College degree requirement: Both ridiculous and useful
Be ready to interrupt the age discrimination mindset
Dear J.T. & Dale: I’m 19 years old and decided not to go to college because I started a business in high school. Now I think I would like to get a full-time job, but no one will hire me. They say I need a college degree, which I
think is ridiculous. How can I get around this? — Drake
DALE: Yes, it is ridiculous ... or, then again, maybe not. Speaking as someone with a couple of degrees and a father and two uncles who were college professors, I can tell you that most people who’ve earned degrees understand that only a small percentage of their coursework is relevant to their current workday. So why do companies declare a degree requirement? Because it’s easy. AND, because it certifies that the person has a certain set of skills, including that you can successfully handle years of bureaucracy, with all its rules and restrictions. So, the degree requirement is both ridiculous and useful.
J.T.: What to do about it? Whenever you’re being disqualified for a job based on standardized skills like having a degree, you are going to have to go around the online system. You were being automatically disqualified because you do not have a bachelor’s degree. You need people who know about your success as a business owner and your strengths so that they can speak on your behalf. While you can sit and tell hiring managers you have all this experience, it’s far more impressive when you have third-party credibility. So it’s time to really increase your networking so someone else can sing your praises and encourage employers to give you a chance.
Dear J.T. & Dale: I’m experiencing extreme age discrimination in my job search. I think that this pandemic has made everyone decide that they don’t want to hire people over the age of 40. What do you think? — Adele DALE: Yes, I’m sure you are indeed experiencing age discrimination. That said, I want you to forget about it. Here’s why: We all are discriminated against. Some managers won’t hire people because they’re too old and others because they’re too young. Some won’t consider a female, while those are the only people some are hiring. Same for race, religion, appearance and so on. If people were honest about this (although some of it is subconscious), then we could construct a Discrimination Score for each of us. Say we add it up and there are 48% of places that just would not hire you. Or, say it’s 86%. Does it matter? Sure, it takes more work if your score is higher, but no matter how many managers won’t hire you, they are just spectators on your journey to find those who will. I’ve worked with people who were not only over 40, but fresh out of prison — near total discrimination. Yet, they found hiring managers who were the marvelous sort of people who want to give someone a break.
J.T.: Age discrimination is a mindset. The person making hiring decisions has some preconceived notions about what kind of worker you will be. The solution is that you have to learn how to disrupt the mindset. I found it best to go in ready to ask some clarifying questions. I also think you have to try to minimize any behaviors that play up your age. For example, older workers tend to go in and act like they know everything because they want to show how valuable they are. That usually backfires, because it can be very intimidating to a younger manager. While you might think they were afraid to hire you because you would outshine them, the reality is that they were afraid to hire you because you act like their parents. My advice is to invest some time and energy in understanding the latest techniques and developments in your field, and ask the people interviewing you for their thoughts. You want to demonstrate your openness and willingness to learn; thus, you demonstrate that you’ll be the sort of team player everyone wants to hire.
Jeanine “J.T.” Tanner O’Donnell is a career coach and the founder of the leading career site www. workitdaily.com. Dale Dauten is founder of The Innovators’ Lab and author of a novel about H.R., “The Weary Optimist.” Please visit them at jtanddale.com, where you can send questions via email, or write to them in care of King Features Syndicate, 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2021 by King Features Syndicate Inc.