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Too much education?

Veteran

Marcus Hayes Chesapeake, VA

Hello,

I am about six years from transition, am currently in a master’s program and my plans are to also pursue a MBA subsequently. Is there a such thing as too much education? I am looking to go into the business operations or Federal law enforcement industries. Should I consider certification in some areas also? I want to walk out the door as ready as possible. Thank you.

Marcus

8 February 2018 5 replies Military to Civilian Transition

Answers

Advisor

Bob Potterton Oakton, VA

I agree with the Advisors above however, so you are aware you can at times be deemed by a hiring manager as "over-qualified" for a particular position. Right or wrong it happens. Education and certification programs are great but be sure to accuratize your efforts accordingly.

good luck,
Bob

Advisor

Jerry Welsh Middleville, MI

The only time I see/hear it ,being a problem would be if your LI profile or your introduction on your resume reads, 20 years experienced program manager. Then under education they see a Masters and a MBA. One comment mentioned you may wish to define your career, government versus civilian market-MPA for government or Masters tailored in law enforcement depending upon where you are headed. Companies and the government have salary ranges, if they "feel, you are outside of that, you maybe considered over qualified. That is where tailoring your resume to an opening is good, especially if you have the job posting, then if they want 7 years of experience you have 7+ plus years. Education if they want a MPA or related you list your MPA, and skip the other Master's. If it is a more general resume, research the market by reviewing a ton of job openings, if you feel a the general fit is 5 years of experience with a Masters-guess what you have 5+ years and a Masters. That is why targeted resumes to a specific position works better. Thanks for your service and God Bless.

Advisor

Jeremy Serwer Woodstock, CT

Hello Marcus,

I doubt "too much education" would be an issue for you. That said, your specific educational efforts -- at this juncture, after a long military career and 6 years to go -- should perhaps be targeted more specifically to your ultimate goal: meaning, if your current Masters program is in, say, linguistics -- that wouldn't help you much. Conversely, an MBA would be helpful for a career in business operations, yet maybe not that necessary for a career in Federal law enforcement.

Used to be that an MBA was a ticket to a job offer and higher salaries. While appropriate and helpful today, there are a lot of MBA's out there. That said, there are fewer MBA's with 19 -- or 25 -- years military experience at an officer level.

Since you have those 6 years to go, you should probably narrow your career goals and choices; then you can target your educational efforts toward that end.

For example, it's big difference between business operations and Federal law enforcement.

Happy to discuss further, via the ACP website, I'm reachable at Jeremy@theserwercompany.com.

JS

Advisor

Michael Kraft Eureka, CA

It's rare to have too much education. Some people may be perceived as hanging out in school too long, but that perception won't stick to someone who went to school while serving as an officer.

Your question made me realize that, in years of advising folks both as an MBA program director and now working in a staffing agency, I have only recommended leaving a degree off of a resume to one person. She was soon to be getting out of prison, had been convicted of financial crimes, and was planning to apply for labor positions in service industries. She believed, probably accurately, that that was what she could get and that having a degree might get in her way when applying for manual labor positions. I advised her to take the degree off, work hard, earn trust, and then bring it back as she attempted to move back up.

Everything has an opportunity cost. Time spent getting education could be spent writing a book or something else that would also be beneficial. But other things equal, more education is good.

As to how to represent and translate your experience, I agree with Ariane Perry.

Best wishes.

Advisor

Ariane Perry Webster, NY

Marcus,

Most of the time the things you have done in your military duties can be worded to fit the experience. For Example: Logistics is essentially collecting data to make the best decision, "collection of evidence" as most law enforcement job boards state is a mandatory item you've done. As an officer I am positive you have had to gather documents to promote/demote/ art 15 etc.. a subordinate, Your experience just needs to be translated into usable forms. The other key to this is making sure you are not using performance reports as your resume. Civilians do not know how to translate most of our skills, so you have to simplify, do not use acronyms (unless common), and make sure your experience can be found in your work history! EX- "used hand tools" this is a skill we neglect to write as mechanics ( seems like a given, but if not stated you get passed over). Write your skills into your work history so years and skills are both accounted for. Also last advice, keep multiple resumes. You want to tailor your experience to the job you are applying and make known your skills to the recruiter or computer scanner looking for correlations of your skills.

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