ENEB Master Thread

[nykorn]

Now I've completed an ENEB Masters I have a choice of the following:

1. Buy Apostilled hard copy of Isabel Masters
2. Buy WES Canada validation of Isabel Masters

The cost is very similar. I have zero interest in continuing my academics in future. But my hope is to use the Isabel Masters to apply for positions overseas. Possibly Canada or the Middle East. I'm curious what people's experiences have been like when using an Isabel Masters for job applications in North America, Asia and the GCC? And also wether having an Apostilled certificate is of value when applying for roles in non-European countries? Do employers value WES internationally? Is Apostille more or less valuable to employers?

I appreciate that the logical response might be to do both - Apostille and WES Canada - to cover all the bases. But, sensibly, I don't want to spend money if I don't have to. At the same time I want to futureproof myself now for a 10-15 year career. An Apostille is permanent and could be applied for in future (as long as ENEB still have the U1i relationship). A WES Canada validation is also permanent but only after it is completed. My concern is that if I don't do WES Canada ASAP then I might miss out on the opportunity should WES decide to withdraw validations for Isabel Propios. Then I may have to use lesser validation services instead. I know it's a difficult question and I would appreciate all thoughts and opinions on this.

Some countries such as Korea require an apostilled degree for immigration. Others such as Japan and Taiwan do not require it but it may speed up the work visa process (resulting in 1 month to get a visa instead of 3+ months). In some cases a potential foreign employer will doubt your degree without an apostille/notarization even if the government of that country does not doubt or require it. In other words, an apostille can help for multiple different destination countries. 

In contrast, WES only helps for THAT ONE COUNTRY. WES Canada will ONLY help for jobs in Canada and will not help for, say, a job in Korea or America. Additionally, a WES report will usually only help for government restricted jobs requiring licenses, aka public school teacher, lawyer, doctor, etc - it is very rare that, say, a software programmer job will require a WES report. If you are say in Canada wanting to become a public school teacher, an apostille will not work, you will need WES.

If you are entertaining the idea of going abroad then absolutely choose the apostille. I have had employers in Asia doubt my degrees for as small of reasons as it lacking a school seal (as those don't exist in most Western countries) and the title being stamped on oblique instead of straight. They contacted my school trying to get stamped letters proving I was a student there and when the school replied "we don't do that, the diploma and transcript is enough" they were flummoxed and accused me of lying about my school history. An apostille would probably have appeased them but I had no idea about it at the time.

Also keep in mind WES is not a good company and you may have to shell out more money than expected. It is cheaper to get WES to evaluate a bunch of degrees at once in one go. If you later gain another degree you have to get it evaluated separately and pay that $300 all over again, or you can choose to reevaluate all of your degrees in one go for a combo report, paying that same $300. You should always do a combined report because they have a system where sometimes they mark a degree as not equivalent to a US/Canadian degree unless you provide proof of a second or third degree along with it. My WES USA report got lost in the mail, they did not explain the shipping method I chose (which cost like $50) would not have tracking, they were charging me over $100 to get a new report sent - for an evaluation they had already done.