The yellow buses have started to appear around town as kids go back to school, and suddenly we’re all thinking about books and learning.
Lately I’ve been getting more questions than usual from readers asking whether going back to school would help their job search, and many of you are considering online degrees because of the flexibility they can provide.
Well, cyber degrees, even from accredited schools, still don’t get respect from hiring managers, especially if you’re established in your career.
According to a survey by Society for Human Resource Management, 49 percent of human resource professional think a traditional degree is better than a cyber one. And 43 percent said online degrees were more acceptable from job seekers looking for entry level posts.
This doesn’t mean they aren’t hiring candidates with online degrees.
* 79 percent of organizations have hired job applicants with online degrees in the last 12 months, the poll found.
And where you get your online degree is also important.
* 64 percent said they use certain schools’ reputations with well known online degree programs to ascertain applicants’ online degrees.
One factor that may help applicants with online degrees is it’s getting harder to tell whether a degree was gotten by going to an actual class in a college, or by sitting at home in your pajamas. About 15 percent of those polled said it was hard to tell by just looking at a resume.
“It’s becoming harder to distinguish the online degree because some online degree programs are adding physical locations, and traditional brick and mortar schools are adding online programs,” said Mark Schmit, director of research at SHRM. “Not only is the industry going through an evolutionary period, but it is making an online degree more acceptable by creating a mix of class and online experience.”
Indeed, the whole cyber-schooling landscape is changing, and slowly becoming much more respectable than in years past.
But you have to decide what’s really worth your time and money when it comes to these degrees.
And please, think twice and even three times before you opt for a school that’s not accredited. There are a lot of cyber-education scams out there right now. (Contact The Council for Higher Education Accreditation.)
And don’t listen to the admissions folks when they tell you a certain degree will guarantee you the job of your dreams. You have to do the homework and figure out if any degree, online or not, is what you need to advance in your career.
August 30th, 2010 at 10:58 am
This is a great reminder for people that going back to school is not necessarily a solution for job woes. I think when people are at loose ends going back to school is one way of keeping busy and making them feel productive. My suspicion has been that a lot of programs -especially technical, online and associate - are a trap to pile up lots of debt with no real pay-off. I’ve read several good articles lately that evaluate the value of a college education and outline very specific areas where it is a worthwhile investment.
I wonder if the idea that everyone should have a Master’s degree has gone the way of assumed home-ownership. There’s no doubt that a solid education increases your likelihood of a more stable future, but it’s important to be cautious as you spend those tuition dollars and realize that all programs are not created equal.
August 30th, 2010 at 11:43 am
You are so right Meg. There’s a whole movement among for-profit schools to push people to get degrees they may not need, and may not even lead to a job. Here’s a link to a great piece that was in the New York Times a while back on the topic: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/business/14schools.html
I also did a story on how there is not as much value in MBAs as people think: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23468789/
August 30th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Great article, Eva.
I’ve talked to a lot of clients who have opted the online degree route, especially when a lot of their work is conducted within the confines of their own homes (apartments). Most of them cannot make the time to attend physical classes because they have other projects or obligations to fulfill. I often get asked about online degrees, but I’ve always been of the mind that it is safer to go for a program that is offered by a brick and mortar institution (in case something goes wrong, you know there is a way to get some if not all of your money back). There would be no questions about its credibility, and the investment would still be fairly manageable. I agree, if people do decide to pursue programs offered by a non-accredited school, they are doing so at their own risk…would hate to see anyone go through all the hard work and putting in time for classes if in the end they will do little or nothing to enhance the marketability of their resume.
Karen, The Resume Chick (on Google or Twitter for questions, comments or violent reactions)
August 30th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
Eve,
There are several state and some private universities that offer online programs. I obtained my bachelor’s from the University of Oklahoma. Even Harvard and Cal-Berkeley offer some courses that you can apply towards a degree online. The one major drawback of doing so is the lack of networking you can get by being on campus.
August 30th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Yes, there are a lot of very prestigious schools now offering online options, but often, you can’t tell one way or the other if the degree was obtained through online courses or actually brick and mortar classes. Clearly, an online degree from Harvard is going to get more cred than one from the University of Phoenix, so it’s just something else people need to consider.