Is too many degrees a bad thing?

Why that qualifier? Can't working professionals benefit equally in redirecting their careers--or furthering them on their current paths--by pursuing a degree?

I have a colleague who holds a bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. in economics. But she hasn't worked as an economist in more than a decade. Instead, she migrated to executive coaching, training management, etc. While she's well-served with her coaching certification, what if she decided to get grounded in instructional design? Wouldn't doing a master's in that area be well-founded? (I'm not saying it would be necessary, just a good idea.)

I have another colleague who is educated in business, but again, has evolved into a learning and development practitioner. She's looking at taking a second master's (in addition to her MBA), this one in HRD.

I would think that there's no true saturation point; if a degree will enhance your career, I think you take it no matter how many you've earned in the past.

Six and counting....

 

Wow! That's going to be a difficult record to break! I'd better get cracking!

 

What about public school teachers? The payscale in Washington State tops out at MA + 90 additional credits. There is a direct financial incentive to keep earning credits (and possibly degrees) throughout your career. I would say that for them, there is no such thing as too many degrees.

 

If the payscale tops out at MA + 90, that'd be a disincentive for earning any more than four master's degrees.

 

In the business world, you'd be viewed as a curiosity at best and 'weird' very possibly. Take it from a guy who works at a Fortune 500 and has 1 graduate degree and is working on another. People think it's great you're a learner but also wonder why you aren't doing other things. And, although those things (like watching the Oscars) may seem trivial, they are also part of our overall socialization habits.

In the academic world of adjuncts, you're likely to be seen as a contractor with a full tool-belt. You can 'patch' many holes.

For instance, in the real world someone who is a CPA AND has a graduate degree in economics would probably be seen as a little wacky unless his or her professional job was somehow involved with policy and taxation.

In the adjunct world, such a person would be viewed as the 'go to' for many courses.

So it depends. My suggestion - pursue as many degrees as you'd like but don't be the 'degree guy' at work because some of that good-natured jostling will actually be a bit mocking.

I put my degrees to work but I keep the two worlds separate so it works out ok.

 

Very true except four master's degrees is far more than what the average person has and might be considered to be too many.

 

Short of the people I hired and interviewed, I had no idea where many of my co-workers went to school or what degrees they had. I'd imagine that it'd be pretty easy to keep multiple graduate degrees quiet. Sure, your manager would know (if they remembered) but most people probably wouldn't know.

 

Very true, but capping the payscale at master's + 90 (i.e., four master's degrees) is a disincentive for one who has 23 master's degrees and 8 doctorates.

 

I think that we will see more and more people with a number of degrees. Some years ago, I attended a graduation where the guest speaker was the state manager of a major bank. He made the point that people joining the work force then could expect to have up to five careers(not just jobs). That could well mean that people will need to go back into education and training several times in their lives and gain more qualifications. It is also likely that more people will choose to gain more qualifications to advance within one career. For example, some of the people doing the same degree as me (Master of History, University of New England) are currently teachers of other subjects who would like to move into teaching history which is becoming a priority area in Australian education.

There are lots of good reasons to further your education at any age so I don't see any problem with people having quite a few degrees. The most I had heard of before this was 15.

 

I guess we're going to need more lines in our sig files!

 

It has been said that a man with too many degrees is unmarriageable.

 

This is ok, so long as he's still getting laid.

 

It depends, what is too many? I hold 5 degrees and think is too many. I think Randell holds more than 5 degrees.

In practice, you only need one or two degrees unless you want to become a professor.

If you put in your resume five degrees and apply for an engineering position (assuming at least of the degrees is in engineering), you most likley won't get hired because you are sending the message that you are the academic and not the professional type. Companies do not want in general someone that is too academic as we tend to be more thinkers and less doers.

I don't think is wrong to only show the degrees that are relevant to the position your applying in your resume. I wouldnt disclose more than 3 degrees in a resume unless you are applying for a professor position.

There is nothing wrong by earning degrees that you don't really need for employment. One can earn a degree in Religion or History just for pleasure and do need to include it in a resume.

 

Before we rely upon statements like "most likely won't," let's see if there is some data to support it. The rest of that paragraph is also speculation.

I routinely omit my 2nd bachelor's degree, and I never list my two associate's degrees. But if I earned a second master's, say, or a second doctorate, I might want to list both. You know, hypothetically.

 

I have an AA I do not list, a BS and MBA from CCU I do not list and an MBA in Marketing I do not list unless I apply for a teaching position in marketing. In total (counting CCU) I have 7 plus a graduate certificate.

 

hypothetically...of course :mischievous:

 

Granted this is anecdotal Rich, but I can absolutely guarantee you that at least in the IT field in the Northeastern US area, if you have a degree in your field and it makes sense, you're fine.

If you have an advanced degree in your field, you better either be just coming out of school, have some managerial experience that explains the MBA you have or some serious consulting or dev experience to explain the masters you have.. or you're going to be kicked to the curb as someone that makes bad decisions about how to spend your time.

If you have the spare time to work full time and get a degree part time, you're not working in your field enough to justify the hiring at a full time salary because companies want you to work 60 hours a week for them, not 40+ get some education that gets used at the next place where you'll work 60 for someone else.

Recommendation is to tailor your resume to the job and go with what's necessary to make your point. Also, if you're going to submit tuition reimbursement in this job market, you better be double careful about busting your rear end for your employer because regardless of the benefit, they can always get someone that doesn't cost as much to keep on staff that will work longer hours.

I'll be going back for a doctorate at some point, but there's not a chance in heck I'll be putting it on the resume for anything less than academic or consulting gigs. I've already killed my public profile on LinkedIn because it was costing me interviews according to my recruiters.

 

Even in the case of applying for a professorial position, three degrees (bachelor's, master's, and doctorate in the field in which you plan to teach) should suffice.

 

Same in Canada, a BS is more than enough for people working in the IT field. Some people in IT do an MBA if they want to go for managerial positions but many realize that technical positions sometimes pay more than managerial positions.

When I got my MBA, I was making less as a manager because I was making one and half overtime as an engineer. Managers work 60+ hrs a week with no overtime payment in most cases.