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Subject:Seeking advice on English MA From:Christine -dot- Anameier -at- seagate -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:38:49 -0500
A question for the other English majors among us, and for those who can
offer an employer's perspective: does an MA in English Lit do a tech
writer any good? (Not the coursework or the experience of it, mind you... I
mean the degree itself.)
Five years ago I left grad school, having completed everything but the
paperwork. Coursework, research papers, exams, foreign language
requirement: all done. But I got wrapped up in my life and my job and never
did the final step of trotting around campus getting signatures and filling
out forms in triplicate. Having let it slide this long, I would need
special permission from the dean (and I don't even know which dean) to get
the actual degree.
"Degree pending" is starting to look a little fishy on my resume after all
this time. But I don't relish the thought of going back to the university,
registering for some bogus credit, and getting into all the red tape and
remember-me's. I'm not concerned about the prestige of the degree or the
personal satisfaction in it--just the pragmatic career value of it, in
terms of job prospects and wages. Is it worth my while to endure a huge
bureaucratic hassle to try to get the piece of paper, or should I just
amend the resume to something like "MA coursework completed" and move on?
(Either way, my teaching experience will stay on the resume--I find that
far more relevant to my work now than Engl 3020: Chaucer...)
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