Turned down for an interview based on school I went to

So I applied for a position to work as a IT security analyst for a defense contractor in the area and was contacted by thier HR since my qualifications matched what they were looking for. But when she forwarded my resume to the manager he turned down the opportunity to speak with me because in his experience candidates from UMUC didn't have the "skills" needed in interviews to sell themselves or perform the job correctly.

I was thinking that since I already had 3-4 years experience in the field that they would at least want to talk with me if their HR took the time out to call me. Is this common for others going to online or other private schools?

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Comments

jvrlopez

Supposed to be graduating from UMUC in 5 weeks

Hope I don't have any bad experiences like you (doubt it), though UMUC has been listed on resume for the past 3 years and hasn't hurt me yet.

Legacy User

The reality is with many working adults online education is the only option. I know if I did not have the option to do it online I would not have my degree. My schedule is unpredictable depending on work being performed so I cannot be locked in to a regular classroom schedule. On top of my my 1hr 25 min commute with traffic makes it a nightmare as well.

Cyberscum

I only speak from my experience.

Although I would love to defend online education as being equivalent to B&M schools, it is not even close in my case. I went to a B&M for two years and switched to an online school for the degree. The difference in requirements and effort was tremendous. I was able to knock out the degree with VERY limited study and effort in the online route whereas the B&M was requiring a lot more of me as a student.

Again, just my experience, but I will look for a B&M for my masters.

N2IT

I agree that the alternative is better to have an on line degree than not to have one usually.

However, I agree with Cyber, my bachelors was from a B&M and I thought the course work was a lot harder, that's not saying the course work wasn't tough for WGU (where I received my MBA).

I'm glad I got the MBA, no regrets or any negative reaction, several of the classes helped reinforce information I kind of knew but still need to fill gaps.

If it's your only option then by all means do it. That's just my opinion.

cmitchell_00

It's many good online programs out there so; that employer was being a real *@%. If Harvard or Penn State can have a online degree/program then U of Phoenix or WGU shouldn't be a problem either. It's what the student learns from those universities and how they translate that knowledge into the workforce.
Check out this link
U.S. News Releases Expanded 2015 Best Online Programs Rankings - US News

ccnpninja

This happens sometimes. Don't take it personal. More important: don't bad-mouth him, the market has ears.

Mooseboost

Don't take it personally, the manager doesn't sound like a real winner. If he is willing to shoot down applicants that easily, then he already has someone in mind.

Polynomial

These threads are the reason I personally decided on an online degree through a traditionally B&M school. Now that it's well behind me, the online part doesn't even come up in conversation. Something to think about for anyone considering a Master's.

anoeljr

Don't let it get you down dude, just move on. And if you're that worried about your online degree, maybe you can get a masters online at a B&M school. If you have a masters, most people won't care about your bachelors, unless its an IVY or the like. If people want a masters, I usually say get your bachelors cheap as possible and then get into a grad program at a B&M school. Since I don't have any debt, I'll be able to pay for a reasonably priced masters out of pocket if I want (around 20k). Many people I went to high school with that went to B&M schools for their bachelors have at least 20k debt that they need to pay off first before going to grad school. Not me though

philz1982

Never ever, ever, ever, ever, did I mention ever? Burn a bridge. You never know when you will be ****-canned due to a corporate downturn or paralyzed and can't do that rack and stack job you've been doing and you need to call in favors. I have a list of dozen's of folks I can call if crap hits the fan. Just because someone doesn't have your point of view doesn't make them an a$$.

dou2ble

gc8dc95 wrote: »

It's unfortunate, but a lot of people lump UMUC, WGU, etc. in with the likes of Phoenix and ITT Tech.

As a former UMUC and UOP student I didn't see any difference in difficulty. The UMUC Algebra class was tough but so was UOP's Java class. For all the other classes it was a breeze. So I guess I'm one of those that lump them all in together and a step below B&M.