Advanced Degrees Can Make You Unmarketable - What to Do in the Current Brutal Labor Market ...

" ... getting a PhD makes it more difficult to get a job in the industry, because you dedicated so much time in academia and you are not seen as industry-focused. Nevermind how they believe you're overqualified so they assume you demand a higher pay, or that you "lost" the time you could spend on industry experience in a PhD." - Reddit Career Guidance, September 2024

The same is playing out with, for example, the MBA. Once the ticket for opening doors and moving-on-up, it can be a liability in a job search. You are classified as "too expensive" and maybe too full of your own academic-derived notions about how things should get done. 

Currently, as the Financial Times documents today, the market for knowledge workers, with the exception of health and AI slots, is brutal:

" ... hiring is stalling across professional sectors from finance to tech to administration, leaving white-collar workers facing much stiffer competition than some have become used to in recent years."

That advanced degree on your resume can knock you out of the box. This reality, though, is not new. 

During The Great Recession, most law firms, with the exception of Paul Weiss, were laying off associates. Meanwhile they had loan repayments. The average back in those days was about $700 a month.

In my coaching I advised they open themselves to pick up non-legal jobs and gig assignments in order to 1) Pay the bills, including loans and 2) Gain experience in a line of work new to them in case they couldn't make it back into law when the market recovered. Often the latter happened since the rigid legal sector, as it bounced back, recruited new graduates or those still employed in a legal position. 

The ethical question was, of course: Should they delete the JD and other advanced degrees on their resume? I left the decision up to them. Overall, those who did that made the leap into work situations which were not dead end. As they went on their career journey they could always retrieve the JD for their resume.

A key component of regrouping after an unmarketable advanced degree is not being stuck in regret, that is crying over spilled milk, symbolized in the tarot cards by the Five of Cups. That negativity comes through, deterring employers from hiring you. So, you made a bad investment in time (opportunity cost) and money. That happens all the time in life, as with marriages which were a bad decision from the get-go. No one wants to hear about that. No one even needs to know about it. 

Me? Post-9/11 when my industry collapsed and with it my boutique and my investments took a major hit, I knew I had to rebuild my confidence and prevent additional debt with a job, any job. To get one, I decided to eliminate the MA/Ph.D. and matriculation as a 1L at Harvard Law School from my credentials. I was hired for loss prevention, then the front desk at a brandname hotel chain. After I started up another business 15 months later I added back some of those academic credentials. 

The current labor market operates on the need for skills, not raw knowledge. Meanwhile Indeed reports the decline in available jobs listed for September 2024 in:

HR - Down 12%

Marketing - Down 27%

Media and Communications - Down 39%

Project Management - Down 9%.

Where the jobs are in these fields and even those with robust hiring such as healthcare primarily is in what's called the "hidden job market." You find that through:

Cold applying to appropriate managers in organizations. That can pan out. Read the professional anonymous networks such as Reddit, Fishbowl and Glassdoor and there are sagas about the success of that tactic. Do your research and customize the pitch. Follow the media and social network announcements of who's going where. Usually they will require staffing. 

Networking with "weak ties." Way back in the 1970s sociologist Mark Granovetter proved in his research that the lion's share of professional opportunities comes through those not on your traditional networks. That's for 3 reasons: 1) They are not competing with you so are more likely to share plum leads with you 2) They don't pigeonhole you in a narrow role but will tell you about jobs those in your profession might rule as not a fit for you and 3) They could have access to information about openings that the "usual suspects" don't. Joe the security guard in a trophy building might be aware of a firing, which opens up a slot. 

Networking in conventional ways. The coffee chat has become standard. But networking is a form of horse-trading. You have to indicate what you can offer that person in exchange for help. Make it specific. They want their offspring admitted to an elite prep school. You are a graduate. Explain the insider information and offer to assist hands-on with the process.

Meanwhile drop the magical thinking that a cut in interest rates will quickly turn around the hiring situation. Current dynamics could be signaling a permanent decline in demand for knowledge workers.

In business and life you usually have only one shot at whatever. Up the odds of success with Jane Genova. I am an intuitive coach, tarot reader and content-creator. Complimentary consultation (please text/phone 203-468-8579 or email janegenova374@gmail.com)