OMG! Associate Degree Needed For Receptionist Job? Are You Kidding?!?

I have been looking for a job since November. I have seen a lot of jobs that require degree's. It is amazing. You need a degree to get an entry level job. Next, you will need a degree to work at McDonald's or Burger King.

Well I am hoping to God that is a job that is hoping to advance the receptionist, other than that it sounds very silly to me. Thanks for sharing.

And then hey wonder why people have to seek welfare..it will be that you have to have a college education and a botanist degree to be a normal regular gardener. You probably could work circles around the person they might end up hiring..There loss..

I was once told that what your degree is in is less improtant than the fact that you have a degree. That proves to who ever that you can stick to it and get something done. In your case, I would say that your twenty pluys years in that field is worth more than a degree, and I would try to get an application in there anyway.I would tell them that you had a twenty year degree from the school of hard knocks.

This isn't anything new. I had a friend years ago ( in the 90's)who was a receptionist and she told me she had to get a associates degree to get the receptionist job she had. She told me it was easy degree and suggested that I should try for it since I was handy around the office & had advanced PC skills. Don't give up. I hate to say this but sometimes people get the best job's just by knowing the right people. I have a friend who was a short order cook for years then all of the sudden she got a advanced data entry job and she couldn't type! She got the job because she knew the people who owned the company and now she make's a lot of money & has moved up in the company because after being with the company for 3 years she has learned data entry & now has more responsibilities. Networking is the key now day's. I wish you luck !

I don't understand why they would want a degree unless it's to determine whether a person has the determination to stick with something. Even then, you don't need a degree for the job, just experience! There were 5 jobs in my newspaper today. 2 for truck drivers, one for a salesman and two for medical technicians. I'm beginning to despair of ever getting a job!

I would still apply if I was you. Someone with a fresh degree is not going to have your skills, experience and abilities...list yours in detail and I'm sure success will be yours, provided of course that you have all the other attributes. The pay must be good...it would want to be...sheesh!

Huh? Did they really need a very formally educated person for that job? Are their clientele that picky, or maybe they think that there are those with Associates Degree that might not have a job right now so they took the chance of hiring applicants that have a higher degree than the other companies who are also posting same jobs.? What Im trying to say is that they might have thought "why settle for 'less' when you can get someone who has 'more'"? That's just one of the possible scenarios that I came up with. Like you mentioned job opportunities are scarce these days and even those who have excellent educational backgrounds(valedictorians, etc.) only end up with menial jobs just because they are in need of the resources fast. So maybe they worked that kind of job thinking its only temporary and they'd look for jobs that would suit their credentials. However, experience would always trump those educational backgrounds. Im saying this because most of us will even forget what we have heard in school. What really teaches us is our experience in everything. Its how we deal with real life situations, its the skills that we have acquired through various experiences that would make us better qualified for any job. That's just what I think anyways.

its getting really bad now.. i mean when my hubby was trying to get a job (ANY JOB) you couldnt be an asst manager at FAST FOOD with out a degree.. im like WTF?!?!

I believe that the amount of young graduates is so overwhelming that the Industries and business are easily requesting a degree in order to minimize the quantity of job applications they might received. For someone like you with an experience of 20 plus years it could be a smart move to enroll in College and request an equivalency for your experience, in some careers four years of work is equivalent to 1 year of studies; you could get your degree in very little time. As for this job in particular I agree with someone who told you to apply anyhow, you will not lose anything contrary you might end up with the job! Good Luck!

Well now that is just plain nuts? I have really never heard of such a thing. Why would you need that much education and/or credentials to be a receptionist? I hope they pay a lot considering how much they are asking for. I bet you that the job only pays around $8.00 an hour if that!

I have a Bachelor's degree and a Certificate in Medical Office Assisting, plus I plan on taking the test to become a certified medical coder sometime in the future. Are you saying that advanced education is a waste of time? I can't fault companies for looking for people with any sort of degree, to be honest. As someone said before, it shows an employer that a person is willing to learn, and is willing to work hard and persevere in achieving goals. You can have all the experience in the world, but unless you can show someone that you're motivated to try to move up in the world, it's worth nothing. I apologize if I've offended anyone, but that's the way I see it.

Experience is worth more than a degree--period. If I ever needed people to work for me...I would rather train them to do the job as I needed it done, or hire based on experience. For some careers, a degree has value, but I think the degree thing is just a way of company's weeding out the competition. I bet they'll be sorry they didn't hire you even though you probably didn't pursue it. They are the ones missing out; don't waste your time with them. I work seasonally in a clerical job, although I am self-employed year round, and here it's not a big problem with degrees being required. If I were to go to an interview and they told me I needed a degree for something I have experience in, I think I would tell them off with no problem. That is just ignorant. Good luck finding something with a company who truly has their head on their shoulders. :)

i would think that experiance would be the most important factor when appling for any job. I work in admin and our company all you need is minimun of 6 months experiance in admin which is an essential for the job.

The employer is probably looking for candidates that are not secondary school (what you call highschool) leavers. If the job vacancy was found on one of the various job sites, it's possible that associate's degree was the lowest available education option. I don't know what the trend is, but the company I work for goes over every application with a fine comb - a CV may look impressive, but an applicant who changes employment 4 times in 4 years does not return to the for-consideration stack. On the other hand, applicants with experience and have held positions of responsibility stand a higher chance of being invited for an interview. I'm probably going to step on a few toes, but the problem is with the devaluation of the Bachelor's degree - too many people hold a degree, but too many of those a consolation degrees... Just be honest and thorough in your application... once you make it to an interview, the Cow-Poopers are usually weeded out...

That's really weird! Wonder what kind of company is that. Probably the White House wants to hire a receptionist, then they jolly well hire a receptionist with degree! I have seen some air stewardess from Singapore Airlines taking up receptionist work in some big companies. Their salary are as high as Assistant Managers in smaller companies. Those ex-air stewardess have the skills and the training to provide excellent customer service, and project a good corporate image. Other than that, I dont see why anyone wants to hire a receptionist beyond the normal "pleasant voice, ability to use computer".

Before you know it, you'll need a Master's Degree just to flip burgers at McDonald's. I'm a college student, working on my Bachelor's, and I can barely find anything. It's so frustrating. Everything I find requires a Bachelor's Degree or higher. Ridiculous. I do have a part-time job during the semesters at my college, and that has taught me clerical skills. I don't think it's too difficult to learn how to use Excel or any other program. My training was so absolutely minimal. They were like, "This is how you answer the phone. This is how you transfer. This is how you hold. This is how you dial into voice-mail. This is how you use the scanner." I don't think an Associate's Degree should be required. More people are having to go to college (which they can barely afford) or return to college just to keep their job or get a degree for the job they want.