting promoted to the next Warrant Officer pay grade, over the years. Long term goals were ill-defined my my mind anyway. The sheepskin had to come in handy some day, right? In the end, I think PrairieDog summarized it best in the posting right above. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 (edited) 18 minutes ago, PrairieDog said: In my experience, on both sides of the table, the degree is mainly a quick screen to judge a candidate’s ability to follow through on a task, and how much effort they may have put into it. It’s not perfect, but you can surmise a lot about a person and their ambition from, 1. Just finishing a degree, and 2. How rigorous the school was they went to. In a sea of competing applicants, a four year degree from a school known for its academics will carry more heft and reflect more, than one from a “get your degree in six months” diploma mill. Especially in directly related jobs where the training/knowledge base matters, like ours. Point 1: Yeah totally, that’s what I told young people/my kids when they consider Uni - it shows you can stick at something and achieve it, Point 2: in my experience, it’s always been the person rather than the institution - but they never had these all-on-line degrees when I was employing and I’m not aware how rigorously they grade (I.e making sure people actually did stick at it and achieve) Edited July 24 by 'Scales 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 36 minutes ago, 'Scales said: …now if I could work out how to get a library card there without being a student! Sometimes there is a “benefit” if you contribute to the library fund, or join the alumni association. I’m not sure how rigorously some schools check the roster for a graduation date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 1 hour ago, 'Scales said: Happy birthday for Saturday - when does senior citizenship kick in over in the USA? 🙃 Actually, Age 65 is when we go onto "Medicare" a government-run, reasonably-priced health insurance that becomes our primary payment vehicle for routine doctor visits and hospital stays. My retired-military coverage become the secondary form of health insurance, this month, for me. It's all academic. Men in my family historically don't live all that long. In my 60's, I also qualify for "Senior Discounts" at a variety of restaurants. I don't normally ask for them. The "military discounts" either. It seems..... Gauche to do so. If they offer it, I'll take it. But I won't ask for it. I don't know how to explain that any better. 🤨 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 I’d say you have qualified! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieDog Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 42 minutes ago, sparquelito said: Actually, Age 65 is when we go onto "Medicare" a government-run, reasonably-priced health insurance that becomes our primary payment vehicle for routine doctor visits and hospital stays. My retired-military coverage become the secondary form of health insurance, this month, for me. It's all academic. Men in my family historically don't live all that long. In my 60's, I also qualify for "Senior Discounts" at a variety of restaurants. I don't normally ask for them. The "military discounts" either. It seems..... Gauche to do so. If they offer it, I'll take it. But I won't ask for it. I don't know how to explain that any better. 🤨 Naw, I feel the same way about the “senior” discounts. Funny story, back in my 50s I was talking to the phone company about rejiggering our phone plan. Our contract had expired and the rate had skyrocketed. Anyway, at one point the kid mentioned some feature that I didn’t quite understand, I asked him to excuse my ignorance, joking “I was born in the middle of the last century. Cell phones are still hocus pocus to me.” He laughed, and we got things all squared away. When I got the bill the next month, he had put us on the special “over 65 plan!” 😎 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 I went through 'the awkward stage' until I hit 70ish. Then, magically, I started getting Senior Discounts without having to ask for them - which I never did. But, my ego is still intact - because whenever I buy beer at Walmart - they still 'card' me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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