The doctor is in: Our Career Doctor is here to help you with all aspects of your job.
Talking about the value of your Capella degree
Q: I’m considering making a career change, but I am concerned that prospective employers may not recognize the quality of my education because I earned my degree online. Are my fears out of date? How do I effectively speak to them about the value of my Capella degree?
A: Though there are still employers who haven’t had the chance to see firsthand the value of online education at a respected university, online learning has become more accepted by hiring managers as enrollments in online courses and institutions continues to rise. For example, renowned business leader and former General Electric CEO Jack Welch was recently asked if he would hire someone with an online degree. “Sure,” he said, “if the person was smart and talented enough. If you’d asked us a year ago, we would have hesitated.” A survey of 500 major employers found that half considered online degrees equal in value to traditional degrees. (See New York Times, “Degrees of Acceptance,” July 2006.)
Prepare your answer
Because you cannot know in advance how potential employers feel about online degrees, anticipate misconceptions they may have and prepare well-reasoned responses. Part of that preparation is to know many of the strengths that Capella itself has as an institution. You may want to visit the Capella Visitor Center to arm yourself with the latest facts and figures.
As you talk about your education, show confidence in what you have learned, describing specific skills and knowledge you gained at Capella that make you a top performer in your profession. Give examples of projects you have completed in the courseroom. If you implemented them at work, describe the benefits to your organization. Mention the quality of group discussions in the courseroom to counter the notion that online education is completed alone.
Present your whole package
Keep in mind that you are marketing yourself as a whole package, including not just your education but your professional experience, related skills, and unique attributes. And because you never know when you’ll have a chance to tell someone about your qualifications, have these answers at the top of your mind in encounters outside the job interview setting.
For more information and tips on talking about the value of your Capella degree, visit the Career Center on iGuide.
Please forward future questions to career-doc@capella.edu
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 10:57 am and is filed under Alumni, Learners. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
