I have a question about degree verification. I took 4 1/2 years of College. Majored in Poly Sci....?

Question

I finished all of the Major requirements (11 classes of Poli Sci, with a 3.3 GPA in those classes). I am, however about 2 or 3 classes short of a few other requirements (1 or 2 histories for my cognate and 1 Spanish for my foreign language). My question is, with over 140 hours of undergraduate work and all of my requirements met for my major, can I put down on a job application or resume that I have a 4 year degree in Political Science? How many companies/employers actually verify degree completion? Etc. Etc. Can someone give me advice on this or point me in the right direction. I won't be able to take any classes for another 3 or 4 years, so keep that in mind. Thanks a bunch guys....

Answer 1

Yo Rusty, whats up!? I completely understand your dilema. Most employers will not check to verify a BA degree from your university. Some will, however. Corporations, non-profit type organizations, or government service are most likely to check, although many employers will often times only check to confirm advanced degrees, ie MA, PhD etc. The thing is, a perspective employer cannot do a background check without your express written signature. You have to sign a document allowing an employment verification agency to check your school records on behalf of your perspective employer. Otherwise a university cannot release those records to another party because of privacy laws.

This is an advantage to you. If you want to put down BA in Poly Sci, go ahead. Just don't ever fill out an application that specifically asks if the degree has been completed. As long as you don't lie, you shouldn't have a problem. If it were to come up later, or you had to do a retro-active background check, you could then explain the situation to your employer if you needed to. Most people won't have a big problem with this.

Bottom line: don't lie, but don't be afraid to put down BA Poly Sci on your resume. Your're not expected to explain 3 or 6 credits short but basically have finished my requirements on a one page resume. You can always explain it in person; you'll always do better that way. The job application is just to get you into the door.

I hope this info helps you out. Cheers!