In today’s society, more and more
people are becoming credentialed. This is causing the devaluing of the
credential (1). Now that the job market is flooded with credentialed
applicants, people feel forced to become credentialed in order to compete for
jobs. However, there are alternatives to achieving a master’s or a doctorate.
Although applicants are competing with the rest of the world for their niche in
the job market, those with more experience and success in a particular field of
study can prove to be a more desirable applicant and triumph over an applicant
with credentials. Granted that without the applicant’s experience or success,
the credentialed applicant is the obvious choice for the job. Specializing is
an outstanding way to bypass the stressful and expensive process of becoming credentialed.
Doctors themselves specialize in order to break away from the competition. For
example, patients who need to have spinal surgery have a choice to either
receive treatment from their local doctor, who operates on about four spines a
year, or the patient can receive treatment from a surgeon that specializes in
spinal neurosurgery and performs about 200 spinal surgeries per year. Specializing
without credentialing can also be advantageous in that the money a student
would normally spend getting a higher degree can now be put towards programs
and internships to gain the experience needed to outcompete the credentialed
for jobs. Also the time spent enrolled
in a university is greatly reduced, allowing them to begin their careers
earlier in life.
Currently attending SAU, I am attempting to
spend my summers gaining experience in marine biology through Dauphin Island
programs as well as the programs offered by the Gulf Coast Research Lab in
southern Mississippi. This extra experience will drastically improve my chances
of being accepted into internship programs as well as in securing jobs further
down the line.
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