Listing Education On Applications

[Caracara]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Tampa, FL

I have a question about education on applications for employment. I read in other posts that lying about your education is the number one lie people get caught doing.

I do have a high education level but am seeking an entry level job position because of the long time I have been out of the workforce. I'm seeking opinions here of omitting my last education degree and just ending with the bachelor's degree. Would that be a good thing or a bad thing to do?

 

[cbg]

I don't think it would be either good or bad.

When us HR folks talk about lying about education and getting "caught", we're talking about people who claim to have degrees and training that they don't actually have. As an HR manager, I wouldn't have a problem with finding out later that you have a grad degree you didn't tell me about, but I'd have a serious problem if I found out that you didn't have one you claimed you did.

You won't be the first person to leave a grad degree off your resume and you won't be the last, either.

 

[Beth3]

Interesting question.

I don't see a problem omitting that information in this instance. What people lie about on their resumes and applications are listing degrees they DON'T have, omitting prior jobs, listing jobs they never had, reasons for leaving, etc. In other words, things that would damage the employer or reflects very badly on the employee's character.

If this job is in your career field, you might what to list your degree though as down the road and if things go well, you might well be considered for advancement because of your degree. Kind of awkward to tell your employer two years from now, "Um, by the way, I have a PhD in nuclear physics."

 

[Caracara]

Thank you for your fast replies.

There's no full time positions available in my grad area. There's only part time for 9-12 hours per week. I need more hours than that.

I have all my diplomas.


This just reminded me of a neighbor that told me he had a mini-master's degree. I asked him about that because I never heard of a mini-master's degree. He just had some completed courses at the master's level and rationalized that that meant to him a mini-master's. I asked him if he had a diploma stating he had a master's degree. He didn't and learned from me that he only had a bachelor's degree and that was all. The nuclear science joke is great.

If applying for something in the area of my master's degree, I definitely will put that level down.

 

[pattytx]

I have a friend where I used to live whom I still chat with. One night I was saying "it isn't rocket science". He said, too bad, because his bridge partner IS a rocket scientist. I've never known anyone who even KNEW a rocket scientist.

 

[cbg]

If your neighbor had worked for me, had indicated that he had any kind of a master's degree, and I found out later that he had only a bachelors, I'd fire him so fast his head would spin.

If I needed someone with a master's degree and you applied for it, telling me that you had had that master's all along, I'd probably check to confirm you really had it but once I'd done that, I wouldn't hold it against you.

This is just me: I'm not speaking for all HR managers. I personally do not have a problem with your leaving irrelevant information off an application. Since I've been working contract positions for the last seven years, I have on occasion had to take jobs out of the HR field to keep the bills paid when the contracts did not follow immediately after each other. My HR resume does not reflect those jobs. However, when I'm completing an application which says things like penalty of perjury at the bottom, I verbally inform the recruiter or manager about those jobs and ask if they want me to include them, and then follow whatever their preference is.

But when someone here asks a question as to whether they should or should not include such and such a job in their application, I remind them that if the employer in question should find out about the omission, it is legal for the employer to fire/not hire them on the basis that their application was falsified. I, personally, do not consider an application falsified if the omitted information is not relevant to the job at hand, but I am not all HR managers. I also remind them that it is much easier to find out about other jobs than one might think, and tell them about the day that I was introduced to my just-hired new boss only to find that he was my father's next door neighbor.

But you are talking about education, not other jobs. While not impossible, it's not going to be as easy for information about your education to fall into an employer's lap, and in this job market I can certainly understand why you wouldn't want to price yourself out of the market, as it were. On the other hand, Beth has a point that you could accidently eliminate yourself from potential promotional opportunities by doing so.

See why I said it was neither good nor bad? There are both advantages and disadvantages.

 

[cbg]

I have a friend where I used to live whom I still chat with. One night I was saying "it isn't rocket science". He said, too bad, because his bridge partner IS a rocket scientist. I've never known anyone who even KNEW a rocket scientist.

You know me. I work with rocket scientists. At least in my current contract I do. And I know one unrelated to my job.

 

[Caracara]

Pricing myself out of the market is exactly the point for an entry level job.

I had another group interview two days ago. It's an entry level position for a self owned company. The business is expanding and he needs to open another location and hire employees. There's a total of approx 15 positions available. He needs people to travel all over the country expenses paid to do presentations and exhibits at shows. I do have these skills from past employment and can travel. Most people have a fear of speaking in public. I got over that by competing in sports tournaments when I had to be judged on sole performances.

I did check on the company and it's well established. The site will be open soon. This interview was the most interesting, fascinating, and entertaining one I've ever experienced.

 

[cbg]

I can't see any problem with leaving your grad degree off in that situation.

Good luck to you - let us know if you get the job!

 

[Caracara]

Just to let you know, Monday I start training.

Thank you for all your help with my questions. Things sure have changed since I was last in the regular workforce. The highly impersonal process to apply for most positions is unsettling.

I did have some other things to ask about the impersonal hiring process (apply online, submit resumes online), but that can wait for the time being. I also am scheduled to just "try" a position at the mall today. The agreement was before I was informed of the group interview results. I have to go in person and tell the guy at the mall that I won't be trying out for that part-time job because I do not have a phone number to call him. It is not my character to just not show up.

 

[pattytx]

Congrats!

BTW, the "try-out" position at the mall? They almost certainly would have had to pay you. I hate that idea ("try-outs", not the paying part ).