Would high education background be a burden for employment?

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Specializes in public health.

I have a master degree in another field. I am a CNA, trying to find a job. But every single job I applied, the interviewer always ask me how come I am applying for a CNA position when I have a master degree. Should I hide that information from my potential employer? Does the master degree hurt my chance of getting hired as a CNA?

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Specializes in geriatrics, dementia, ortho.

Probably. Chances are the interviewers are stumped as to why you'd take a low-paying, high-difficulty job when you have the opportunity to do other things. If you want to work as a CNA, I'd leave the Master's degree off your resume. It's fine to exclude things from there as long as you're not hiding a felony or whatever. I worked at a really crappy facility with a bad reputation around town for a month, and I don't put that on my resume.

Good luck!

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Specializes in public health.
Probably. Chances are the interviewers are stumped as to why you'd take a low-paying, high-difficulty job when you have the opportunity to do other things. If you want to work as a CNA, I'd leave the Master's degree off your resume. It's fine to exclude things from there as long as you're not hiding a felony or whatever. I worked at a really crappy facility with a bad reputation around town for a month, and I don't put that on my resume.

Good luck!

The thing is I already put the master degree on my resume when I applied for jobs in the hospital system. So if I change about my education background on my resume, would the old resume still be available to my recruiter to view?

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I would go in person and speak to someone in HR to see if they can help you with this. Perhaps they can exchange the info when they hear your reasoning. In the past, I have run into the same problem when trying to explain why someone with a bachelor's degree was looking for bottom of the ladder work. I would be asked this directly in job interviews and never would get the job.

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Understandably, most hospitals want to hire personnel who are committed to staying around awhile. With your background, it would look like this is probably just a temporary thing for you. They're thinking that you will move on to a new challenge just as soon as you become really good at the position since you're probably doing the CNA thing just for the experience, not as a means of making a living.

However, if you're planning to continue working as a CNA for the next 2 to 3 years as you work towards a nursing degree, you might be able to use that as a selling point.

Good luck!

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Specializes in public health.

What the nurse told me (the one who interviewed me) was that most of their CNAs are nursing students and they later become RNs and work in the same hospital or unit. That would be my plan as well. I don't really want to go back to school just yet. I plan on being a CNA for a couple of years, re-take some pre-reqs and then go to nursing school. I also want to mention that I tried to work at a home health agency for a month (PT), then got a job at a nursing home (FT), so I quit my home health job because the nursing home job is full time and pays the bill. But after 2 weeks, I was really burned out and felt the environment is not very safe for me (heavy load, no safety practice among other CNAs). So I quit my nursing home job. Now I have been applying to hospital jobs exclusively. Based on what I saw when my interviewer gave me a tour, I felt like hospital is where I want to work, lots of high technology, friendlier staff, etc. So my question is what should I mention and not mention during my interview from now on. Should I just not mention my master degree and my previous CNA work experience (since it's only about 1 1/2 month)?

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Specializes in Onc.

jjjoy had a great point of making it your selling point.

Personally, I would leave off the master's degree. The 1 1/2 months experience is debatable.

I had no formal CNA nor healthcare experience when applying for a CNA job at a hospital. I put one week clinical training in my resume but I think Pre-nursing in my education section got me to an interview session when I told the nurse manager about caring for a family member for 6 months and got me the job.

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Evidently not at my LTC. The last two guys they hired for our unit were flippin insane and abusive. They were both "near" phd level and one actually rudely argued with a KMA by saying, "you may pass your pills and you do a good job at it but I'm close to having a doctorate. I'm just too smart for this."

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Specializes in CNA.
I have a master degree in another field. I am a CNA, trying to find a job. But every single job I applied, the interviewer always ask me how come I am applying for a CNA position when I have a master degree. Should I hide that information from my potential employer? Does the master degree hurt my chance of getting hired as a CNA?

I have an engineering degree and always get asked the same question. When I interview for RN jobs, I'm sure that will continue. I answer them honestly and happily and it has never stood in the way of getting a job.

Answering those questions about your other degrees is a great opportunity for the interviewer to get to know you and to get some insight as to the type of person and employee you are.

Take advantage of it.

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I definitely would not mention that you worked at a nursing home for a couple weeks before deciding it wasnt for you, as that is almost exactly what an employer would be afraid might happen if they hire someone with a masters degree with no real CNA experience.

Hospital jobs are a lot harder to come by, as there are fewer of them available, they have lower turnover, and they are highly sought after for the reasons you(and me) want one.

I decided to do at least 6 months at a long term care facility learning the ropes as a CNA and then trying for a hospital job. Ive been working my LTC job for 6 months now and it hasnt been fun or easy, believe me, but I have learned a lot, and fortunately without losing my sanity or throwing out my back.

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I have an engineering degree (bachelors) as well. I got hired pretty much on the spot at a LTC facility--I explained to the staffing lady why I left engineering, that I was in no way looking to go back to it, and that I really wanted to help people. I also told her I was going to school but had about 2 years before I hoped to start my program so I really wanted to work in healthcare and learn as much as possible during that time.

My past education hasn't held me back, but I addressed it upfront. I think that's the best way to do it. A bigger red flag, I think, is that you've left two jobs after such a short amount of time at each. Being a CNA is really tough, and I wanted to quit my job pretty much every day for the first three months. Things are better now and I even enjoy it most of the time, but I had to stick it out.

I haven't had any hospital interviews, and I applied to way more hospitals than LTCs. Hard to get in the door without experience. Maybe there's a better LTC facility you can get into to get experience while you continue applying to hospitals.

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