What Does Your Forever Education Plan Look Like?

I have a friend, Madison, who wants to transition from working in the private sector into the public sector, specifically the education sector. We’ve been talking about it a bunch as I had made that transition several years ago. In my case, I got lucky. I had completed my masters degree and the organization I went to work for needed someone with my specific skills and background. My friend, on the other hand, only has associates. This really shouldn’t matter as she has decades of experience and her skill set is very advanced for the jobs she was applying for. Also, as it’s well known, a bachelor’s degree is only good for three to five years before it becomes outdated, so even if she had gotten the BA back when she was in school, it’d have practically no meaning. One day she came to me crying. She had another friend, an insider to the schools she was applying for, tell her she was the top choice for several jobs but ultimately wasn’t the selected candidate because she didn’t have the degree. Holding an advanced degree as a job requirement is understandable when you consider the job was at an organization that exists for the sole purpose of conferring degrees on people. Still she was clearly the best person for the job and had to accept that she needed more education if she was going to qualify, even if the education she was getting would have a minimal positive impact, and was really be…