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Re: FW: Maryland Accessibility Job

for

From: Jonathan Metz
Date: May 28, 2014 9:14AM


There is something seriously broken with a system that prefers entry level
positions to have a Masters degree.





On 5/27/14, 10:05 PM, "Thompson, Rachel" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

>For a state university in Alabama, that's about average for entry level.
>
>Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
>Director, Emerging Technology
>Center for Instructional Technology
>University of Alabama
>
>On May 27, 2014, at 12:54 PM, "Trafford, Logan"
>< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
>> $35K for a starting salary for someone with a Master's degree is
>>competitive? Am I out to lunch, or does that not seem extremely low.
>>For comparison sake, a minimum-wage job in Ontario grosses $23K per year!
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Thompson,
>>Rachel
>> Sent: May 27, 2014 1:39 PM
>> To: WebAIM Discussion List
>> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] FW: Maryland Accessibility Job
>>
>> In some cases, we have successfully lobbied to hire someone based on
>>his or her "equivalent experience", so I do think it can be a useful
>>inclusion in the application process.
>>
>> When applicants complete our HR forms, they are asked something like
>>"Do you have a Bachelors degree or equivalent experience?". If their
>>response is No, we (the department who is hiring) do not see their
>>application.
>>
>>
>> Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
>> Director, Emerging Technology
>> Center for Instructional Technology
>> University of Alabama
>>
>> On May 27, 2014, at 12:04 PM, "Jonathan Metz"
>>< <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>
>>> I in the process of mentioning applicant tracking systems (ATS), but
>>> Karl beat me to it. I would argue against lying in the ATS, as it will
>>> probably just tick off the human resource (HR) department:
>>>
>>> "Most hiring managers have denied interviews to candidates qualified
>>> by their resumes, but disqualified by additional information in their
>>> cover letters" — Lisa Vaas,
>>> http://www.theladders.com/career-advice/getting-cover-letter-noticed
>>> (It's the second unordered list under the H3 "Understanding your cover
>>> letter's electronic journey…")
>>>
>>> Rachel:
>>>
>>> "Equivalent experience" is a joke. If the ATS finds 50 resumes that
>>> have an MS degree, the ones that lack won't even be aggregated, let
>>> alone evaluated. The problem with organizations developing a pay
>>> system based on education requirements is that it creates a unfair
>>> advantage to individuals who can afford to pay and/or a disadvantage
>>> to individuals with disabilities. This is textbook (pun intended)
>>>discrimination.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/27/14, 12:44 PM, "Chagnon | PubCom" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> << Unfortunately, those same job classification systems also tend to
>>>> become job qualification systems. Some HR systems which run the job
>>>> announcements also run the job applications as well and if an
>>>> applicant comes by and applies and they don't have a masters, their
>>>> application is dumped without a chance for human consideration >>
>>>>
>>>> So true, especially in government. And it's getting worse every year.
>>>>
>>>> I'm finding that many federal HR departments don't have a clue about
>>>> the jobs they announce and recruit for, and HR staff are barely
>>>> skilled in office software themselves, let alone understand the
>>>> technical expertise needed for many jobs.
>>>>
>>>> If I could only tell you what I've witnessed here inside the
>>>> Washington DC Beltway! You'd cry.
>>>>
>>>> --Bevi Chagnon
>>>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>>>> - -
>>>> -
>>>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>>>> www.PubCom.com - Trainers, Consultants, Designers, Developers.
>>>> Print, Web, Acrobat, XML, eBooks, and U.S. Federal Section 508
>>>> Accessibility.
>>>> Taka a Sec. 508 Class in 2014 - www.Pubcom.com/classes
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> >>>> >>>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/27/14, 12:42 PM, "Thompson, Rachel" < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I work for a state university with pretty strict degree requirements
>>>> for certain job levels. We usually include something in job ads about
>>>> "equivalent experience" so someone who may not have a
>>>> Bachelors/Masters/Doctorate could apply and be a viable candidate.
>>>>
>>>> In order to offer a competitive salary, we usually have to require a
>>>> Bachelors (with Masters preferred) for even entry level jobs in our
>>>> office, which handles instructional tech support campus wide. Those
>>>> usually pay 30K annually. If we require a Masters, we might be able
>>>> to offer 35K.
>>>>
>>>> In many cases, we don't get to decide what degree is required, only
>>>> applicable fields.
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Rachel S. Thompson
>>>> Director, Emerging Technology
>>>> Center for Instructional Technology
>>>> University of Alabama
>>>>
>>>> On May 27, 2014, at 11:19 AM, "Karl Groves" < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
>>>>wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Sarah,
>>>>> Unfortunately, those same job classification systems also tend to
>>>>> become job qualification systems. Some HR systems which run the job
>>>>> announcements also run the job applications as well and if an
>>>>> applicant comes by and applies and they don't have a masters, their
>>>>> application is dumped without a chance for human consideration, no
>>>>> matter how flexible the organization actually is WRT to the
>>>>> education requirement.
>>>>> The best approach is to lie in the online form so that your info
>>>>> matches the requirements, then as you state, disclose in your cover
>>>>> letter that your level of expertise and/ or experience should
>>>>>qualify you.
>>>>> On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 11:52 AM, Bourne, Sarah (ITD) <
>>>>> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>>>>>> I am not familiar with the personnel practices in Maryland, but in
>>>>>> many large organizations the classification of jobs, and the salary
>>>>>> that can be offered, are tied to the qualifications that are
>>>>>> needed. A Master's Degree may have bumped the salary into a range
>>>>>> closer to the actual job market, for instance. If you are
>>>>>> interested in a position where you think you have relevant
>>>>>> experience that may even be superior to what they are asking for,
>>>>>> then I think you should apply and make your case. You may find
>>>>>> that they can be more flexible than it appears.
>>>>>> sb
>>>>>> Sarah E. Bourne
>>>>>> Director of Assistive Technology
>>>>>> Information Technology Division
>>>>>> Commonwealth of Massachusetts
>>>>>> 1 Ashburton Pl. rm 1601 Boston MA 02108
>>>>>> 617-626-4502
>>>>>> <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>>>> http://www.mass.gov/itd
>>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Karl Groves
>>>>> www.karlgroves.com
>>>>> @karlgroves
>>>>> http://www.linkedin.com/in/karlgroves
>>>>> Phone: +1 410.541.6829
>>>>> www.tenon.io
>>>>> What is this thing and what does it do?
>>>>> http://vimeo.com/84970341
>>>>> http://lanyrd.com/profile/karlgroves/
>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>> >>>> >>>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> >>> >>> list messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
>> >> >>messages to <EMAIL REMOVED>
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