'Degree fatigue' may be opportune time to assess future moves
Q. I have a question about career paths. Ever since graduating from high school in 2000, I've worked full time in the finance industry (mostly back office work) around Boston while attending night school. Fast forward to present day: I'm three months away from graduating cum laude with a BS in management information systems. I've looked into a lot of MBA programs in and around Boston, but all seem to be a repeat of the majority of my business management classes that I just spent five years going through. My university has a joint program with an Australian university where after graduating I would obtain a master's of international business from the Australian university and a master's of leadership from my current university. Would the degrees be worthwhile considering that I have interest in working for the US government after graduating?
A. Your degree coupled with your work experience should make you very marketable, even without the master's degrees or the MBA. Your dissatisfaction with what you see in the MBA programs may be degree fatigue. You've been going after the bachelor's goal for quite some time. Now that it is within reach, you are looking at your next goal and seeing the MBA as just more of the same, which can be disheartening.
Rather than starting with the decision of which degree and which universities are worthwhile, back up for a moment. What do you really want to do now? Your general target says working with the government. Try to be more specific. There are many areas of government work including finance, management information systems, and international affairs. All of these areas and many more have an enormous range of functional roles. You already have experience with some of these. Others would be new to you and would require more learning and would present continued opportunities.
These are the areas I encourage you to research. Fortunately, you have a strong group of professionals and at least two great networks to help you identify the roles you might be interested in pursuing. You can start with the career services staff at your current university. With their guidance, you can discuss the options open to you with your current undergraduate degree, and what else might become available with a master's.
This network can help you zero in on which degree will help you most as you consider your next career move, or help you see if getting additional work experience with the government might be better before you get your next degree. They should also be able to help you connect with alumni who have done it the other way, by getting the MIB first and then getting employment. Finding out what others have done and how they did it may help you see your many options more clearly.
Your other network is the group of working students with whom you have shared classes. They represent a wide array of industries and functional roles. Talk to them about what they do, what they like, what they hope they never have to do again on the job, and compare this with your likes and dislikes.
A. Bad credit can take a toll on many areas of your life, including your career. Most of us know that our credit score affects mortgage, car loan, and credit card rates. We may not get those promotional offers for 0-percent interest rates to transfer our balances. There are many resources available to help you understand your credit score, how it is determined, and what you can do to increase your score. However, not all of these organizations are looking out for your best interests. Even organizations that offer non profit services should be approached with caution. You may want to check out the National Consumer Law Center (consumerlaw.org) to learn more about credit issues. Restoring credit scores takes longer than you might think even if you do pay off all your debt, and it won't make you employable or unemployable in one day.
You have 10 years of experience at your current employer and are getting ready to start a new position in another field. You are right that most employers are doing background checks to determine employment suitability. In career areas related to financial services, your creditworthiness will most likely be an issue.
According to Ken Martin, senior partner of the investment and financial services division of Winter, Wyman, a staffing firm based in Waltham, "Most financial services companies that perform background checks are flagging candidates with low credit scores resulting from bankruptcies, defaults, and high outstanding balances, the reason being that they believe these applicants are more likely to commit fraud or theft.
"Simply said, employers want to hire the candidate with the least amount of risk."
How you deal with any negative issues, weaknesses, checkered employment history, or a bad credit score during an interview is what helps a potential employer take a risk on a new hire. If you can show the employer that there was a learning experience from some difficulty, you are making headway. If you can show that you now have things in order or are on the way there, you will be much more likely to get an offer.
A. Being asked to take over additional responsibilities for some period of time is often a sign of management confidence, which is a good thing.
Being taken advantage of is not a good thing. Implementing effective communication skills should help you sort out the difference. Many organizations are in flux, and leadership at these organizations may have daily discussions about how to manage these changes: Who has the needed skills? Who can step up and take more responsibility? What is the timing of the planned changes?
It seems like you need to be made part of these frank discussions, and part of the solution, not just the complaints. I can see your frustrations and fears. There is much to do, fewer people to do it, and you are there in the midst of things. Management views you as the person with the knowledge and expertise needed to help get the organization through some rough times, yet you are feeling overwhelmed.
Before you approach your boss with your concerns, assess the situation. Sort out what you can do, what you want and are willing to do, what you don't want to do, and what help you need to make this transition work effectively for your employer. You have been asked to be "interim." You need to know just what this request entails.
You have a great deal of on-the-job knowledge and are in a very valuable position. I would think management would want to help you to develop a plan to make things work while they are rebuilding the department.
If you approach your conversations with an attitude of, "I can help here and I know you will treat me fairly, because I will be involved in the discussions," you may feel less victimized and more comfortable asking for what you deserve, without feeling the need to "protect" yourself.
If you are doing a job other than what you were hired for, receiving an increase in compensation is very reasonable. It should be part of a larger discussion about the plan for the office, how the work will be restructured, where you might find temporary staff as needed, how the staff will be managed, and how people, yourself included, will be compensated.
I recommend this strategy for people who are offered jobs and say "no" to the role as permanent, but will take it until the organization fills the job.
It works for both professional and hourly wage jobs. Most managers try to think of their employees, and what will work for them, however when they forget or fail, it is up to you as an employee with confidence in your abilities and your value to the organization to remind them.
Elaine Varelas is managing partner at Keystone Partners, a career management firm in Boston.
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