Further Education when working

Wanderer2010

Calling all bosses or employers here:

Are you impressed by employees who compliment their ongoing employment with relevant courses/training workshops/part time masters etc or do you consider a person who has 5 years experience vs the same person who has a few more qualification relevant to their job as equals?

On that note, would you prefer a worker to have done an extra degree or masters whilst working or would online courses/training days etc all count? I had a conversation with a co worker and they insisted that the only other qualification that counts after your degree is a masers and employers don't consider anything else. Thoughts?

BreadnBuddha

That's a very open set of questions really.

With some exceptions like in IT roles where updating your certification regularly is often a pre-requisite of continued employment, further education can be of little to no interest to an employer depending on the individual concerned. It depends on the company, the industry and the scope for promotion or advancement etc.

If there's a career path within a company and the employee in question could be considered as a valuable and investable asset, by which I mean the company can see a longer term benefit in spending time and money on fees/exams/study leave etc, then relevant training/further education would be a very worthwhile pursuit for the employee. This is most often the case when employees receive lots of support from their employers to pursue higher education and so on.

However, if the employer doesn't foresee a requirement for someone with the level of training or education that the employee wants to obtain, then it's somewhat a moot point as far as benefits to the employer are concerned in the longer term. There's no reason not to proceed with study, but you can't demand reward, recognition or support from an employer if it doesn't deliver a tangible benefit to their business. It's also not unheard of for an employer to support and encourage an employee to pursue their studies even if it will eventually lead to that employee finding employment elsewhere, down the line.

Lots of grey areas around both of these scenarios as it really does depend very much on the individuals and company concerned.

One thing I would say is that assuming the employer is supportive of ongoing study (I believe all should be - Anyone who wants to improve their education should be encouraged wholeheartedly), it's worth noting that a degree or masters requires a sustained level of effort on the part of the student to be successful, compared to shorter courses. I would consider someone who has completed degree or masters studies while working fulltime to be a commendable achievement, compared with the same person completing various online or 3 day certificates in this, that and the other. Of course there are exceptions, but in general, that's how I'd see it.

If it's someone I wouldn't even consider for advancement in the company or deserving of support as reward and recognition for example, neither certicates nor degree would be of interest to me as a manager, even if I would applaud their efforts privately.

What are your own thoughts on this?

Wanderer2010

Thanks very much for the reply. I guess I would see a person who has completed extra courses during their employment a little bit better than someone who just has work and nothing else, no advancement etc. But I agree with you that not all companies will see the extra merit a course or masters brings to the table, however if someone wants to further themselves as a means to understand a subject better then it can only be a good thing.

livedadream

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Are you impressed by employees who compliment their ongoing employment with relevant courses/training workshops/part time masters etc

Yes, it shows, commitment, interest, curiosity for their skill or industry

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

or do you consider a person who has 5 years experience vs the same person who has a few more qualification relevant to their job as equals?

if they both have 5 years? it depends it comes down to so much more than that, on the job experience is vital so if your comparing like with like then yes the more qualifications the better, but their useless with out the practical sdie of the job.

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

On that note, would you prefer a worker to have done an extra degree or masters whilst working or would online courses/training days etc all count? I had a conversation with a co worker and they insisted that the only other qualification that counts after your degree is a masers and employers don't consider anything else. Thoughts?

this is nonsense.

train the trainer, level 6
manual handling instructor level 6
lean six sigma levels 5/6/7/8
Masters is level 8

there are millions of courses that are vital to day to day operations of business that have nothing to do with a masters.

Train the trainer is used is most multis these days but is a NFQ QQI level 6 course (to show the level the leaving cert is level 5)

a masters is great if you want someone to understand the theory of something, like the MBA's but to say everything else is not considered is useless, in that case engineers without a safepass but with a masters would be wandering around.

beauf

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

Thanks very much for the reply. I guess I would see a person who has completed extra courses during their employment a little bit better than someone who just has work and nothing else, no advancement etc. But I agree with you that not all companies will see the extra merit a course or masters brings to the table, however if someone wants to further themselves as a means to understand a subject better then it can only be a good thing.

Depends I've known quite a few people who constantly do degrees and masters, yet, are not very good at their job at all. You also meet people with no qualifications who are very good. You also get the reverse.

However its very hard to access someones ability from interview, without testing them or a trial period. So qualifications are a means to try and quantify that. Its not a perfect method.

CruelCoin

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

I had a conversation with a co worker and they insisted that the only other qualification that counts after your degree is a masers and employers don't consider anything else. Thoughts?

I wouldn't consider anything below Hetac 7 to be worth the paper they're written on. But certs and diplomas are perfectly valid, and if studied for part-time show solid commitment.