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So she wondered why I hid my degrees


shootingstar

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A woman at work who barely knows me...wondered why I didn't my 2 degree initials after my  e-signature for all my internal emails within our organization.  I gave up...after awhile, people don't see it and many don't know what the initials even mean.  She emailed to me:  "I worked hard for my MA, etc."

I said that maybe I was overly sensitive to my group team members.  Most have college diplomas with maybe 15% have university degrees. I came from a dept. where it was the opposite, heavily university degree weighted.

In my email response, I said when I joined the dept., an email did summarize my degrees and university, etc.  For me, that was good enough...

She is probably 5-10 years into her career after graduation.  Whereas I'm ready to retire in a few years...   In my email, I said to her, you'll be surprise to learn who has a MA but they don't have it in their signature.

Will ask, but I'm certain dearie didn't put B,Sc (he gave up his engineering iron ring after moving into management roles. So couldn't use P.Eng ) plus MBA after his automatic e-signature for internal corporate emails. (yea, his son is great biz consulting for his shop for...free. :)) 

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I have a professional certification but don't bother to put it in my signature.  People within the industry know who has what credentials and people outside the industry don't care.

I worked for a firm who had a PHD in education as their director of training.  Everyone just called her Sandy as that was her preference... We all knew she was a brilliant woman tho.

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If I had a doctor's degree, Ph.D. or M.D. or D.D.S. etc., I'd be tempted to list it.

But B.A. and M.S. were common enough among my coworkers, both in industry where I was selected as chief chemist of a subsidiary of Dow Chemical over three Ph.D's and in education where I was the lead teacher for Gifted and Talented Chemistry and Physics at Maryland's largest high school, that my reputation among my peers was more important than listing my degrees or name dropping "IIT," etc.

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8 hours ago, Scrapr said:

Let's see you figure out the ph in the hot tub. There ain't many that can do that. Perhaps one of your Grand daughters. After that it's snot looking good :scratchhead:

I just added some hydrochloric acid to bring my ph down. The bromine tends to raise the ph. If I use chlorine it tends to lower the ph.

2 hours ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

 

By the way, even though I don't have the degree, I am pretty good at Pot hole Dodging. :D

 

I have two PHDs, I keep them out in the garage. They come in handy when you have to dig post holes.

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Not sure if I posted this before but this reminds me of when I was at that industry convention. I got a chuckle out of badge banner guy.  They had all if these little banners you could stick to your convention badge to show education, certifications & such.  It was just a kiosk and you could take what you wanted with no verification.

Anyway I got a picture of "banner guy" on the last day.  The burgundy hanging down off the white badge on the guy on the right. The banners are 1/2" strips so he has like 4 or 5 hanging down off his badge. 

IMG_0687.JPG

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1 hour ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

However, she has also received a barrage of hate mail from outraged members of the public. 

Most of it was from @Razors Edge.

YEP!

You should set up a booth like ChrisL's guy and have the people you work with embellish their badges!  I will say it is funny how a "similar" question elicits different responses around this joint.

image.png.6dd09fa559b9a259e86f6d491c8c94f7.png

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37 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

YEP!

You should set up a booth like ChrisL's guy and have the people you work with embellish their badges!  I will say it is funny how a "similar" question elicits different responses around this joint.

image.png.6dd09fa559b9a259e86f6d491c8c94f7.png

 I think credential shaming and credential boasting are equally unbecoming. The disregard for advanced degrees leads to science deniers, while the needless promotion of academic accomplishment is just pretentious. But some expression of achievement is appropriate, and at times demanded, in work settings. And fraud is just fraud.

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2 minutes ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

 I think credential shaming and credential boasting are equally unbecoming. The disregard for advanced degrees leads to science deniers, while the needless promotion of academic accomplishment is just pretentious. But some expression of achievement is appropriate, and at times demanded, in work settings. And fraud is just fraud. 

So do you or don't you place an assortment of professional and/or education initials after your name?  I work at a place where some do, despite many of us having similar creds, but I don't.  I prefer to be known simply as "Tom, the guy who gets shit done, properly, on time & without drama."  Much more descriptive and useful than "Dr Tom" would be :D

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6 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

So do you or don't you place an assortment of professional and/or education initials after your name?  I work at a place where some do, despite many of us having similar creds, but I don't.  I prefer to be known simply as "Tom, the guy who gets shit done, properly, on time & without drama."  Much more descriptive and useful than "Dr Tom" would be :D

I’m sure you’re just referred to as Thom the N00b at work, too.

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3 hours ago, Prophet Zacharia said:

 I think credential shaming and credential boasting are equally unbecoming. The disregard for advanced degrees leads to science deniers, while the needless promotion of academic accomplishment is just pretentious. But some expression of achievement is appropriate, and at times demanded, in work settings. And fraud is just fraud.

I just finished applying online.

Yes of course, when one is applying for jobs...of course they do ask if have the degree to match the degree they want in the candidate.  I do plus probably 100+ other applicants. A lot of jobs I am applying ask for this degree or equivalent education with proof of matching work experience.  I've had to provide a copy of my degree to several employers (after I was offered the job with condition I provide a copy of my degree).  

When advising a young person on whether or not they should consider college /university at all.  If they are bright, they should at some point.  A good friend of mine ..her hubby has only high school education and has moved through the ranks in some firms in the area of finance and accounting. However he couldn't go further.   However to be hired with decent pay and ability to handle a portfolio of clients independently especially in big firms, he wouldn't have made it.  Too  many others have their university degrees plus accounting designations after writing certifying exams. CPA, CMA, etc. I worked for one of those firms and they are highly competitive workplaces.

A woman (who is geospatial specialist with college diploma in GIS and drafting) has hubby who is one of the foreman for Roads Dept. He's tired of the crappy 3 supervisors. So he's looking around internally but finding even technical/lower level jobs are required college diploma and coursework in specific areas. He has high school.  With serious oil industry cutbacks a lot of qualified people after same jobs.

It would be a safe bet all the senior managers in our organization have university/college degrees. It's the 21st century not the 20th century. So is govn't is not that slack anymore.  If you don't have it, someone else WILL override you one day. BAs, BScs, MAs are dime a dozen these days.  

Right now, time for bed. 

 

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