Does a general studies degree look bad

It’s five answers to five questions. Here we go…

1. Will I be judged on the kinds of questions I ask at an interview, or on asking no questions at all?

At the end of interviews, we are asked if there are any questions. How much weight is placed on the kind of questions asked or saying “I have no questions”?

Lots of weight. The types of questions you ask can reveal all sorts of things about you — what motivates you, what you are and aren’t most interested in, what kind of judgment you have, whether you’re enthusiastic about the work, whether you’re realistic about the work, and plenty more.

Here are some questions you should never ask, and here are some questions to get you started on what you might want to ask.

And really, why wouldn’t you want to ask questions? You’re considering spending 40+ hours a week at this job; aren’t you hungry for all the information about it you can get?

2. Should I give feedback to a pushy, problematic job candidate who keeps applying?

I’m the funnel for graduate assistant applicants for my school. All applicants go through me because I assist faculty members in the hiring process, it gives HR a single contact, and it saves the faculty members from being bombarded by emails. I simply forward applicants as I receive them.

One of our students knows that I operate in this capacity and that I employ graduate assistants myself. “Jane” has come to me 3-4 times, asking me if I could pass along her resume, if I know of any openings, or if my own positions are filled. The problem is that this student has a reputation for being incredibly unreliable, needy, and divisive. She’s never been hired by my department, but word got to me from others she’s worked for in the university, and when she’s helped us out with events in a student capacity, it hasn’t been pretty. In short, I’m not inclined to pass her resume to anyone without serious disclaimers, and I’ll never hire her myself. My question is whether I should explain any of this to her, or if I should continue to nod and smile and give generic responses?

It sounds like your role in the hiring process isn’t one where you’re doing any screening or making decisions on who does and doesn’t move forward, so I think your best bet is to just continue doing that and not try to give her feedback.

If you did have a more involved role in hiring decisions, though, I’d still probably say not to say anything in this particular case. It’s tough to give give feedback that’s just about reputation rather than problems you’ve seen first-hand. Since she HAS helped you out with events, you could talk about that though — “I’ll be honest, when you helped on Events A and B, I had some concerns about X and Y. To consider you for a job here, I’d want to see real evidence of change and growth in those areas.”

3. My bonus was much smaller than coworkers in different roles from mine

I work part-time (filing, reception, phones, extra projects) for a financial advisory office and received a year-end bonus of $750. I’m pleased with the bonus, but I discovered – quite inadvertently, honestly – that there were other bonuses paid to full-time colleagues ranging between $10,000 and $24,500. They are not doing the same type of work as me. My work is basic receptionist/filing/phones/special projects – it’s part-time, about 30 hrs a week. The others in my firm are 5 financial advisors and my office manager. It isn’t that I would have expected anywhere near those dollars in a bonus – after all, I am only part-time, my work is nowhere near the same level as the officers/advisors. But I think I’m feeling a little insulted and I don’t know if I should be. I mean, I believe my feelings are valid – but are they appropriate to the circumstances?

I hate to appear ungrateful, but am I wrong to feel a little bugged by the huge difference in bonuses?

It’s very normal for people who work in finance to make large bonuses, and very normal for someone who’s doing part-time admin work to make a much smaller bonus. So I’d stick with your initial assessment (when you were happy with the amount you got) and not compare the amount to people who are in very different roles, with very different pay norms.

4. How are degrees in “general studies” perceived?

I lucked into a great career: internet marketing. I joined this industry when it was new and no college courses were offered in this field. Fast forward 20 years and I’m ready to move to the next step in my career. But a larger percentage of companies have online applications and require a bachelor’s degree. The cheapest, fastest path to a bachelor’s is finishing a degree in general studies (B.S.G.) online at my old university. How much weight would a B.S.G. carry in the workforce?

It’s … seen as kind of a bullshit degree. It’ll let you answer “yes” to the question of whether you graduated from college, but it won’t be particularly impressive to rigorous employers who are looking for evidence of strong critical thinking skills.

On the other hand, you’re doing the degree as kind of a perfunctory check-off-the-box measure at this stage in your career; it’s not like you’re doing it to get rigorous academic training to prepare you for a career, and that’s going to be clear to employers since you already have a career.

And that’s why the whole thing is silly. 20 years into your career, you have enough of a track record to show far more than a degree ever shows. At the start of a career, when you have little to no experience, degrees can be a shorthand that tells employers that you have at least some basic education and the wherewithal to stick with something for a few years. But employers don’t need that shorthand with more experienced candidates since they have their actual track record of work to look at. And you shouldn’t need to go through the time and expense of going back to school just to check off a box.

But if you do, I’d go for a more specific degree if you can.

5. Can my employer decide not to pay me for this month because of financial hardship?

As an exempt employee (director level) in a California nonprofit, is it legal for the CEO to tell me two weeks before payday that we are not getting any salary for the month of January? Our organization gets paid once a month on the last day of the month, and today I was told that due to financial hardship no director will receive a salary for January. Furthermore, this is not a salary deferral, it is a forfeiture of salary.

Nope, it’s not legal. They’re required to pay you your agreed-upon salary for any work you’ve done. Moreover, they’re required to pay it within a certain amount of time or penalties accrue. In California, wages earned between the 1st and 15th days of the month must be paid no later than the 26th day of that same month, and wages earned between the 16th and last day of the month must be paid by the 10th day of the following month. There’s no option to just not pay earned wages.

I’d say this to them: “I realize finances are very tight right now, but not paying people would violate federal and state law, and will trigger financial penalties at the state level. We could get in a lot of trouble with the state department of labor if we don’t pay people.”

Is a degree in general studies good?

What is the value of a general studies degree?

What is a bad degree?