How are you Monetizing using your Degree or Certificates

[mrobinson]

Im hoping to research some sort of better plan on college and certificates to help my career path and financial opportunities in the end. I would love to hear how some of you that have these great signatures with Degrees or Certificates are fairing in the job market or in business since you added these to your resume, if in fact you are adding them to a resume or social profiles to help market your new skills.

[rebel100]

I got my current job in part due to my degree (I was like 6 credits shy of completion with an anticipated graduation date a couple months out when hired). So it definitely helped, emergency management is a related yet distinct career path from the EMS I had been involved in. I'm grateful for the position but the job has lost much of it's luster of late (we were bought out by a larger entity).

I keep an updated resume ready and cultivate a linked in profile to whicch I add individual MBA courses to as they are completed. The linked in account has led to some limited interest in me professionally, but nothing really solid that's been particularly tempting. (I'm not moving halfway across the country for an extra $10K). But certainly adding courses, certifications, staying active, it all helps a little.

The added education is however making a difference. I've mentioned before how invaluable I found the COSC Cornerstone to be. It prepared me and reset my mind to a sort of writing intensive, research driven way of thinking that's really changed the way I work. By re-engaging the MBA coursework I look at problems differently than I did in the past. More important than a degree or certificate...I've become educated, opportunity follows preparation.

[sanantone]

I haven't been fairing in the job market very well since older people are going after what should be entry level jobs in this market. People with 10-20 years of experience are being hired for jobs that pay $30k-$35k a year. But I mostly got my BA so that I could move on to a specific field in graduate school. I just graduated with a master's, so it still remains to be seen how it will help me in my goal of working for the federal government. In the meantime, I'm thinking about getting a teacher certification and I've also been applying to adjunct instructor jobs at colleges. I did get a better paying job after finishing my BA, but it's mostly because I had enough criminal justice credit hours to make up for the lack of experience. Currently, my BA has me in the running for a couple of law enforcement jobs that either require experience and certification or a degree. I don't have experience as a police officer or certification, so it would be good if I can get an agency to sponsor me through the police academy.

[mrs.b]

Im hoping to research some sort of better plan on college and certificates to help my career path and financial opportunities in the end. I would love to hear how some of you that have these great signatures with Degrees or Certificates are fairing in the job market or in business since you added these to your resume, if in fact you are adding them to a resume or social profiles to help market your new skills.

It is a tough job market out there, despite a slight bounce-back. My degree has not provided more opportunities because I have not sought any, but the education that came with it has made me more secure in my present job. When I initially decided I absolutely had to finish my degree, my employer had just finished a sizable layoff but I made the cut. Then they sent out a questionnaire about education level related to positions. The implication was they were considering another cut based on qualifications in each job. It was scary, but thankfully did not happen.

Since finishing my degree, I've used the education to speak with more confidence in my present role, but also have made a number of improvement suggestions to our business practices, and to date, two have been implemented and another (sizable, both in scope and budget) project is being evaluated and considered. My degree may not have led to advancement opportunities, but it has made me better at my job, lending job security in a market that is still considered fairly unstable.

[mrs.b]

I haven't been fairing in the job market very well since older people are going after what should be entry level jobs in this market. People with 10-20 years of experience are being hired for jobs that pay $30k-$35k a year. But I mostly got my BA so that I could move on to a specific field in graduate school. I just graduated with a master's, so it still remains to be seen how it will help me in my goal of working for the federal government. In the meantime, I'm thinking about getting a teacher certification and I've also been applying to adjunct instructor jobs at colleges. I did get a better paying job after finishing my BA, but it's mostly because I had enough criminal justice credit hours to make up for the lack of experience. Currently, my BA has me in the running for a couple of law enforcement jobs that either require experience and certification or a degree. I don't have experience as a police officer or certification, so it would be good if I can get an agency to sponsor me through the police academy.

It sounds like the job market is being kinder to you than it is to many, i.e., the older workforce downgrading salary expectations. The better-paying job and other job leads may not be the ideal opportunities you originally had in mind, but they are something. Best of luck on the law enforcement jobs. You have the persistence to see yourself through the rough job market times. I'm convinced it will bounce back at some point if the right economic factors can ever come back in line.

[IrishJohn]

I haven't been fairing in the job market very well since older people are going after what should be entry level jobs in this market. People with 10-20 years of experience are being hired for jobs that pay $30k-$35k a year.

I'm one of those older workers who had to take a much lower paying job thanks to this wonderful economy. /sarc My degree hasn't benefited me much either since I lost my job back in 2011 and was forced to change careers, temporarily in a blue collar job that doesn't require more than a high school diploma or GED! I made more than this 15 years ago! Ah well. As my dearly departed Grammy used to remind me, "count your blessings, others have it much worse than you do!". Thanks Grammy, love you a lot and all but I always found that annoying. True, but still annoying.

At any rate, while my degree hasn't helped me much yet I expect that it will as I finally transition into teaching sometime next year. That is something I was planning on doing one day but just not this soon. Ultimately though I'd like to teach at the local community college which is why I'm working on a MA in History. If I was planning on staying in public schools for my teaching career I would just complete an MAT through Morningside College, with extensive use of VESI, and call it a day. But at this point in my life it's time to go with my dream no matter how difficult it may be. Truth be told I was growing to hate the job I was laid off from when the company folded. Yet with the huge salary cut after the job loss and the long period of unemployment I endured I have decided to take it slowly on finishing my master's. This means I'll be teaching at the public schools for about 4-5 years as I complete my MA one class a semester, paid for out of my pocket with minimal loans. In some ways this might be good anyways because it will give me experience in teaching I can use at the community college later.

Now the Big Question: do I regret getting my degree? Not at all. Even if I never use it (very unlikely), it had been something I chased for nearly 20 years off and on but could never line up the time, finances and commitment due to work. I'm very glad to have achieved that goal of earning my bachelor's and now am pleased to be working on my master's! Until I discovered this forum and TESC I had just about given up, despairing of even completing an Associate's. So again, I don't regret finishing my degree at all. At least I can say that I paid for all of it out of my pocket while I still had the great paying job instead of financing it through loans to drown myself in. I leave that up to my underwater mortgage to keep me barely holding my head up above the waves.

[sanantone]

It sounds like the job market is being kinder to you than it is to many, i.e., the older workforce downgrading salary expectations. The better-paying job and other job leads may not be the ideal opportunities you originally had in mind, but they are something. Best of luck on the law enforcement jobs. You have the persistence to see yourself through the rough job market times. I'm convinced it will bounce back at some point if the right economic factors can ever come back in line.

Better pay is relative. It took 9 months after graduation for me to go from one low paying job to another. Most of the people I work with in the same position don't even have associate's degrees and some are on government assistance. Thank you for the well wishes.

[sanantone]

Better pay is relative.

That doesn't make any sense. The significance of the achievement of better pay is relative. If someone goes from making minimum wage to $10 an hour after obtaining a degree and another person goes from making $45k to $35k, I'd still say that the latter is doing better.

[UptonSinclair]

Ironically, the degree I am pursing will never make me as much money as I make in my current job. I am a union electrician pursing either a history or sociology degree. Education is about more than the pay for me. One day I hope to attend graduate school abroad. The thought of doing electrical work for the next 20 years is horrifying.

[ncpenn]

The thought of doing electrical work for the next 20 years is horrifying.

Why is that? (And I would genuinely like to know; no hidden agenda here.)