How do I get around this issue in a job interview?

Question

I am 40 years old have over 18 years experience in my field. I am extremely good at what I do for a living. I am interviewing for a position at a new company and they prefer a degree. I, sorry to say, only have 1 year of college. What do I say about this? How to I get around this issue? Its on my resume, would they call me in if were that big of an issue? Is there a special phrase, something I can say that that distracts from this fact?

Answer 1

From the way you have described your situation, it seems you may be somewhat embarassed about your lack of a degree. Your feelings about this and the anxious tone of your comments concern me far more than your lack of a degree. Unless you can confidently present yourself without apology and embarassment, then I believe it will be difficult for you to convince someone you are meeting for the first time that they should give you a job. Your lack of a degree is the elephant sitting in the living room. You cannot hide it.

All that being said, you may want to think about your situation in a little different light. I do not think it is as troublesome as you seem to feel it is.

First, my guess is that this company called you to schedule an interview. If this is the case, then you need to consider the positive indications that this means. In my experience hiring people, only about 10% of all applicants for a job will get an interview. This means that you are already regarded as one of the top 10% of all the candidates.

Second, even if they did not call you for an interview, they have agreed to give you one. They have seen your resume and already know what your experience and educational background is. Again, in my experience hiring people, it is very rare that someone from outside the company ever gets a courtesy interview. Again, the fact you are getting an interview attests to their interest in you.

Third, You have indicated that for this particular job a degree is "PREFERRED", that is far different than when a degree is "REQUIRED." If a company determines a degree is required for a position, they risk employee discontent, if not discrimination lawsuits from internal employees if they violate their stated job requirements and hire someone without a degree. There are some job descriptions that specify a trade-off for education vs, experience often at a rate of 1 to 1 or 2 to 1. If the job description says a degree is "PREFERRED" all that implies is that if everything else about two candidates is equal, then the candidate with the degree will usually get the job. A degree is only "PREFERRED" for this job. "PREFERRED" not "REQUIRED."

Fourth, every job of any consequence represents a $1,000,000 decision for the company. No employer wants to or can afford to make a bad decision of this magnitude (turnover and training costs aside). And, the fact you are "extremely good" at your job is HUGE when you consider the company is making a $1,000,000 investment decision. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. You have already proved you can do your job and do it "extremely well." What is someone with just a piece of paper going to say that is more convincing about their unproven ability to do a real job you have already proved you can do?

In summary, I would say nothing about your degree unless they want to make an issue of it. If it is an issue for them, they will bring it up. If your lack of a degree does come up, I would say something to the effect you appreciate this hiring decision represents a $1,0000,000 investment the company is going to be making in wages, benefits and training expenses for this position; that you appreciate also this is not a decision the compay can afford to take lightly. Then, I would reiterate that I have done this kind of work extremely well for 18 years and that you are confident this experience has prepared you adequately to continue to perform at a high level into the future. Then, I would add that I appreciate there is value in having the formal education as well and that you would welcome this an opportunity to improve if they were willing to discuss with you any thoughts or concerns they had about your own lack of formal education and if they see any possible weaknesses or shortcomings this could have in your ability to continue to excel at what you will need to do in this position. If they bring up any issues, listen closely to what they say and try to see if they have a valid point or if there are things you need to clarify about your specific experiences that show you can effectively deal with their issue. If they have any valid concerns, I would be frank and admit that it is a concern for you as well and that you are open to any additional training that would help correct this deficiency.

If there is any discussion of specific concerns about your lack of education, at the end I might ask them if you could summarize together what they think the critical skills and abilities are for this job and use this as an opportunity to highlight how your experience has prepared your in each of these critical abilities. Another approach would be to pose this summary yourself. Explain from your experience in this field what you think are the critical skills and abilities required for success. Then explain how you feel you have demonstrated these attributes in all that you have accomplished thus far.

This is probably WAY more than you wanted to read or absorb, but you are much farther up the list of candidates for this job than you seem to think. You need to and I think you have every reason to approach the interview positively and confidently. You can take justifiable pride in your accomplishments and they do have value for your current or any prospective employer. Believe this, and you will do very well in your quest for this new position.

All the best. You've already made your own luck by working hard thus far.

Answer 2

You really can't get around it with a 'magic phrase'. If they've seen your resume, and they still called you, then the degree is actually 'prefered' and not 'required'.

Help them focus on what you can do well in the job. Do some research and be sure you understand the skill sets they are looking for. Then prepare to explain how your experience has prepared you to do those things. Provide examples of projects or jobs that required you to perform the same or similar skills. Try to mentally help them see how you fulfill the list of skills they are looking for through your experience.

If you haven't done some parts of the job, be prepared to discuss how you would approach doing it. Do you have similar skills that could transfer to this job. (for example, you've never sold medical supplies, but you have sold specialty office supplies. How is the process, customer service and relationship management the same?)

Ultimately, if it comes down to someone with the degree and no experience and you, how well you present yourself and show you are a good fit for the job, may swing it in your favor.

If it comes down to someone with your experience AND the degree, sorry, but they'll probably go the other way. If this keeps happening to you, then consider if its time to bite the bullet and get the degree.

Answer 3

you can try to gloss over this by saying something like you left college to pursue this field and felt that you gained more from actually working in that field then studying about it in a book.

it just depends on what type of person is doing the interviewing. for some jobs i wouldnt consider a person with NO degree over someone that has one -- but it depends on the job and since you have sooo much experience in your field that's good.

but practice how you want to respond to that question if it comes up. or even choose to address it yourself. say hey i'm hoping you won't overlook the fact that i have over 18 yrs exp in this field instead of a four year college degree or whatever. think of something good. be honest though.

Answer 4

If they called you for an interview, sounds like they realize that all your experience can be the equivalent and more than having a degree. In the interview, stress your experience in the field. You'll be OK. You don't have to distract from it - sounds like it's probably a non-issue for you.

Answer 5

Not a factory but I've interviewed for a couple of places where they didn't show me around and one place where they were still moving in so we were using one of the only tables and chairs in the office, the rest was full of furniture and boxes.

Answer 6

id really focus in on the experince part of it. and how your qualified and life has been your educatoin... but im not the best interveiwer so what i would really do is get one of those interview job searching books from the career section at the bookstore and read up on this and they have raelly good ideas how to address this type of issue. good luck

Answer 7

I would not bring it up unless they do - and then simply state you took courses you needed to help advance you into your field, and from there you learned and trained on the job and that your work history and career growth testifies to your field education and ability to adapt and grow to meet the need of industry.

Answer 8

If the 18 years doesn't distract them then nothing will.

Answer 9

You may want to see about getting a degree just to take care of that requirement as a formality since it will probably be harder to get a job the older you get.

Answer 10

Always tell the truth in an interview to avoid unnecessary problems later. Also truth is appreciated. Also since you have mentioned that you do not have a degree what is the use of acting as if you are having one?