denied due to "distance learning degree"

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by rebel100, Dec 12, 2012.

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  1. RAM PhD

    RAM PhD Member

    Academic bias in some form will always be present and accounted for. Distance ed is here to stay, whether the old guard likes it or not.
     
  2. Sanjuro

    Sanjuro New Member

    Sure would be a hell of a commute!
     
  3. rohirette

    rohirette New Member

    This precise scenario is why I am paying the price for the online program at a nearby private B&M university. But as Anthony Pina expressed, that won't do me any good if I apply somewhere that only hires from their "favorite" schools.

    OP, I'm sorry.
     
  4. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    This is where I was going to go. If this person shows this much bad judgment, do you want to work for him/her? I'm always grateful when I don't get a position and then find out what went on leading up to the decision. Sometimes it's a good thing: you weren't a good fit. Sometimes (like this) it's a bad one. But you're always better off to have an organization pass you by than accept you as a bad fit.
     
  5. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Recruiter? Really? I hope you're not paying this clown. Go around him and apply anyway. Sorry this happened. Chin up.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 13, 2012
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    Yes, and people just need to be patient. 8 year olds have ipads. It's not the same world. My children, literally, never use paper. Change is in progress, just takes time for old fogies to retire.
     
  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Paper's demise has been predicted for decades. My kids use paper all the time, and the last thing I'd do is get my soon-to-be-eight-year-old an iPad.
     
  8. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I know people that think if you took 4 years to get a BS in Engineeering you are too stupid to work for the company and will not hire you - you should do it in 3.
     
  9. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    ...just sayin. I opt out of all types of things for "my" family too. FWIW, we don't even have a tv. Doesn't mean the world isn't still changing. I've told this story here before, but in 1999/2000 we applied for a mortgage through an online mortgage company. The sellers lawyer REFUSED to close with us because he thought the "internet" was a "scam." He, literally, typed the contract we signed on a typewriter. This wasn't in the 80's this was 12 years ago. Change and progress are eminent. Hey, it took me a while, but ultimately I even donated my cassettes to the Goodwill (I guess CD's really DID catch on). The fact that all of us sit on our computers and communicate so passionately about a subject, and that 98% of all public colleges offer distance courses means there is no going back. Apple be damned.
     
  10. NMTTD

    NMTTD Active Member

    I really hate to see this kind of thing happening. I'm fortunate that I happen to attend ASU Online and live in Phoenix. Hopefully that will negate quite a bit of the questions and doubt. But honestly, there shouldn't even be any. I would challenge ANY of those old farts who look down on online classes to do a full time semester...online...and see if they do ok or if they struggle. You have to have focus, discipline, good time management, you have to be able to work independently, research and study is a MUST, computer skills (even basic ones) are non-negotiable. I don't see how some of the old timers that look down on us with our online degrees could keep up. And we do this while working and raising families. They couldn't do it. But I'd sure love to see em try.
     
  11. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It's a positive sign that this is the exception to the norm around here. Most of us know what we are getting into and therefore know what use we can expect from our degrees. If your degree opens 7/10 of all doors before you- AWESOME! Those are 7 more options than you had without it!
     
  12. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    It strikes me that of all the fields in which to hold this particular prejudice, emergency management has to be one of the silliest. How many (great) people in emergency management come from law enforcement, firefighting, allied health, and enlisted military? Entry into their first field may not have required any degree at all. Earning a degree later on is traditional, and very often now this is done, in whole or in part, through a B&M school or not, by distance learning.
     
  13. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Because a person holds a Doctorate it doesn't mean he/she isn't an idiot.
     
  14. rebel100

    rebel100 New Member

    Thanks for the kind words folks, I appreciate it. I'm not particularly beaten down by this, just sharing the experience.

    @ Cook - No , thankfully I didn't pay this guy to tell me no. :) He has some sort of deal with the school to vet the applicants. He was actually a pretty nice guy and we spent time going over my resume and offering a few tweaks and some recommendations.

    @ Maniac - 7/10 is actually great...super point...I do feel fortunate and proud of my degree's.

    @ Jonathan - Funny you bring that up, my fire service was pointed to as being detrimental as well. Not the first time this has come up, purist emergency managers are more closely related to bean counters than emergency services. In fact the Certified Emergency Manager designation (CEM) is often cited as the premier credential for Emergency Managers. It's difficult to get and takes years to qualify for...they specifically restrict Fire/Police/EMS service...I realize EM practitioners want to stand on their own, but ignoring the value of field experience is silly and short sighted. If things don't beak positively for me soon in EM I will redirect to another industry. I often think I would be happier if I was working for myself again...getting tired of trying to "look pretty" for people that know neither what they want or need.
     
  15. truckie270

    truckie270 New Member

    You are listening to the wrong people. I have been a CEM for five years and my experience was in the fire service when I received the designation. It is all about your ability to articulate your experience in the EM context. The problem that most have is that they think fire service is emergency management and do not look for opportunities to develop EM competencies outside the traditional role of the responder. The opportunities are there in every fire/LE/EMS organization, they just require a proactive approach and some foresight.

    The perception you noted and the comments made by Jonathan are some of the foundational reasons behind this view. There are many "old-timers" in the field of EM that got their positions as a retirement job from the fire service, law enforcement, or the military. As EM academic programs began to be developed, credentials and education became a more important part of the hiring process. Now you find a mix in the field of credentialed emergency managers with an education and limited experience and those with tons of experience and no formal credentials/education. The emergency managers who got their jobs from experience are retiring and being replaced by the new breed where credentials and education make you competitive. There is a definite divide between the theorists in the field and the practitioners - the person who is going to successful in the future is the one with a balanced background of theory and application.

    rebel100 - if you are interested in the CEM and want to know how to do it with a fire service background, hit me up via PM.
     

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