Just ranting: My wife applied for a government job where the minimum requirement is a bachelor in business, public admin or 2 years experience in subject. Wife has an MBA and is completing a doctorate. The sent her an email saying she wasn't meeting the qualification. ???? When did a bachelors in business trump an existing bachelors, a masters, and a soon doctorate?
I'm not surprised. A master's in a subject is different than a bachelor's. It is not as comprehensive, for one thing. In some case, with which I'm familiar, one had to have 24 hours of credit in a particular field. It didn't matter if you had a doctorate in that field, unless those doctoral credits could also be applied to the 24-credit requirement. She can always inquire why she was considered unqualified. Are you even sure it was because of the degree and not some other factor? Finally, if it is a mistake they can fix it. It happens. As a hiring manager, I'd often have to go to HR to find out why a particular applicant did not make the list. Sometimes the rejection was bona fide. Other times, it was an error.
As Rich stated, perhaps it was some other criterion. Most often, in government hiring, prior experience at the level of a specific Paygrade of the job series is more of a qualification than is level of education.
