Week 2—Getting Started in the Workplace: Why you should use your education as experience when applying.

#MillennialMonday

Written By: David Hir Edited By: Madeline Cornwell

Before we dig into experience versus education, we need to understand what it means to advance in a career within an organization. Ask yourself two questions:

1. What does a typical career path look like within an organization?

2. How can our education equate to experience and help us capture higher-level career opportunities we may be professionally inexperienced in?

I believe that if we truly understand the answers to these questions, there is no logical reason to believe that education cannot equal experience.

The professional community needs to recognize the value of the experience gained while pursuing higher education.

           Have you thought about the questions above? Each is important in understanding education’s value as experience. However, they hold two very important distinctions. The first makes you consider long-term growth and what a true “path” for your career should look like. This is the type of plan that lays out what your career will look like over years—we’re not talking about what you’re doing day in and out. Organizations want to have a plan for what you’re doing quarter-to-quarter and year-to-year to show that you have been growing, that you’re on a “path” with the end goal including producing a well-groomed professional. So how does this supposed path support the idea that education can be as valuable as professional experience?

Let’s set a basic career path with a few major phases we all can agree upon. You will begin by committing to the mastery of your specific role. This leads to a better understanding of the impact your role has within an organization. You then will be required to fully understand the roles of your matrix partners as well as the impacts their projects have on the organization. Finally, you end your journey as a higher-level professional ready to take on a more challenging role. There is no denying that this is an incredibly valuable process that everyone goes through and benefits from in the professional space.

Now, let’s look at the process it takes to get an education at a four-year university. This path begins with a commitment to higher education at the age of fourteen. High school GPA impacts which universities will consider your application. Universities will also consider experiences through extracurricular activities including physical activities and mock-political groups, which show you’re committed to your intellectual growth—being involved is essential if you want to be considered at a top university. Fast-forward. You’re visiting universities, submitting applications and completing essays in the hope of improving your chances of getting into your preferred universities…directly competing with your peers on a national level. Getting accepted and enrolled in a university is just the first step. You now have a four-year commitment to your career path and development as a professional for which you’re paying top dollar. Your education starts off with 100 level courses to introduce you to the core concepts of the field you’re interested in. You’re assessed to prove your mastery in those subjects, you advance to 200/300/400 level coursework, and complete major project assignments along the way. Included in your education is exposure to other areas of the industry you will be working in, but not necessarily hoping to master—that is, if you’re a finance major, you can bet that your course load will include a necessary level of mastery within marketing, business management, accounting, and every major facet that comprises an organization.

This is the second time in this series that I will ask professionals from other generations to tip their caps. Being the most educated generation to enter the workforce has certainly changed the very definition of what “entry level” is.

You’ve committed to four years of professional growth in order to better understand the complexity of a working organization, you have successfully mastered coursework ranging from introductory to advanced theoretical applications, you have gained experience while working with peers on major projects that could make or break your professional education, and you have been exposed to a variety of competencies that relate to your field. That is the professional experience! Never tell yourself that you don’t have experience to offer your potential employer—every course you took and every assignment you submitted while pursuing your education was one step further on your professional journey. Pursuing a higher education can be just as effective as putting in hours to master your role, connecting with matrix partners to understand their function, and challenging yourself to become a stronger asset for your organization.

Still aren’t persuaded? Often in the interview process, Millennials are asked, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” Potential employers want to know if you’re ready to grow and are able to commit to doing so. A degree is the ultimate track record: use it as a testimony to your commitment to being a developed professional and give yourself the chance to really explain what your unique journey held. Chances are, you have exactly what they’re looking for.

           Now that the playing field is somewhat leveled between education and experience, let’s take on the million-dollar question. How can our education equate to experience so we can capture higher-level career opportunities we may be professionally inexperienced in? I’m going to use my personal experience as an example. I have a degree in finance and my educational experience was much like what we discussed above. I knew I wanted to pursue university, I committed myself to eight years of education, and I graduated with a degree in finance to a world of “X years experience or more preferred, please.” I know that I am not alone in feeling discouraged in that type of situation, like you’re drowning in a pool of experienced professionals and have no chance at even being considered. I settled for an entry-level position and thought myself lucky…until one application changed my perception of it all.

I was asked to supply an example of my work for a financial analyst position that required one to three years of experience. My senior year at university, I was in Advanced Financial Theory and will never forget that course’s semester-long project. We were analyzing multi-stage investment scenarios to predict future cash flows and their values in order to predict if the business should act on its future opportunities and continue its investments at periodic points in time. We finished the project by presenting our findings to the class in a 30–45 minute presentation. That was undoubtedly the hardest financial project that I had to complete throughout my education and I was damn proud of it.

Almost every course at a 300+ level involves some sort of major project and presentation to demonstrate your mastery over the subject. If you’ve taken these courses, you have nontraditional experience to call on and speak to while interviewing.

           So, I went for it. I decided that I wasn’t going to hold myself back. I started applying to some relatively high-level positions, including a few that were outside of my major but sounded interesting. I was focusing on the position after what was considered to be the standard entry point-applying to roles that were asking for 1-3 years of experience. I spoke about my educational experience in every interview and brought a copy of the project I submitted so we would be sure to discuss it. After all, why shouldn’t I? I had a portfolio of tested experience that included projects in nearly every facet of business. If they were relevant to the opening, they were important to include as part of my application. I knew if I had the opportunity to describe the scope of the project, I could prove I was capable of performing the required duties.

Two months after leaving a company with no prospects, I had five offers that would not be considered entry level. I went from feeling like I was working in a rut to having total control over my career and its growth. I no longer felt like I had to prove myself during the interview or that I wasn’t what the company was looking for. Interviewers were impressed by the initiative and effort. I started my career.

Our education has given us a literal playbook of real experience—just as four years on the job develops you for the next position on your career path. Do your homework on the position, identify the core competencies they’re asking for, and pull real examples from your education to back your qualifications. You spent years pursuing your degree—don’t ever let yourself believe it’s just a piece of paper.

You have the tools, you just have to know how use them.

#MillennialMonday #ProfessionalMillennial